My rack was rebuilt by turn1, but I found out it is still leaking profusely from the magnasteer wires. With the money invested into rebuilding this thing, replacing it is just not an option right now. I pulled the rack and let it sit overnight after cleaning it up and this is the amount that it leaks. I am looking for any suggestions on how to stop this leak. I had read somewhere else that "The right stuff" sealant globbed onto where the wires exit would have been a good fix, but with all this epoxy there, I'm not sure if that changes that. At this point, that is my only plan of attack unless someone else out there has a better suggestion...


Overnight leaking from wires

 

The time to ask was before you globbed on the epoxy. It would have been nice to see of the strain relief/seal was in place. The rack needs to come out for repair. Hopefully the epoxy can be removed without much effort. It does not look like you did any surface prep.

 

This was done by Turn1 Steering................................ ........................................ .........................

also... the rack is obviously out.....? Respectfully.... read my OP.

 

I had one done by Turn 1 and it's not leaking there anymore, mine does have the glob but about 1/2 that size. They do say that it may still drip a tiny bit at that location, but that seems to be more than a "tiny bit". I'd call Turn 1.

 

Oh, and replacing it it with a new part is not an option anyway, they are obsolete. Call Turn 1.

 

Yep..sorry, misread that. I thought you put the expoxy on. What a **** job they did.

 

that certainly looks horrible if Turn 1 did it.

I had luck pulling a small vacuum on one once and "sucking" some permatex into the joint and got it to seal. I don't know how long it lasted but the customer was happy at least for a while.

 

That's actually a great idea. A potting compound would work well in that situation and be bulletproof.

 

I hit up turn one when I first got it back and it was leaking and the only thing they offered was to remove the magnasteer and permaseal it. On my dime.

Their website does say they don’t guarantee against this leak. When I first sent it in, I didn’t even know this was where mine was leaking, so I didn’t read the advertisement that closely - I just figured they had a great reputation and my money was being well spent.

So moving forward, is epoxy like this removable? If not, maybe I can create some kind of device to pressure inject permatex, I’m not really sure where I would apply vacuum to “suck” it in?

 

That is terrible customer service. I will definitely not use Turn1 for anything...ever.

Vacuum is the best way to draw sealant into this area, but the unit has to come apart. Injecting with pressure just might put sealant where it does not belong.

 

Here's where we are at now... I did some research on epoxy removal and just now, I decided to take my best shot at it. I had read that solvent can take care of epoxy.. I kind of doubted it and I confirmed my doubts when rubbing some laquor thinner on it did absolutely nothing. At any rate, it didn't cost me anything so I moved on to the more serious stuff. The propane torch

To my suprise, it didn't take much to start cooking the epoxy and make it brittle. I was super concerned for the wires, so I really just hit the top edge of the epoxy just to see what kind of effect I would get. I then took a chisel and started scraping at it. The crusty burnt epoxy came off pretty easy. I then scraped towards me in the direction the wires were coming out and I felt the whole glob of epoxy break away and shift. To make a short story shorter, I ended up separating the epoxy from the rack and using a pair of vice grips to break away the epoxy glob until I split it in half and could safely separate it from the wires.

I'm not sure if what the best option for sealing it still is..I had a thread saved where someone documented their whole rack rebuild, but I am afraid I may ruin my own rebuild upon disassemble or even reassembly to get at the magnasteer part. I think a while back someone said you can possibly seal it externally with permatex 'the right stuff.'

Here are some photos for your enjoyment:

 

Nice job keeping the wires mostly intact.

I made the rack rebuild DIY thread, and another member shared super useful information regarding sealing up that Magnasteer connection "the right way" from the inside while the rack is apart.

It may be tough to achieve a reliable seal in that region because of oil / oil film that you can't really clean off. Maybe a series of pressurized cleaners (such as brake cleaner?) which don't leave a residue can give it the best chance of success.

 

Oh yeah I just got through reading your guide for about the third time just now. I actually DM'd that guy asking for advise on how I might make that groove for the o-ring. Am I able to get to that point without pulling the whole rack rod out?

 

Your loss if you ever need a service that they provide. Turn 1 is very good to deal with and they state right on there website and on the documentation they sent back with my rebuilt rack, that it is possible it can still leak at that port. I was very pleased with the service and products I have received from Turn 1, and good luck finding another rebuilder for these racks that would "fix" that leak point, which is usually a very small leak.

 

It's pathetic that you typed that out. Seriously....good for you.

 

Unfortunately I agree, it's sad that as a rebuilder they claim they don't/won't properly take care of that leak location. I understand it's GM's flaw but if they're truly doing a rebuild they have the best access to the Magnasteer actuator and ought to make a better effort on addressing the issue. Even if they add a separate/optional charge for doing so... plopping a giant glob of epoxy externally is a horrendous attempt at fixing this leak.

Thankfully the rod is well behind the Magnasteer actuator so you shouldn't need the rod out. However, before you scrape out epoxy to liberate the actuator, place a rag or towel in the cavity above the rod to make sure no epoxy falls down.

 

My experience with them was poor. The steering pump I purchased is fine. But they sold it to me with the wrong adapter. My project being parked for so long between work, when I finally got around to mounting it is when I discovered this problem. I called to see which fitting I needed to order and sent a picture of the fitting to the owner. He said they haven't used or sold that style fitting in 20 years and don't have one in the shop. He said he cannot help me because I clearly did not purchase it from them and they suffer a lot of knock-off products on the market and backed away from any responsibility. I was offered that if I can prove the receipt they'd send me the right fitting. I track my project expenses and dates and shared the date of purchase and price and how I had spoken to a guy whose name I no longer remember today but when I shared my info the story changed such that they had changed their billing or tracking system in the time between and had no way to dig it up. At which point I ordered several different fittings for about $120 to ensure my problem was solved. Not the end of the world for me expense wise. Also would not have been the end of the world for the vendor to drop ship me the correct part. But now I feel a certain way about it.

 

After a $hit ton of scraping epoxy and some clever use of crossing two screwdrivers to pry it out... here we are. I am trying to figure out a way to make my own groove for the oring further down the "post" where the wires come out. My plan is to use two orings and permatex. I was thinking maybe using the edge of a grinding wheel and spinning the magneto by hand, but that sounds like theres a lot of room for human error, so I am open to ideas out there. By the way, look at all that epoxy! Gosh DaNg!

 

A few years ago, I took apart a friends rack. I came up with this snap ring idea to hold the wire assembly down. Needed to have my machinist do just enough to clear the magnet on the pinion shaft, but hold firm the wire assembly. My friend did not install right away. Time went by and last year he sent that rack to Turn 1. I do not know all the details. But he did install, and so far is ok.

 

What ever type of sealant you use it must be as clean as possible. Brake clean to de-grease and then some Isopropyl alcohol to remove any film. Once clean gently abrade all surfaces (specifically anything shiny surfaces) with maroon scotchbrite, final wipe again with iso alcohol. Gently clean any fuzzies left behind with low pressure compressed clean shop air. Lastly butter it up with some sort of sealant. If I were doing this I'd use some sort of two-part polysulfide sealant used on fuel tanks of airplanes. We use several variations of this were I work... We use this PR1750 the most, mixed 10:1 and the B 1/2 variety cures the fastest, has 50 minute working life, cures overnight/8 hours at room temp/77°F. You can also heat cure it for an hour at 140°F, if your in a hurry.
https://www.ppgaerospace.com/getmedi...lass-b-tds.pdf