QuestionQUESTION: Help needed please, this is a long shot if you are happy to offer some advice I would be so grateful.
I have my 2003 TD5 automatic Discovery on a Greek island. It has developed a leak and the local garage say that it needs a new steering pump as this is a common fault on Discos, they say. They are not a Landrover garage but are Toyota.
Only one half of the steering/stability reservoir tank empties, to give you an idea I have to fill it once a month, temperatures daily here are 30+ Celsius. The steering half remains constant, its the other side that has the stability symbol on the top.
My thoughts are that just because steering box problems are common on these cars, its not 100% that my car has this problem. The garage did not take apart anything to assess it. They just looked underneath the car whilst on a lift.
Is there any advice that you can offer me or perhaps I can photograph something so that you may help me in some way. My father comes over next month from England and can bring any spare parts I need but I would really like to understand what the problem is to fix it specifically, rather than with a broad brush.
The car runs fine, no problems but I know when the fluid is getting low again as not only does the stability light come on, the steering sounds whiny on full lock.
Sadly, Landrover have no dealer here and UK Landrover only say take the car to a dealer, they won't offer me any help.
It's my own fault for being on a beautiful Greek island with my normally trusty Discovery I suppose!
ANSWER: It is unusual for the pumps to leak. Normally pumps are replaced because they are noisy or have low assistance. Leaks usually originate from the hoses or the power steering box. If they think it is coming from the pump, it is most likely a power steering feed hose. Perhaps, you could have your father bring all three power steering hoses to be safe.
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QUESTION: I have checked back with the garage and it was lost in translation, they said it needs a new steering box as that is normally the problem. However, they didn't do any checking to get to this conclusion. What are the names of the hoses I need to order please? There seem so many. And doe sthe fact that only half of the reservoir need topping up each time, seem consistent with a steering box leak?
AnswerI would suggest that you have them clean it up, put some dye in and find out from where the leak is coming. This will eliminate guesswork about whether it is the box or the hoses and what parts are required. All the hoses should have the part numbers on them. The 3 hoses are a power steering pressure hose, feed hose and return hose.
