Hi fellow owners,

I have a power steering rack oil leak on the steering input shaft seal. So far I have replaced the oil reservoir in hope of maybe relieving possible backpressure due to a dirty strainer.

My questions for advice:

1. Can I replace the input shaft oil seal without removing the complete steering rack?
2. Will replacing this oil seal solve the oil leak or might there be an secondary reason for oil being pushed past this seal - indicating a possible reconditioning/replacement of the steering rack?

There are no other leaks on the rack hydraulic pipes or couplings or on the power steering pump. The pump is not noisy and power steering works perfect - the only problem is the seal leaking.

SD4 HSE 2013

I will appreciate any advice.
Thank you.

Click image to enlarge

I can’t answer your exact question Carel, but I can tell you that when the seal in question started to leak (only slightly) on my car the Land Rover main dealer replaced the entire rack.

Now whether that was because dealers generally fit a new complete assembly rather than repair I don’t know.

Equally, the car was under extended warranty so the main dealer might have had an incentive to replace the whole rack?

I think I’d try to find a detailed diagram of the rack input pinion area. There is some room under the large rubber boot (which can be released and moved out of the way) but you need to discover whether the short input pinion shaft can be withdrawn from inside the car to allow the input seal to be replaced? I’m guessing it will be retained by a circlip or similar.

If that doesn’t work the rack has to come out anyway and you are no worse off?


Good luck!

Actually, looking closer, I don't think the input shaft has to be removed, the pinch bolt is on the universal coupling.

It's certainly worth releasing and pulling up the rubber boot and taking a look!

Hi Dennis,

Thank you very much for your reply and the info re the steering rack input shaft area. I will certainly have a look to see if the steering input shaft can be uncoupled and freeing up some space - giving (hopefully) the possibility of replacing the old seal without removing the complete rack. When done I will post the outcome to the forum.

I have read all the posts regarding steering rack related topics here but could not get the answer on my specific questions. At least I found a post describing to remove the complete rack.

Cheers and regards.
Carel. 2013 SD4 SE (hers)
2013 SD4 HSE (mine)
Ex: 2008 D3 V8 HSE
EX: 2000 D2 TD5