Zafira A PAS problem...

[Paul H]

The wife's 55 plate Zafira A has just spat its dummy out at the MOT. The power steering was inoperative, and the steering us excessively tight (MOT man confirms these two points are basically the same issue) and there's a PAS fluid leak. There's a few other fail points, but nothing excessive & those are basically normal wear and tear. The family have known this place for years, and they are completely straight. Not touting for the PAS work either - in fact, I think they'd rather not take on the job due to it being this funny Vauxhall electro-hydraulic system & it's not something that they have done before.

Projected cost from a Vauxhall specialist place for fitting a new rack & PAS pump looks like being not far off £1K, mostly for labour...

I've topped up the PAS reservoir with the correct fluid, and the system appears to now work properly again. However there is still the leak from behind the rubber doughnut at the base of the steering column where it comes through the bulkhead, above where the PAS hydraulic lines plug into top of the rack. Pretty similar to what is shown in this link, except that the PAS fluid has't leaked inside the car.

The Haynes says that basically anything to do with the steering beyond changing a rack gaiter or topping up the PAS is a subframe off job. Is this indeed the case, or are there any tricks to make the job easier, bearing in mind that it will be on a driveway rather than in a workshop?

Any advice, tips or links to info would be much appreciated, as I haven't been able to turn up much that has been of use yet.

[taurus]

Maybe a red herring here, but the Vectra used to have a known problem of a union working loose precisely where you are describing the leak. The used to work loose over long periods of time and usually just nipping them up proved to be a permanent fix.

I've never worked on a Zaf but just thought it's worth mentioning.

[pauloliver]

I had to swap the clutch on my Astra H, dropping the subframe is actually really easy, took about an hour. Mine used Torx sockets and a combination of 16+18mm sockets to remove

[Mantasport]

Yeah check the fittings at the end of the pipes as they go into the rack, very common on the Vectra B (done several)
Just try to nip up the Banjo bolt and if it turns at all then it was loose, and it might stop the leak (always has on Vectra's

[Paul H]

taurus & Mantasport - cheers for the tip! Just had the front end up on ramps to check the unions - they were fine but I can now see the source of the leak clearly. It is coming from behind the rubber grommet / doughnut where the steering passes through the bulkhead (as per these pics that I found online. Definitely leaking from behind that grommet so looks like the seal at the top of the pinion has gone...

pauloliver - cheers for the bolt size info. I don't have any torx sockets yet, but suspect that I will need to get some. Did you drop the whole subframe, or just lower one end? If only lowering part of it, how much leeway is there & did you also have to detach the lower suspension arms?

[Paul H]

Also can anyone recommend a good forum for tech advice with this car? I've found a few sites via google, but haven't been able to turn up the info that I'm looking for. In quite a few cases, I'm finding the same questions that I have, but no replies to those threads...

Any tips on lowering the subframe would be most appreciated, e.g do I really need one of these or will a jack and a block of wood under the sump be ok? I already have a pair of ramps, two pairs of axle stands, a trolley jack, bottle jack and my next door neighbour has kindly offered the loan of another two trolley jacks, one of which is apparently the large workshop type.

Thanks in advance!

[taurus]

I haven't dropped the subframe on a Zaf, but I can't see why you can't do it with the kit you've got available. The only time I've had to use a top beam is when the sump has been off.