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I checked the leak the Lexus dealer said I have. It turns out to be the boot over the inner tie rod is torn. Some grease leaked. Not power steering fluid. They say they don't fix these problems. They would be happy to sell the rack installed for $1500.
Last edited by compdr59; Aug 29, 2013 at 08:05 PM.
Best price I could find. I have never used them before, but they seem alright. I emailed them once to ask questions and recieved a response promptly. Its nice to have a lifetime warranty.
I checked the leak the Lexus dealer said I have. It turns out to be the boot over the inner tie rod is torn. Some grade leaked. Not power steering fluid.
If your inner tie rod boot is torn, the only fluid that would leak at that point is power steering fluid, so I am not sure I understand???
Hmm I looked around under the car and both boots look clean. I don't see any leaks on the rack and pinion itself, I do see a very oily pipe that's very corroded.
This has to be it, my leak is massive and there was no signs of any drips before yesterday. I filled up the reservoir to the max yesterday and it's empty in less than 24 hours with the car just sitting.
Well, the boot on the right side started to disintegrate, so I ordered a replacement off of Amazon for $11. The leak itself is still very minor, so I removed the old boot, regreased the inner tie rod joint, and replaced the boot. Took less than an hour. Maybe it will last, maybe it won't. We have 103K on our '07 RX350, and I noticed the boot was damp (but not torn) right after we purchased it with 72K. I am still going to wait till the level in the ps reservoir starts to visibly drop before replacing. No problem with the left side yet, boot is in good shape and dry as a bone.
just joined this forum after searching steering rack failure ... mine just went out , although maybe shouldn't complain as I'm at 207,000 on my '04 330. I'd expect this on German cars but was hoping Japanese made would be more indestructible ...
what else should I expect to fail at this point? ABS warning light comes on intermittently as does the driver window control panel.
what is this vehicle worth even? do people buy cars with 200,000+ miles ?
5 years ago Lexus told me my rack needed to be replaced because it was leaking.
i disregarded this warning and today im still driving with the same rack and there
is no issue. makes me wonder
Same here six months ago took my RX330 to Lexus dealer for power side mirror issue and been told my rack start to leak yesterday during changing my oil checking for the leak couldn't find any leak power steering fluid still as the same level six months ago. Still wonder here.
Same thing here...took my '08 RX350 (approx 65K miles) in to Escondido Lexus for an oil change and was told the rack needed to be replaced...$1700!!! Say what?!?! I said, it only has 65K miles...seems to me this shouldn't need to be replaced so soon. The SA said that they consider it a wear and tear item. Needless to say I'll take it to an independent Lexus shop in town and have it done. It's rather discouraging to see how many people are having the same issue however.