The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

I'm trying to find a figure for the lubricant capacity of the Dolomite steering rack so I don't over fill it.
Anybody have a rough capacity please ?
I can see that too much will probably blow the gaitors off, but with not enough the rack will wear.
Thanks.
Tony.

Never seen a capacity listed for the Dolomite, but on Chevettes, Escorts, Victors etc which all use very similar types of rack it was always 1/3 of a pint of EP90...

new to this wrote: ↑Sun Aug 06, 2023 5:39 pm I didn't think Dolomite steering racks had lubricant in them, only grease there not power steering

Dave

I think they only intended them to be greased as standard - 5 strokes with the gun every year I think was the recommendation. The grease tends to not work it's way along to the end bush on the passenger side, which is why it always wears out faster.
Unofficially, some people add gear oil to the rack to supplement the grease - hence the capacity I listed above.

The official workshop manual only tells you to lubricate the ball joints with grease and fit the gaiters but fails to state pack the end of the rack shafts. This is stated in the Haynes manual and obviously needed to reduce any wear. There is also a grease nipple on the end of the pinion which is identified for routine maintenance of the rack and pinion. Having stripped a number of steering racks I also like to remove the small bolt from the Cap nut, for the retaining plunger, and to temporarily fit a grease nipple in its pace so that I can pump grease into this part of the pinion. The Haynes workshop manual calls the small bolt a grease plug. You can only do this when the rack is out of the car.

I have not come across any dolomite racks that have contained any oil.

Hello All, Thanks very much for your comments. As Matt notes, I was advised some years ago to use EP140 in the steering rack by an old boy who had worked on B.L. cars for ages. So I did. And my current rack has lasted 70,000 miles and that end bush is still good. Yes I've replaced a few gaiters at MOT time but that is easier than replacing that end bush.
Cheers for now,
Tony.

I do not think putting EP140 (or even EP80/90) in the rack would do any harm and I have just noticed that in Triumph Dolomite 1500hl Handbook edition 6 publication part no AKM3605 - Maintenance Summary section for Steering and Suspension at each service check it states "check steering rack for fluid leaks". My assumption is that this was just carried over from different earlier car maintenance documents as I have not seen any other reference to filling with any oil.