It's me again...power steering rack help!

[SupraDerk]

Hey hey it's me again. So the boot on the passenger side of the power steering rack is torn completely in half. Needless to say all of my power steering fluid has leaked out and the car is hard as hell to drive. It only leaks on the passenger side so I think the rack is still in pretty good condition. So now I just need some advice. Should I just try to replace the boot first and see if that fixes it or should I just replace the whole rack? I was lookin at the TSRM and it seems like a bit of work to do this and I would rather just do this once, heh. So let me know what you think. Merry Christmas all!

-Derek

 

[IJ.]

The boot only seals out dirt and dust and has nothing to do with keeping fluid in.

There are wiper seals further in.

 

[Serzy]

Sorry to say but your rack is shoot and in need of replacement you can get remanufactured ones from your local parts place for around $150 with a trade-in. It is a PIA to change but very doable just make note of the distance from tierod to tierod when swapping racks.

 

[mrnickleye]

I did my '89 n/a casually in 2 hours. The turbo may take longer if you must remove some things to get the rack out.
Be sure to get a NEW washer (double connected one) for the high pressure "banjo" fitting, from the toy dealer ($2-5). Use a piece of NEW hose for the return line, with new clamps too. I used transmission hose.
NEW Dex3 oil, remove and clean resoviour (tank).