Steering rack leak?

[Goran]

Thanks Mikki! I was hoping you would read this post.
Do you think there is any reason for the car to draw more amps when actually moving in traffic? That's my main worry which would throw my time estimates off.
Oh yes the damn electric rad fan! Completely forgot about that. Hopefully its cold enough outside so its not triggered by the engine.
Thanks!

[MikkiJayne]

Not in a manual. An auto would have some solenoids active in the valve body, but you are free of that scourge Injector duty cycle may increase, but I doubt that will make much difference.

I doubt the electrical rad fan will even get a look in at this current temperature so if the AC isn't telling it to run it shouldn't come on at all. The visco fan should be more than enough.

Do you still have SAI on yours? That blower uses a bunch of amps. Maybe just pull the fuse for that, or possibly warm the engine up while still on the battery charger?

I can't think of anything else.

[Goran]

Thanks Mikki! That's reassuring. I'll make sure I don't go anywhere near the aircon button.
Luckily I had the SAI blower removed, I had no idea it pulled a lot of amps. What a relief! that could have been a show stopper.

[Goran]

Well on top of everything else, range estimate was at 0 so I did a test run to get some fuel. On the plus side I made it back home.
However, the unassisted steering is soooo heavy I barely made it out of the drive
The whole adventure took around 12 minutes and it kept running, so maybe it can make it?

Although I am so worried hitting stuff because of the heavy steering, I may just order a flatbed truck.

Now I know why those 80's truck drivers had such huge arms

Just for info, I charged the battery back to full again, using a smart charger which displays capacity that went back in.
It put 4.8Ah back in. It seems to add up, at 25A draw, that's 11.5 minutes
Looks like I could have made it to the mechanic, if it wasn't for the heavy steering, especially at slow speed. It wasn't worth the stress. RAC charged me only £33 to upgrade to home start.

[Goran]

These little RC chargers are great! I was worried I didn't have a charger that can charge LiFePo4, as it turns out this little charger I already had for RC planes can do it!
Charges at 4A current.

[Goran]

Well the new (remanufactured) rack is in. Its not a cheap job, 7.5 hours labour!
I have to say I made a mistake! I ordered a non-servotronic rack on purpose, but I forgot how those feel. I have been driving around with a non-working servotronic rack for years and really liked the heavier steering at slower speeds which made the steering feel more precise in my opinion and gave the car a lot of character. It felt like a big car. It felt more sporty.
Now the new rack is in the steering feels so light! I dont like it at all.
I may have to swap a remanufactured servotronic rack back in when I have time/money to blow

[MikkiJayne]

So a broken servotronic rack is heavier than a non-servotronic? Is it any different while moving? I really dislike how light working servotronic is at low speeds - it feels like driving on ice.

What was leaking on the old rack?