Steering rack slowly leaking at boot - fix it?
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Intermediate
Joined: Dec 2016
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Steering rack slowly leaking at boot - fix it?
So I had the car up on a lift the other day to change the transmission fluid, and I noticed a small drop of oily stuff on the steering rack. Checked a bit up from there and it seems there is a minor leak coming from the boot on that side.
I would guess one of the seals has gone bad from the car having not been driven in years before I took possession.
The thing is, it must be pretty minor, as it doesn't seem to accumulate on my driveway and the reservoir is still totally full despite having been filled months ago.
What do you all think? Is it worth replacing the steering rack? There's so much other stuff to be done on this car, and even the re-manufactured racks are pretty expensive, relative to the other parts that need fixing.
I would guess one of the seals has gone bad from the car having not been driven in years before I took possession.
The thing is, it must be pretty minor, as it doesn't seem to accumulate on my driveway and the reservoir is still totally full despite having been filled months ago.
What do you all think? Is it worth replacing the steering rack? There's so much other stuff to be done on this car, and even the re-manufactured racks are pretty expensive, relative to the other parts that need fixing.
Safety Car
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 3,534
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From: Atlantic Beach FL.
It will fail sooner or later. New racks an no longer available from GM so you will eventually be needing a rebuilt one. If it were mine I would monitor the fluid loss closely and plan accordingly.
Did you open the boot to see how much was really in there?
Did you open the boot to see how much was really in there?
Last edited by Rob 02; May 28, 2017 at 08:30 PM.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 33
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Thanks for the input guys.
Looks like it may be a bit worse than I thought - I just glanced at the level earlier but when I checked it closer the PS fluid is definitely low...
Oh well... I need a new balancer anyway, and the rack has to come out at that time. Guess I'll be putting a new one in. Will try some of that stop-leak stuff and see if it helps first though.
Looks like it may be a bit worse than I thought - I just glanced at the level earlier but when I checked it closer the PS fluid is definitely low...
Oh well... I need a new balancer anyway, and the rack has to come out at that time. Guess I'll be putting a new one in. Will try some of that stop-leak stuff and see if it helps first though.
Safety Car
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 3,534
Likes: 432
From: Atlantic Beach FL.
Based on the searches I have read from a few years back, there were a lot of people having bad luck with some of the rebuilt ones. This may have improved. There were a few forum vendors that were highly recommended for doing the rebuild service. I'm sorry I cant remember their names but perhaps someone will chime in. I recall the price being fairly reasonable too ~$250 which is cheaper than some of the parts stores.
