Last night I was jacking the car up to do the simple install of a new tranny mount bushing. (Super easy by the way). While lifting the car, it slipped off the jack and fell to the ground. The Jack was elevated at least 15" but only got wedged between the tire and fender well. However, the jack stand I had positioned under the car ready to place when it was high enough ended up being right under my passenger side steering rack.

When the car fell the jack stand punctured the boot on my otherwise perfect rack and about a cup's worth of ps fluid dripped out. I can't tell if it bent anything inside the boot but I assume if it had, the rack is toast? It's possible the stand only punctured the boot.

Is that the case? If not, can the boot be replaced without replacing the whole rack?

 

If you have power steering leaking from the boot, that means the seal has worn down from the inner tie rod. Even if you didn't puncture the boot, it's been leaking. $240 + core is what you're looking at.

 

Weird, I just installed my replacement rack & pinion yesterday. Look at the remanufactured ones at AutoZone. You can get it for around $200 with the Ship to Home specials they constantly run.

 

Tabaka,

There shouldn't be any fluid in the boot at all, then?

T2d2, thoughts on the over all difficulty of the swap for you?

 

It was easy for me. I just helped hold one end up while the mechanic installed the new one.

Everything went smoothly, but it was a ~5 hour job. That's without a lift. The initial quote I had was for 2.5 hours, but at a much higher rate. This mechanic saved my butt doing mobile work when my fuel filter/line was kaput, so I've been going to him for everything since. His total bill for two days of work on that nightmare was less than the price of an in-town tow to the nearest shop!

A tip I learned from him: Line everything up very carefully between the old and new racks so you have minimal adjustments needed of the tie rods, then use contractor's string with the wheels on to line up front and back wheels. That way, your alignment should be nearly identical to before the swap.

 

Yes as stated before, the boot should not contain any fluid. Its only there to keep dust out, not to hold liquid in. Its best to replace the rack.

 

This thread should have been labeled "how lucky am I"... figured out the rack was due for replacement before showing any symptoms.

 

In my experience, as long as you're not needing to refill your power steering fluid every so often, no need to replace the rack and pinion. Yes, the seals might already be shot, but what's important is your fluid being at the right amount, you would even still be able to drive your car even if the power steering is completely not working.

I'd say just replace the torn boots, just so dust and dirt would not get in to the seals which can further damage it, and make sure to check if there's anything bent and replace it. I have dust boots for sale in the classified section by the way for $15 shipped I think. LOL

 

I have been topping it off every few months. I ended up buying a new rack from Advance for $170 (after core return) and new tie rod ends for $70.

Not bad for a whole new steering assembly. I have the old one mostly removed as of now, and will finish removing it by the time the new parts are delivered. At this point I'm trying to figure out how to access the bolts for the feed and return lines.

 

Its cool ypu were able to replace it yourself, it saves a lot of money working on your own car.

 

New or remanufactured?? I was quoted $490 for a new (non-OEM) one.

 

Remanufactured.

 

Mongoose you did the right thing.

 

So apparently I had my new tie rod ends sent to my old address in VA. I called up Advance and they're giving me another $20 off because they couldn't re-route the package. Puts me at $220 total for a mostly all new steering assembly.

Can I reuse the daizen steering rack bushings I just installed maybe 600 miles ago?

 

Anyone have a trick to access the bolts for the feed and return lines? I thought maybe if I got the tie rod ends off fist, I could hang the rack down and get above it that way but it didn't really work out how I thought it would.