My car is currently in the garage having some work sone, and I've asked them to investigate the oily smell I get when the engine is warm.

I'd assumed it was the power steering reservoir leaking again, but they have come back to me confirming that the rack itself has a leak, which means the rack must be reconditioned.

Anyone else ever expereinced this?

I'm a bit gutted as I'm sure it will require another trip to the powerstation to get the shims done properly once the rack is back in place.

cheers,
dela

Dela - what is/was the update on this? Searching the archives as my 95N 5 door has been emitting a strange smell when hot (notice it most at rest at a junction say) plus the steering has started feeling a bit wooly/wandery at high speeds and v. heavy at parking speeds. I was wondering about rack wear but it sounds like this is worth investigating.

what symptoms other than the smell did you have and what spec etc is your Scoob?

TIA for the help.

David

Hi David,

On my car, it appears to be that the power steering reservoir is leaking through the bottom. Apparently, the reservoir can just be emptied and a replacement o-ring put in to seal it up again.
I am getting my old man's garage in Reading to do this for me.

I have read before that another possible cause is that after some "spirited" driving the power steering fluid boils over and leaks out of the cap. You can upgrade to a better fluid to stop this happening.

Initially, I had exactly the same symptoms as you are having with the heavy steering, and solved it by keeping the power steering reservoir topped up with Castrol Hyper-something III, available from Halfords.

cheers,
dela

Thanks Dela - given that I've done 107,000 miles in the Scoob and I don't recall the fluid having been looked at (unless its a service item) it probably needs attention. Will get my local mechanic (who specialises in Scoobs) to look at on the next service.
Cheers
David

Dela,

As long as the mechannic fits the rack noting the shims positions and puts them back as they were before then you'll be OK, just make sure the tracking is reset to the Powerstation settings on your printout regarding the toe in. And generally, yes if its leaking from the bottom the rack is usually worn.

Justin :)