C5 X7 Steering Rack - Again!

[dafydd]

After the main agents told me I had a leak on a steering pipe (but could not tell me which one!!!), I found a local garage who is a citroen specialist.
He put the car on the ramp and said the offside boot on the rack was leaking - a slight weep. He also said that the steel pressure pipe was badly corroded, but not leaking, and suggested that the pipe from the 2016 C5 could be used to replace it. As he said the pump and the rack are in the same place on both models. The pipe eventually arrived and was fitted, apparently only requiring slight adjustment to the bends.
Yesterday I took it to have the boot fitted. He complained that he had ordered one boot and Citroen had supplied two.
A couple of hours later, when I returned to collect the car, he said that both boots were perished and weeping LDS, so having two boots was fortuitous!

As to the pinion problem - would it be worth considering recovering the seal area of the shaft by brush plating? This has now become a common way of repairing worn and damaged components. It would bring the shaft back to it's original dimension and with a final plate of chromium would eliminate the corrosion problem permanently.

Incidentally, I was told that the 2016- C5's were factory fitted with a boot on the pinion shaft!

dafydd.

[GiveMeABreak]

Many of us who have had our racks (yes, 2-3) go have used the CV boot mod to help protect the pinions, but your problem will be that once they start to rust, it's already too late internally as the rust just gets into the rack and starts to do the same with the interior. A refurbished rack is likely the way to go if you can get one - but make sure you get the correct one as there are 2 steering angle versions.

[dafydd]

Apologies, I did not make myself clear in my last post.
Brush plating would have to be done as part of the process of refurbishing a rack.
Having re-read this complete thread, it would appear that some companies do this. In one of the early posts someone was told by refurbishers that they send the pinion away to be chrome plated.
This is probably the best solution to the rack problem as the shaft would have an inert finish where it is in the seal.

dafydd.

[steveclv]

So after reading the horror stories in this thread I was dreading checking mine this morning. I had reached out to others on the french FB groups and the consensus is that although it does happen on LHD cars, it's quite rare. The thoughts are that the airflow around the area are better on the LHD cars and with the engine running, as I removed the cover in the footwell, there was a huge blast of air that came through from the engine bay, supporting this argument. Anyway, as you can see from the photo, although there is some rust present, it's no-where near what I have seen on this thread. It now has a copious coating of marine grease to prevent anything further.
This is a 2009 car with 166,000 miles equivalent (but also French so no salt to contend with).

[Paul-R]

The French do spread salt. Many a time I've been over the Massif Centrale or the RN7 and seen the signs "Salida" (or something like that).

[darbuck]

That looks like it is starting to go alright I had a similar issue with LDS leaking through the boots but I replaced them and it seems to be holding I also fitted a silicone rack boot over the pinion. The CV boot is too big and just won't work. I think the problem with reconditioned racks is just that. They need to be remanufactured along with the pipe work but unlikely to happen now given the age of the cars. I think owner ingenuity and perseverance is all that will allow our cars to stay on the road.apart from when they are being worked on which they really like.

[steveclv]

The French do spread salt. Many a time I've been over the Massif Centrale or the RN7 and seen the signs "Salida" (or something like that).

Yes, you are correct - I didn't realise that as my region doesn't get really cold temps or snow so we don't see it - but I did discover that it is used in some depts. Thanks

[steveclv]

That looks like it is starting to go ...

Yes, I was so glad that I took the time to read this thread and to investigate. I think it would have lasted another year or so but without treatment is was a case of when and not if. Hopefully its coating of marine grease will slow it down a bit. It just seemed to be happening at an older age/more miles than some of the RHD vehicles. Also the pipework shows no signs of corrosion.