The Lotus Grand Tourers

Ive notice a leak ( marked in yellow)and its comes from this old pipe that does wiggle and move a bit. I assume that plate just comes away and I.m hoping I just need to replace a gasket . replacing the whole pipe looks like a bit of a job

No gasket just an o ring.

Picture not showing on my phone, but biggest issue I had was bi-metallicl corrosion where the pipe goes in to the rack.
No way would pipe come out of rack.
Hopefully it's free and a new o ring sorts you

Ok thanks, it seems straight forward

I can't see the picture either for some reason, Pete, but this sounds very like the leak which I have on my 1990 car. I managed to remove the retaining plate and wiggle the pipe out of the steering box. I changed the o-ring (available from SJs), carefully cleaned everything up and reassembled. I noticed that the bolt which holds the retaining plate did not appear to be very long and was only engaged into the steering box by a few threads, so be very careful when retightening.

Unfortunately this did not cure the leak though. I now believe it is actually coming from the top of the steering box where the steering column enters, and running down the underside of the steering box. I get a drip building up on the lower end of the steering box which is visible through the cross member, under the car. Tried Lucas Stop Leak in the fluid to no avail. If anyone has any suggestions for curing this type of leak (other than rack replacement ) I would be glad to hear it too.

pistolpete wrote: Fri Sep 12, 2025 14:58

Ive notice a leak ( marked in yellow)and its comes from this old pipe that does wiggle and move a bit. I assume that plate just comes away and I.m hoping I just need to replace a gasket . replacing the whole pipe looks like a bit of a job

Don't know why people can't embed pics.

So was my picture not visible , ?

I couldn't see it Pete.

Pete

I recently had my rack rebuilt by Kiley Clinton in Birmingham. The rack body was scrap, apparently the teflon seals on the pinion shaft gouge into the valve body over time. I posted earlier this year about it, and there's a picture showing the damage.

Jaguar used the same rack and they used to last around 40,000 miles at best. If like me your car has done over 100,000 miles without a rack rebuild it probably needs more than an O ring, but best to try the easiest and cheapest route first to be sure.

John

Your story is identical to mine John. Also used Kiley Clinton.
My rack had 145000 miles on it. Corrosion made it impossible to get the pipes out of the rack, so had to remove rack with 2 piped attached as a single piece. - Most difficult job I've done on my car
The replacement outer they used is identical and from a Ford.

I found the clamping plate thin and could not apply sufficient pressure to the O-ring.
I made a second clamping plate and used both plates and the right size (length) bolt to fully tighten.
you need to ensure the O-ring seat is clean, a bit of silicone does not go amiss.

Dave the cog.

I found the clamping plate thin and could not apply sufficient pressure to the O-ring.

Yep -:Again, been there, got the badge.
I added a second thicker plate above the captive one, but was more about what felt right. The O ring seals on the bore of the recess, so technically, the plate just stops the pipes popping out. But it just didn't look right with a thin plate that bent very easy.