dogdog1

Active Member
Hi Guys , I'm struggling to get the new bottom seal into my steering box in situ . Does anyone know of any good method of getting the lip of the seal into place . I've been at it for hours and getting nowhere ! TIA for any advice .
 
I take it you finally managed to get the circlip out :)

Been a while since I did mine (used the blue seal & I'd used a speedisleeve on the shaft) & I've forgotten if there were any issues so you might find this of interest.
He uses a screwdriver to get the outer lip in which I suspect is the bit you're struggling with?
Use a blunt one & be careful.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbml3cO6Evk

ETA. If you have a piece of suitable diameter tube/socket that you can put some pressure on the seal with while you get the outer lip in then it might help. Pushed up with a jack perhaps so it doesn't keep popping out?
 
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Another thought.
If you have a short piece of tube the same diameter as the hole the seal's going into you could try pushing the seal into that then offering it up to the hole & using another piece of tube to push the seal out of the tube into the hole. Similar sort of idea to a piston ring compressor
Might depend on how many hands you've got!
 
Hi Ratae , I did indeed manage to get the circlip out ! .. by drilling holes in the washer and using a dent puller to partly bust it out from behind the circlip , then chiseling out the remainder of the washer partly breaking the circlip .. what a frigging nightmare ! I also thought of the tube in a tube idea , finding something suitable is a problem .
 
I take it you finally managed to get the circlip out :)

Been a while since I did mine (used the blue seal & I'd used a speedisleeve on the shaft) & I've forgotten if there were any issues so you might find this of interest.
He uses a screwdriver to get the outer lip in which I suspect is the bit you're struggling with?
Use a blunt one & be careful.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbml3cO6Evk

ETA. If you have a piece of suitable diameter tube/socket that you can put some pressure on the seal with while you get the outer lip in then it might help. Pushed up with a jack perhaps so it doesn't keep popping out?
I take it you finally managed to get the circlip out :)

Been a while since I did mine (used the blue seal & I'd used a speedisleeve on the shaft) & I've forgotten if there were any issues so you might find this of interest.
He uses a screwdriver to get the outer lip in which I suspect is the bit you're struggling with?
Use a blunt one & be careful.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbml3cO6Evk

ETA. If you have a piece of suitable diameter tube/socket that you can put some pressure on the seal with while you get the outer lip in then it might help. Pushed up with a jack perhaps so it doesn't keep popping out?
Basically tried all that , as for the YouTube video , he conveniently skips the actual fitting of the lip into the box . Anyway I'm giving up on it and calling in a mechanic , I'm getting nowhere with it .
 
Probably easier on the bench.
You need to keep pressure on the seal as the lip goes in or it'll just keep popping out again & I think upside down under the car makes it more difficult.

Be interesting to know how your mechanic goes about it.

I just can't remember whether I did mine in situ.
 
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I have changed this seal in situ and on the bench in the past and found it to be a waste of effort. A reconditioned box with a re-chromed output shaft is usually the answer.
 
Common for the area of the shaft that the seal seals against to be worn and/or pitted.
Mine had the black seal which I replaced with the blue one plus I speedi-sleeved the shaft. No issues since & it was several years ago.
There WAS a very good 'how to' that someone had done which I followed & which gave the size of the sleeve required but it was a victim of the photoshop money grab & I can't find it any more.
 
I have changed this seal in situ and on the bench in the past and found it to be a waste of effort. A reconditioned box with a re-chromed output shaft is usually the answer.
I have changed this seal in situ and on the bench in the past and found it to be a waste of effort. A reconditioned box with a re-chromed output shaft is usually the answer.
Hi Meego , regretfully I think I will have to go for a reconditioned box . I managed to get the seal inside the housing using a pipe within a pipe , the bigger pipe compressing the seal lip and the smaller one driving it in . Two problems , first , doing this compresses the centre of the seal and makes it impossible to push over the protective tape around the splines without pushing the tape up into the box . So I had to push it up without tape , not good for the seal . Secondly , the seal was clearly unhappy about being driven into place , the further up it went the more it distorted til one edge of it just buckled . All in all a waste of time and effort .
 
Pity.
You could try taking the box off - you're going to have to do that anyway if you're going to fit a replacement so nothing to lose - & doing it like the video using a blunt screwdriver to get the outer lip in.
 
Hi Meego , regretfully I think I will have to go for a reconditioned box . I managed to get the seal inside the housing using a pipe within a pipe , the bigger pipe compressing the seal lip and the smaller one driving it in . Two problems , first , doing this compresses the centre of the seal and makes it impossible to push over the protective tape around the splines without pushing the tape up into the box . So I had to push it up without tape , not good for the seal . Secondly , the seal was clearly unhappy about being driven into place , the further up it went the more it distorted til one edge of it just buckled . All in all a waste of time and effort .
Oh well. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Make sure the box you get has had a re-chromed output shaft. Believe it or not, the seal wears the shaft and that’s why they leak in most cases.
 
Oh well. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Make sure the box you get has had a re-chromed output shaft. Believe it or not, the seal wears the shaft and that’s why they leak in most cases.
I see an ad on eBay for Autosteer Direct £150 exchange including rechromed shaft . They seem to have generally good reviews except for one where they seem to have sent out a repainted box that was otherwise unrepaired !
 
I had an Adwest steering box fitted to my 90 last summer. I looked into replacing the seal but didn’t want to do the job twice. The Adwest one wasn’t much more than a cheap unbranded recon box but had a decent warranty.
 
I see an ad on eBay for Autosteer Direct £150 exchange including rechromed shaft . They seem to have generally good reviews except for one where they seem to have sent out a repainted box that was otherwise unrepaired !
That’s who I got the last one from that I fitted on my Disco. That was a few years ago and it’s still leak free.
 
That’s who I got the last one from that I fitted on my Disco. That was a few years ago and it’s still leak free.
Glad to hear that . Thickness ruled the day and I went at it again and successfully got the seal in ! No idea how long it will last but I topped up with fluid and started the engine and did lots of lock to lock turns and no immediate leaks . I'm not out of the woods yet though . I centred the steering and checked that the slot in the back of the steering arm lined up with the hole in the casting and the grooves were in the right place . But it seems as hard to get on as it was to get off ! Any advice on that please ?
 
Glad to hear that . Thickness ruled the day and I went at it again and successfully got the seal in ! No idea how long it will last but I topped up with fluid and started the engine and did lots of lock to lock turns and no immediate leaks . I'm not out of the woods yet though . I centred the steering and checked that the slot in the back of the steering arm lined up with the hole in the casting and the grooves were in the right place . But it seems as hard to get on as it was to get off ! Any advice on that please ?
It should go on no problem mate. Make sure the arm and shaft splines are nice and clean and free from any damage. It should slot on without issue and then get pushed on the last wee bit when you tighten the nut.
Edit
It should be really tight (can’t remember the torque) and the lock washer lugs folded
 
It should go on no problem mate. Make sure the arm and shaft splines are nice and clean and free from any damage. It should slot on without issue and then get pushed on the last wee bit when you tighten the nut.
Edit
It should be really tight (can’t remember the torque) and the lock washer lugs folded[/QUOTE It sat in on the splines easily enough but took a lump hammer to get it moving up the splines . After it went as far as it was going to go I put the nut on to see if I could wind it up but it just went tight . I'll have to pull it off again and check the splines and dimensions . The old arm doesn't have the slot at the back of it for a start .
 
When you say old arm, are you fitting a replacement arm ?? The arm can only go on one way as there is a section on the splines that locates the arm !!
 
When you say old arm, are you fitting a replacement arm ?? The arm can only go on one way as there is a section on the splines that locates the arm !!
Yes , I'm putting on a new arm as the ball joint on the old one was knackered .
 
Yes , I'm putting on a new arm as the ball joint on the old one was knackered .
I forgot we weren’t talking about a Disco drop arm. Your new one should still have a section where it looks like the splines are missing, and there should be a corresponding area on the output shaft. Have you definitely matched these up ?
 

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