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2012 Vito 122 Sport-X Power Steering Fluid/ Leaking Past Rack Seals..

Gaz-M

Active Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2015
Messages
116
Location
Fife, Scotland
Car
17' Flint Grey Vito 116 Auto
Well after a long huint I bought a 2012 Vito 122 Sport-X, and Im loving it bar this problem that just arised at the weekend past.

After a week of ownership and a few hundred miles, last weekend I got the very obvious power steering pump noise when its low on fluid. Luckily i wasnt far from a Halfords who had the Merc spec fluid that matched what was recommended on Autodata, however it was Red and the current fluid didnt look red. I had no choice but to top up anyway, and it probably only took 200ml to sort it out.

The problem is, since i topped it up it has been getting worse and worse, almost as if the more of the red fluid i put in, the more it uses it, and needing topped up now 4 times within 3 days and few miles.

Theres no external leak anywhere underneath and when i drilled a 1.5mm hole in the bottom of the rack gaiters, a good few drips of red fluid came out of both sides!!

Ive now got what i think is the correct Merc oil- A 000 989 88 03 ? and it is Brown not Red. Would the red oil be a possible cause of it leaking past the steering rack seals, and flushing the red oil and replacing with the correct oil cure the problem, or am i needing a steering rack?

Ive also been noticing since the day i bought it, a varying of steering ease whilst cornering, it would have relative resistance, then whilst mid corner it would feel like if i steered a little more into the corner, theres a lot less resistance than there has been upto that point.. Its also much heavier in general than my old 2006 Vito 639. Shouldnt they be the same steering setup as they share same rack etc?

What about pressure sensors for the varying feeling, is there anything complicated like that on these systems?

Its odd, and my old 2006 109 Vito had great steering and none of these problems or weird feelings.. Maybe should have kept the old lass :wallbash:
 
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I'm surprised no one has yet offer any advice on this issue??, I have no 1st hand experience but I once put some synthetic oil in to a BMW V8 that didn't really need fully synthetic ,the result like yours was the engine leaking all over the garage floor, after a few inquiries I drained the oil, changed the filter again-refilled with the recommended oil & no oil leaks, so it might be the same for you??????
 
Thanks for the reply. I drained the atf mix and put in the correct oil, but it still leaked. Infact while out testing it, the steering rack seal on the OSF burst completely and was pissing fluid.

Changed rack yesterday so all good now, its made the steering much lighter and has lost the weird feeling it had, now its like my old Vito! Clearly there was something wrong with it from the day i bought it.

Happy now its fixed and nicer to drive!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the reply. I drained the atf mix and put in the correct oil, but it still leaked. Infact while out testing it, the steering rack seal on the OSF burst completely and was pissing fluid.

Changed rack yesterday so all good now, its made the steering much lighter and has lost the weird feeling it had, now its like my old Vito! Clearly there was something wrong with it from the day i bought it.

Happy now its fixed and nicer to drive!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi there, I have a fluid leak on the o/s On my 2013 vito. There is a rubber gaiter that is coveredmin fluid is that the same place you had the leak? Does the steering rack have to be changed to repair this?
 

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