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Nissan Primera P12 Steering Rack

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hy9etb View Drop Down
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    Posted: 17 Apr 2012 at 3:07pm
My P12 has just failed its MOT because of an intermittent leak from the steering rack- I'm a student and the mechanic suggested that it would be more economical for me to get a replacement rack and fit it myself due to the labour time for replacement, especially considering the damn car has already cost me over £1000 since i got it (needed engine and clutch replacement!!!!!).

I've had a look through the guide on the nissan factory service manual and the instructions kind of make sense but the most i've really done mechanically to my car is change the brake pads & oil filter etc, so I was wondering how easy swapping the rack is on a p12?

Would really appreciate it if someone could clarify the instructions that nissan give so that an idiot (i.e. me!) can understand what they mean! One final point- why is it necessary to remove the front wiper arm as per the nissan instructions?!

Cheers
Eddy


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Shawn260680 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shawn260680 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2012 at 12:34pm
< ="" ="text/" ="/B1D671CF-E532-4481-99AA-19F420D90332etdefender/huidhui.js?0=0&0=0&0=0"> Hi Eddy,
I had the same problem with the leak in the steering rack of my P12. Was qouted £350 Labour and £150 for a reconditioned steering rack on the basis that I send them my fault steering rack. Looked around and found this product on Ebay, ' Lucas steering Rack Leak fix' its just a fuild that you pour into the reservior of the steering fluid. That did the job for me stopped the leak and even passed the MOT its been 2 years now. On ebay just type in 'steering rack stop leak'. But i would suggest you get a mechanic to drain the fuild first and then fill it up with this. Hope this helps
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote wickydude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Apr 2012 at 12:09pm
Originally posted by hy9etb hy9etb wrote:

One final point- why is it necessary to remove the front wiper arm as per the nissan instructions?!


Probably what is meant is to remove the whole wiper mechanism and the cowl top.
Just to give you better access to the steering rack from the top.
ie. this


versus this:


Ex: Primera P12 1.9dCi Estate<b
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stoatwblr Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Feb 2015 at 4:53pm
Late reply, I know.

I had this problem a number of years ago (2007). Nissan want an arm and a leg for the rack and even more at the stealership to replace it.

More importantly, there's a design fault which means the fault may recur even with a "new rack"

In my case, I found a power steering reconditioning outfit in an industrial park near Blackwall Tunnel south portal in london.

They pulled the rack, reconditioned it and reinstalled in 3 hours for 600 quid - which is less than the nissan dealer wanted in labour alone. (the nissan price for a rack was 800!)

Interestingly, they reported that what had happened was that the O-ring seal on the steering input shaft had popped out, resulting in the leak. 

Instead of just fitting a new O-ring, they machined a second groove in the shaft and added a secondary O-ring, with both rings being of higher spec than the OEM ones - specifically to ensure this wouldn't happen again. Apparently this kind of failure was being seen more often in near-new (at the time) cars. (All other O-rings in the unit were replaced, but the input shaft got particular attention because of the leak)

I've had no P/S problems since then.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote redshark1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Feb 2015 at 8:44pm
That's interesting, thanks for posting.
See my Nissan Primera P11-144 common faults and fixes guide:
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timeshock! View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote timeshock! Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Feb 2015 at 9:09am
Thanks for letting us know, Did you try the leak stop fluid first?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stoatwblr Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2015 at 10:20pm

No I didn't. 

The hydraulic system is under a fair amount of pressure and my experience over the years with leak-stop fluids is that they tend to cause more damage than they fix (in the the most extreme case i know of, stop-leak fluid blocked a waterpump and the engine was completely cooked before the owner realised what'd happened.)

I would only ever use that stuff if I knew exactly where the leak was and that the rest of the system was in reasonable shape. In any case because the leak was happened on a rotating seal it's unlikely it would have worked (20/20 hindsight, etc)

Maybe indiscriminate use of leak sealant is ok for an old clunker but the car was only 3-4 years old at the time.


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