BigMonkey73

Was supposed to be on track at MSR Houston this weekend, but sadly my car has a power steering fluid leak and I had to limp home. It's a bit depressing, I was really ready for some fun

Anyway, the techs at the track told me I had a bad seal on my power steering rack. They showed me where there was some sludge looking build up on it, and said they couldn't repair it this morning since it was an all day job.

I wasn't familiar with any shops in Houston that could have possibly bailed me out on such short notice for such a labor intensive job, so now I'm home. Adding some fluid temporarily fixes it, but I can't go on track like this and the root cause certainly still exists.

Turn One Steering evidently has an upgrade for steering pump which, unless I learn from you guys otherwise, I intend to get one from them.

My questions for you pros are: Is Turn One the solid choice for steering pump upgrade?

Is OEM my only option for steering rack? Do I have to buy new, or can it be rebuilt? Any aftermarket performance available? What about hoses/fittings? Is cooling still suggested even with the Turn One pump?

Since I have to shell out plenty of coin to have this repaired, I figure I may as well go all out to help prevent the steering system from failing again anytime soon.

I very much appreciate any feedback you guys can offer!

2012 C6 Base model

Whis9

I have the pump and no complaints

Turn one also rebuilds racks

kdm123

Are power-steering pump failures common on C5's and C6's that are tracked?

brkntrxn

Yes, pump and rack failures of the original units on C5s is fairly common. Upgrade BOTH to Turn One units.

ErnieN85

And add the cooler from a Z51 also

SunnydayDILYSI

Some folks have also had success with Lucas Oil Stop Leak.

BigMonkey73

Thought about that, but would that be safe enough and hold up to track use?

SouthernSon

X2! Do it quickly before they get backlogged for several weeks.

Supercharged111

I had T1 rebuild my factory quick turn rack on my Camaro last year and this year they're getting an original pump I found to rebuild before the current one lets go. No complaints here and if you call the tech line you get a real warm fuzzy that the guy knows his shjt.

BigMonkey73

Too late. Turn One says 3 weeks for turn around time

Supercharged111

Send it in anyway and just slap a parts store pump in there for now. You'll have a spare for the future.

Ludeaem

Great question. I developed a rack leak (not around the fittings from what I can tell) and for the meantime bought a bottle of Lucas and it stopped the leak so call me impressed. However, my pump is whining like a super charger, or at least I am pretty sure its the pump as I ruled out the alternator). I am afraid to just replace the PS pump with a turn one unit as I think the added flow may make the rack leak again? Maybe i'm crazy but will try to limp through this year and replace both pump and rack in the winter. I plan to do only one track day (IMS) in August so I can't comment on if it'll hold up. I am thinking its doubtful

Dan H.

Mine does the same thing. And its way louder when I come off the track after a session compared to when i go out. I occasionally look at turn ones site to order a new pump and they are always out of stock......

SouthernSon

Think of the whine as an indicator for impending pump failure. When the whine stops you may find the track turns but the vehicle wants to go straight. It happens.

Joshboody

I think my whine has been present since day 1 on track... thought it was normal. Also had a very small leak for awhile now which makes a mess of the drivers side rack and leaf area, but rarely see drips. Coming from that cap thingy near the BPMV I think... may try Lucas. If I pull the rack have to do heads/cam/exhaust... then comes a clutch/TT. So holding off for as long as possible.

SouthernSon

If you are going to run larger tires up front you may want to go ahead and put in some pucks in the rack to prevent turning the vehicle too deep. Turn One may do that for you or you might put them in yourself before you send the rack to them and inform them to retain the pucks in the rack. Got mine from DP at McCluskey Chevy in Cincy. It helps keep the tire out of the cooling ducts from turning too sharply. BTW, my pumps (2 vehicles) from Turn1 no longer whine.

SunnydayDILYSI

The T1 pump is a good idea. It has an under-drive pulley, so it will be a bit harder to turn the wheel but also less stress on fluid and parts.

555ss

We have several turn one pumps no whine and they work great. I have gone to a auto trans cooler 6" x 10" in front or the radiator the Z06 cooler was not enough at Palmer or the Glen.
The lucas stop leak would work for a while till it got too hot again. We had melted bushings in the rack...
But Turn one pump and rack rebuild with the cooler and they are dead dry after 3-4 seasons. Spend the money for their alum pulley and just smash the stock plastic pulley to remove stock pump, it saves a huge usually futile PITA trying to save the stock pulley and it make it very easy to r/r the pump.

Ludeaem

Good info here. Thanks gents. I am not looking forward to the rack replacement even though some say its 'easy'. I guess i'll knock out the pump, rack and harmonic balancer at once. Anything else I should replace while I'm down there?

Bill Dearborn

The stock stuff will last a lot longer if you have a big efficient PS cooler hooked up to the system. The main problem the T1 mods are solving is heat. Doing T1 and lots of cooling is even better.

Bill