leaky power steering rack? try this
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 17
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From: Arizona
leaky power steering rack? try this
I know these cars have some power steering issues, so here is my story on my experiences and fixes in hope that it will help you guys trouble shoot and fix yours and save some $$$.
here was my deal, i have a 94sc400 with 168,xxx miles and it was leaking powersteering fluid from the rack somewhere up top where the pressure and return lines go into it (just below where the steering shaft goes in). I talked to a mechanic and he was saying that usually when a rack goes bad it will leak fluid out of the boots because the seals where the steering arms go back into the rack go bad and this usually means a new rack. well i felt that maybe my rack was salvagible because i was still dry in this area.
so, i pulled the rack (when taking the tierods off, make sure you have a pickle fork, i rented one for free from checker). then i took the top part of it, (where the pressure and return line go in) off.
A tip here, there are three bolts and they are allen head, chances are they will be very hard to get off so make sure you have an allen head bit that can be fitted on the end of a rachet because you will never be able to get it off with just a regular allen wrench. I even had to use a cheater bar just to break mine loose.
Once this is off i found that there were three little rubber o-rings that sat in recessed holes. i ran my finger across this and realized that these o-rings were just a little below the surface. so i popped these out and realized that they were very squished to the point of being flat. so i ran up to checker and bought these little rubber o-rings.(width 2.5mm, ID/OD 12mm "metric o-tite! #64512), they come in a bag of 8. I then put these in, w/ a thin layer of silicon on the one surface and reinstalled it and the leak was fixed. sorry i dont have pictures of when i had the top piece off.
So, if your rack is leaking (not out of the boots) try this fix. It cost me all of $5. these were quotes i got on racks
dealer-$500
napa-$299-499 depending on year
Checker-$350
autozone $275
And as far as power steering hoses go-
I have had two of them, if you call the dealer you will find that you can only buy the whole assemby (close to $500). Try what i did, find a guy that rebuilds hydraulic lines and just have them rebuild the section that you need. both times i did this it ran me about $60.
anyways, hope this helps some of you guys.
Austin
here was my deal, i have a 94sc400 with 168,xxx miles and it was leaking powersteering fluid from the rack somewhere up top where the pressure and return lines go into it (just below where the steering shaft goes in). I talked to a mechanic and he was saying that usually when a rack goes bad it will leak fluid out of the boots because the seals where the steering arms go back into the rack go bad and this usually means a new rack. well i felt that maybe my rack was salvagible because i was still dry in this area.
so, i pulled the rack (when taking the tierods off, make sure you have a pickle fork, i rented one for free from checker). then i took the top part of it, (where the pressure and return line go in) off.
A tip here, there are three bolts and they are allen head, chances are they will be very hard to get off so make sure you have an allen head bit that can be fitted on the end of a rachet because you will never be able to get it off with just a regular allen wrench. I even had to use a cheater bar just to break mine loose.
Once this is off i found that there were three little rubber o-rings that sat in recessed holes. i ran my finger across this and realized that these o-rings were just a little below the surface. so i popped these out and realized that they were very squished to the point of being flat. so i ran up to checker and bought these little rubber o-rings.(width 2.5mm, ID/OD 12mm "metric o-tite! #64512), they come in a bag of 8. I then put these in, w/ a thin layer of silicon on the one surface and reinstalled it and the leak was fixed. sorry i dont have pictures of when i had the top piece off.
So, if your rack is leaking (not out of the boots) try this fix. It cost me all of $5. these were quotes i got on racks
dealer-$500
napa-$299-499 depending on year
Checker-$350
autozone $275
And as far as power steering hoses go-
I have had two of them, if you call the dealer you will find that you can only buy the whole assemby (close to $500). Try what i did, find a guy that rebuilds hydraulic lines and just have them rebuild the section that you need. both times i did this it ran me about $60.
anyways, hope this helps some of you guys.
Austin
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
From: Arizona
WDohery-the two leaky hoses that i had were both pressure side hoses, the one was where it comes out of the pump and the other was the one where it goes into the rack. these two hoses connect in about the center of the car.
the one guy was at scottsdale automotive and the other guy was from pirtek, here is their websitewww.pirtekusa.com
as far as the sc300 and 400 steering system goes, i assume they are pretty close but i cant be 100% positive if they are the exact same
the one guy was at scottsdale automotive and the other guy was from pirtek, here is their websitewww.pirtekusa.com
as far as the sc300 and 400 steering system goes, i assume they are pretty close but i cant be 100% positive if they are the exact same
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