k7q

iTrader: (37)

Hit the spacer! You'll be fine. Yes the LS has a 1" spacer where the SC had a 1mm spacer.

jayzsun

Sorry to bring up an old post...i tried the rebuild but its leaking from the passenger side. How far in you supposed to hit the cam seal in? It seems like you can bang it all the way in or are you supposed to only go as deep as the both spacers let you?

k7q

iTrader: (37)

im not understanding your post completely. the driver side seal needs to be all the way in. flush against the rack inside. the passenger side seal only has one position.

Kingsoup

Hey man! thanks for the great write up. I have a 97 Celsior and it was leaking out of both sides. I just finished the rebuild today (on and off over 3 months), with a Kit I got for a 98 LS400. The parts were all the same, just on the other side, I was very very careful, I'm pretty sure I got the main seals all the way down without punching them too hard in, I didn't replace the Teflons, but everything else, but when I finally fired up the motor, it was blowing fluid and pressure into the right side of the rack (the rack boot blew up like a baloon) (Driver side, Right hand drive) I just don't know how I went wrong, I was so careful, can you suggest what seal is leaking?

I'm just crushed, I've spent so long doing this. You can't just get a Right hand drive rack around here, and nobody rebuilds racks literally anywhere in Canada.

Your help is appreciated.

After reading your post again I think I might have figured out what I did wrong.

the main shaft, the two main seals, the spring side should be facing inward toward the piston on both sides? like the left hand seal has the spring side of the seal (open seal side) towards the piston and then on the right side the seal is essentially backwards and its spring open side is facing the piston eh? I punched the inner most seal I think spring side AWAY from the piston, that would cause the leak right?

OMG if thats it I gotta pull the whole thing apart again! AHHHH! but I'll be so fast the 2nd time!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Q/IMG_5071.jpg

k7q

iTrader: (37)

ouch. sounds like the seal is backwards. spring side of seals is facing where it meets fluid.

your going to need to order another kit and redo it. you can just replace the 2 seals on the shaft. since you already changed the other seals/O-rings already.


92-00 SC300 SC400 and 91-00 LS400 should share the same kits. 98-00 LS400 racks uses a couple more O-rings then the 91-97 racks.

k7q

iTrader: (37)

your car is a 97? looks like you have a 98 rack. I think it is because its RHD.

Kingsoup

Hey K7Q thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

You're right its a 98+ car, the 1997 was the first year of the 98 Style LS400 in Japan.

Ugh I did put it in backwards, you figure those seals are ruined now and need to be replaced? If I punch the inner seal out and reverse it, it'll probably be ruined from having to push it out right?

You know it was going so well, sigh!

Thank again for your fantastic write-up, if I hadn't made this one mistake I think it would have been perfect!

also you are right, there was one extra o-ring on there, and no spacers, other then that it was exactly the same as your SC400 Rack you did in the write-up.

Those main seals are TIGHT! it takes a lot of tapping to get them in place, a good thing with all that hydraulic pressure going on I suppose!

Update: ordered a couple of new primary Seals from Lexus locally, a lot faster then a new kit, I suppose I'll want to make sure it won't leak again when I punch those babies back out.

I'm gonna be so fast this time! I Bet you k7Q can do one in 30min you're so practiced!

k7q

iTrader: (37)

I'm jealous of your RHD celsior! The seal on the gear/teeth side of the shaft will most likely get ruined. I wouldn't risk it. The seal on the passenger side of your RHD rack Could be saved but I wouldn't risk it since you have no way of testing the rack.

30 minutes sounds about right for me. I'm pretty sure I can rebuild a rack with my eyes closed. It would just take a lot longer and I would get PS fluid all over me.

Kingsoup

Hey K7Q! LOL eyes closed just covered in fluid! They do hold a lot of fluid in there, it just kept squirting out all over me just when I thought there was none left in there!

I followed your advice and ordered 2 more seals from Lexus locally. You know the Celsior is a pretty great value from Japan, mine has 70,000 Miles on it, but you can get much better cars with 20,000miles or LESS! The problem is that they often sit for years before getting exported, and all the seals dry up, hence the power-steering rack and my front brake caliper seals were all crap too!

Your instructions were really good, I never thought of using a monkey wrench to get those items off, worked like a Charm! I used a long rod to punch the inner seal out the far end as well instead of your "home made" long punch! hee hee

Really for the cost of a rebuild Kit in the USA (30$) or so, following your tutorial, everyone should be doing this. Just have to make sure the main seals go in the right orientation! Really the rack was virtually the same as this instruction, just the pump housing on the other side.

I'm looking forward to tearing it down and fixing this, what a pain though! at least better then shipping a used rack over from Japan that would have cost an arm and a leg!

jayydm

i dont need to rebuild my rack luckily but wow this looks like a ton of work for those who would rather rebuild then buy a new one

Kingsoup

So, I got new seals from lexus, replaced them on the rack, I swear I did a perfect job, put it all back in and its blowing fluid out of both sides. There goes like 14hrs of labor down the tube and 80$ in parts.

k7q can you recommend a place to rebuild the rack for me? I can't find hardly anyone in Canada that will do it, and sure as shat nobody locally here in Calgary.

Frustration level at 100%, those seals felt so tight in there, I can't believe its pissing out like this.

k7q

iTrader: (37)

Ouch!! I need to delete this thread so others don't try this.

I would say go to for local auto parts store and as if they can rebuild your rack. They can probably send it out for a rebuild.

Kingsoup

Oh hey man I'm really glad you made the thread. Like they aren't rocketscience the racks, mine is probably just damaged or something, or scractched in the bore, or I just did it wrong. It wasn't too complicated really with even that many seals, I just messed it up or it just is beyond what I could do at home.

I'll ask around if they know someone local who will do it, I am hoping nobody is gonna give me guff about it being a RHD rack and all.

I guess I should go an pay attention to the 3 quarts of ATF on the floor of my garage now, hee hee.

Hey man do you still work at the shop that rebuilds racks? A guy at work with an old Supra sent his to the US for rebuilding, I'm open to that option Man I just want this baby done now, at least I know like 10x more about how racks works and seals and I'm super fast at taking them in and out, could be worse I guess eh?

Edit: A hydraulic shop in town looked at my rack and it appears the main shaft was damaged in a collision and is bent, hence the seal leakage. So I'm gonna try again with a new shaft and make this work, then its proven and everyone else can do this, it wasn't that hard really, just changing seals, in theory it should work!

TrevorlexG

How much do you charge to rebuild a 1999 Lexus gs300 rack and pinion..and is there any other car racks that's compatible to mines..

Kingsoup

Well, I tried my best, I rebuilt the rack 2 times and it still leaked. I imported a new Rod from Japan RHD specific, I got the exact seals, redid it two more times, both times failed. I might have a bent housing, the rod was bent, the car was in a side hit, so its possible, but 450$ later and about 35hrs of my time I broke down and found a way to import a used RHD rack from Japan, cars been off the road for 8months just on the rack! (I read the TSRM, this page 100 times etc)

I'm pretty goddamn fast and changing rack seals now, I look forward to the day of trying a rebuild on a non-collision LHD Rack and see if I can do it right based on this great FAQ.

I do however recommend just buying a rebuilt rack instead of starting down this path, it might have been perfect each time and I had bent parts, but if I had the option of a rebuilt I would have taken it.