Steering Rack Rigid Pipes Leaking.

[Ian21401]

After three days of use both unions into the pinion casting began to leak so I was forced to remove the rack again. When attempting to disconnect the column from the rack pinion I did not completely remove the UJ coupling clamp bolts, as I thought that it was unnecessary, and found that it was not possible to move the coupling up the column to free it from the rack pinion. Upon removing the clamp bolts completely it was possible to move the coupling. So it is necessary to completely remove the clamp bolts.
Sorry for the misinformation in my previous post.
Having removed the rack I removed the rigid pipes again. It appears that the unions on the pinion ends had been shortened too much ( guess at about 2.0 mms.) and were fully screwed in before they had formed a seal between the pipe end and the casting. I also found that the re-used "O" rings had become damaged. Whilst trying to resolve this, what had been a slight kink in the shorter pipe at the 180 degree bend had increased and eventually split.
Back to have some more pipes made up. I've managed to source some new "O" rings but have not yet managed to source the correct size unions. They must fit 1/4" (6.3mms) OD pipe. The original unions are 15.5 mms total length. ( 11.3 mms. from underside of the nut head to the end.)
Taking into account what I have learned about the lower coupling, when I eventually manage to refit the rack I will be clamping the coupling to the pinion then having an assistant pull the steering wheel clear of the switch housings whilst I tighten the clamp onto the column.