1996 Bentley Turbo R - groaning noise when steering!

[roygarth]

Not me the car!

Did it last night, but not this morning? Noticeable when manouvering at low speeds...could it be power steering fluid level? Or?

Thanks.

[williamp]

The usual response is low power fluid level or the system needs bleeding: refiull, leave cap off, start car and turn from lock to lock, watch bubbles escape and then replenish...

...but as its a Bentley, you probably ran over an oik sometime and didnt finish the job off

[bergxu]

Something VERY important to note here;

1. Do NOT overfill the reservoir by even a short & curly! The excess fluid will mist out of the pinhole in the cap and can cause a fire when it hits your hot exhaust manifold. I saw a car that was a victim of this and it wasn't pretty...

2. There is an updated reservoir, made of aluminum (I believe Montague & Co. has them) which has a provision to avoid the aforementioned disaster happening. Not sure what or how, but it's in there. You use the old cap however.

3. Find out why you were low on fluid. Most likely, it'll be the steering rack leaking. Slide underneath the car and grab one of the gaiters and wiggle it, listening for fluid sloshing around in it. If you hear fluid, it's time for a new or reman rack.

4. My'96 Turbo R's power steering groaned at low speeds just like yours even with full fluid reservoir and new, leak-tight rack. I think it's the pump itself wearing out. Fortunately, not tremendously expensive, as I think it's a GM pump...

Good luck.

Cheers from The Colonies.

[roygarth]

Thanks Guys....yep the rack is leaking, will get a re-con unit fitted - can anyone reccommend a supplier of good quality recon units ....how many hours should one expect to be charged for this job?

[AndrewW-G]

http://www.flyingspares.com/shop/rolls-royce-spiri...

[bergxu]

The rack itself is not hard to change. Undo the feed and return lines, separate the splined joint at the steering shaft (DON'T twist the steering shaft around once it's separated else you'll bugger up the coiled contact inside the steering wheel, just let it lay in the same position as it popped off at). Then, there are the two 17mm (I think) bolts that mount the tie rods to the front of the rack and four 17 or 19mm bolts that come from the top down (two on each side) that hold the rack to the car. Viola! That's it. Install in reverse order.

There are two different RR special tools that make R&I of the rack hold-down bolts a walk in the park, they're basically extensions, one of which is bent like a question mark and the other like the number 7. You can certainly R&R the bolts without these tools, but it'll just take a little longer. Short of doing it yourself, I would expect a garage to charge maybe 2-3 hours (at most) to R&R the rack and bleed the system.

[ADP68]

Introcar are a good parts supplier.