PS Steering rack gaiters and then maybe changing/bleeding oil

[Ferrit]

Morning, whilst underneath the other day I noticed a tiny hole in my PS rack gaiter.  What the best/nicest/quickest process to change this, anyone been there before?  Haynes gives the impression its not silly hard to remove the whole rack, is it and should I?

I will have a proper look at what needs to come out and how next time I am working on it.  And next question, changing fluid, is it a case of draining as much out and adding new?

[HFStuart]

Depending on where it is and how bad a bicycle puncture rapir kit can work wonders here!

Removing the rack is not too difficult  Access is a bit of a pain but not too bad. 4 bolts, the steering column and the hydraulic fluid connections then it slides out through the wing.

[Ferrit]

summer job maybe :-)  Thanks for this.  I might look at changing the fluid though.

[Nigel]

I found I could change the near side gaiter in-situ when mine
failed the mot a couple of years ago. Fairly straightforward.

I recall thinking that I could probably do the other one from the
same nearside access, but bit more of a reach.

There's no fluid inside these, they are dust covers, so as Stuart suggested, a patch to fix
a pinhole would appear acceptable. Even a small dollop of CT1 might do, after good cleaning.

If your fluid is still red, or even slightly off-red, it's good. You should get a reasonable
indication of state by visible debris in the reservoir. I would change it by several evacs/top ups
of the reservoir. Doing it this way avoids getting any pesky air in the system.

N

[Ferrit]

Thank you this is what I want to hear :-)

I will take another look and repair until the Spring of something else is in bits in this area, could be when I do front shocks.

What fluid did you use in the end, I did find a few posts on the subject but no actual decision whats best?

Mark

[Nigel]

Regular ATF is fine.

N.