My little contribution to the forum.

95 LS with 160K miles. Started leaking about 1 year ago. Dealer (Keys Lexus in SoCal) recommended replacing pump, rack and high pressure hose ($2K+). Chose to skip and top off every few weeks. Leaks did seem to worsen so bought a used '98 pump/rack from a San Diego junkyard (junk yard said 98 = 95). Turned out pumps are identical, but racks aren't (holes, connector and solenoid different).

After pulling everything off, found main leak on the pressure hose, not on pump or rack. So if you have leaky steering, best to check the hose (cheapest of the 3) first before pulling the pump/rack out.

Some photos.


95 and 98 racks are same size.


But holes and solenoid in different location, and connectors are different.


Turned out the leak was the high pressure hose, beneath the bellow/heat shield (in red circle).


This hose on the side of pump was also frayed, got it free from local Autozone.


$140 rebuilding the rack, shiny new paint too (just hoping they got all the seals, o-rings inside replaced).

Took about 4.5 hours to complete the job. At the end I mistakenly used Power Steering fluid (instead of AT Fluid), since I have been refilling with power steering fluid for 1+ year. Steering felt stiffer than before, not sure if it's because of fluid or what. Will drive for a few days to observe. But happily no more leaks.

 

still have that 98 rack laying around? pm me if you do.

 

Going to hang onto it for a while since I am hoping to pick up a 98-00 hopefully within the next 6 months. So do 98-00 also have leaky steering?

 

no, my lack has an internal leak from a bent tie rod

 

Seems like he was asking generally about the 98-00 being known to leak as much as his '95. I would be interested to know this, also. I haven't seen anything on the site here about 98-00 leaking less somehow and I have searched quite a bit. It seems like the entire Gen2 LS is known to be leaky from what I have found digging around the forums. If the 98-00 is much better for PS leaks for some reason, I might have to consider upping my budget a little to get into a 98.

I found a low mileage '95 but it had a ton of leaks with something undetermined in the PS pump area and a leaky rack. The guy told me he has had the PS leak for like 6 years and has used stop leak for just as long. From searching the forum about PS leaks it seems that long term usage of PS stop leak can cause the rack to fail and leak. Sounds like with the extreme duration of using the stop leak it is a very likely cause of the leaky rack. Not going to buy this guy's LS400 but answers on this topic will definitely help me going forward.

The car only has 115K miles on a 1995. How likely is it that a rack is going to fail at that juncture without a super prolonged PS leak?

 

1990 at over 250K and 2000 at 140K and neither have ever leaked a drop, but a 17 year old car of any make is at risk of needing repair. I'll take my chances with any Lexus of any vintage over any other make without so much as a blink.

 

the '98+ racks and lines are less prone to leaks, but the lines and pump do leak on occasion.

 

I may have to consider the '98 more then, based on being less prone to the rack leaking. Then again I read in another thread how some folks were replacing their racks with non OEM ones purposefully because they liked the handling better. Another interesting possibility to ponder.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...ring-rack.html

Around what mileage do the racks usually leak? I am sure there will be some major variance at times but if I can get a good handle on when (years and/or mileage on the car) they wear out with good maintenance, it will give me another piece of the puzzle with how a particular LS I look at has been maintained. Very few posters on the PS threads I have been reading said how many miles were on their LSs when they started having (A) PS leaks from the pump (whether it be O-rings, PS res, PS hose, pump itself, etc) and (B) leaking on the rack. Many were old threads 2-5 years old and when I went to PM the OP of the thread and ask them when their original rack started leaking and if their new (to them) rack had held up I saw that several of them are no longer active on forum. So I can't very well ask them or I would

 

My 98 leaks a *tiny* bit, so about once every year I have to top off the power steering fluid. Not really a big deal though, and it isn't seeming to be getting worse.

 

Our 99 has some fluid on the passenger side rack boot. Never drips on the ground and the reservoir is full.