power steering rack

[timmay]

Has anyone attempted to reseal a power steering rack? I have one on my parts car but the parts car is an 85 and my car is an 89. does anyone know if I can make the one on the 85 work for my 89?

[v2rocket_aka944]

rack is the same but youll have to swap tie rods

[timmay]

I looked at the outers but not the inners- thanks that's good news

[akron]

I had a leak at the steering shaft input. I was able to remove the top collar and replace the seal in there and reassemble to seal mine up. Saved me the rack replacement. I had previously purchased the reseal kit and resealed a spare rack that I had in order to prepare for the swap out, but after doing the steering shaft seal, it was unnecessary!

[timmay]

I may give that a try- thanks

[mattdavis11]

I've resealed a couple of racks. The easiest way is to add brake fluid to the reservoir and let the seals swell. Last one was about 3 months ago on our 2002 Accord, it would leak all the fluid out in a few hundred miles, but I haven't added any since.

[Spring44]

Originally Posted by mattdavis11

I've resealed a couple of racks. The easiest way is to add brake fluid to the reservoir and let the seals swell. Last one was about 3 months ago on our 2002 Accord, it would leak all the fluid out in a few hundred miles, but I haven't added any since.

I have a very slight leak in my O'Reilly's rebuilt rack and am loathe to have to replace it again, so your idea intrigues me. What type of brake fluid do you use and how much do you add?

[mattdavis11]

I'm about 60% power steering-40% dot 3. Last time I used what I had on hand, STP. I found this by accident back in the mid 90's when I had to add fluid to my Ram Charger. I was drunk and added brake fluid by mistake. It too never had another issue.

Oreilly's racks suck, have one on our 2004 Acura TL, started leaking about a month in, it's getting the treatment now. I have no recourse now as it was put in by a shop in Chicago, I live in Seguin Texas. I did keep the core.

Good luck!

[9FF]

Originally Posted by mattdavis11

I'm about 60% power steering-40% dot 3....

It may not need fixing if you just don’t use power steering fluid.

Op, the problem with rebuilding these racks is that the are all very old and it is likely the metal parts are also worn. New seals won’t help if your rack shaft has any pitting or wear and repairing those parts is expensive specialized work. I suspect the cheaper rebuilds just clean, throw new seals in and splash some paint on, whereas the good and more expensive refurbished racks have worn parts repaired or replaced.

[mattdavis11]

Originally Posted by 9FF

It may not need fixing if you just don’t use power steering fluid.

Op, the problem with rebuilding these racks is that the are all very old and it is likely the metal parts are also worn. New seals won’t help if your rack shaft has any pitting or wear and repairing those parts is expensive specialized work. I suspect the cheaper rebuilds just clean, throw new seals in and splash some paint on, whereas the good and more expensive refurbished racks have worn parts repaired or replaced.

I see your point. I know, have a few Toyota vehicles that require ATF. The common problem with resealing an a/c compressor is much the same. If steps have not been taken to remove the burs and corrosion on the shaft, it won't seal. Dremel tools are awesome!

My 944 has a manual rack, so no worry there. However, the aforementioned cars in my possession are maintaining a proper fluid level as of today. They were leaking pretty bad, now, no so much, if at all.

The Honda went on the lift, a 21 year Honda Master Tech raised it, spotted the leak, and said new rack. Nope.

[akron]

Originally Posted by akron

I had a leak at the steering shaft input. I was able to remove the top collar and replace the seal in there and reassemble to seal mine up. Saved me the rack replacement. I had previously purchased the reseal kit and resealed a spare rack that I had in order to prepare for the swap out, but after doing the steering shaft seal, it was unnecessary!

Well, it held for a couple months, now have a leak. Will update when I find the problem. Other guys told me this was coming. We'll see...

[16again2009]

I rebuilt mine and it still leaked. I bought a rebuild from rackdoctor for $200 and some odd dollars. Been 3 years and not a drop of leak. Also bought one for my pickup 2 years ago and no problems. I've had good luck with them. No affiliation.

[OK-944]

I've done a couple of racks...not all that difficult, but there are some things to keep in mind:

Be very careful not to ding the polished portion of the rack cylinder (solid tube that slides back and forth, with tie-rods attached to each end)...particularly on the right (passenger) side beyond where the toothed (rack) portion ends. Also, this polished section can, over time and/or if run dry while not adequately lubed...become corroded/scratched up enough to leak past new seals. Re-polishing is possible to a point.

Also be aware of the proper orientation of the steering shaft input on the upper rack tower before you remove it. There is what appears to be a witness mark (small arrow) in the casting of the upper rack tower, which points directly at the milled flat of the splined rack tower shaft when this has been correctly reassembled...making sure the rack itself is centered by checking the centration of the machined "dimple" (which allows the rack to be locked in its centered position) in the lower inspection port, accessible by removing the threaded plastic plug. (I did a double check of this orientation by rotating my cars steering wheel to its locked position and then inserting the lower shaft to tower (splined connection) lock screw, then mapping the lock screw's orientation and matching this with the orientation of the aforementioned milled flat). At any rate...look carefully at this photo and you'll see the "witness mark" pointing at the milled flat:



And be very careful when removing and replacing the inner tower seal. Some say to carefully pry the old one out with a screwdriver...but I found that a pilot bearing puller worked perfectly here - with its arms spread enough to bite into the old seal, but not so wide that it marred the aluminum walls on the tower:



After the puller was inserted into the old seal, I put the assembly in a vise, installed a bolt into the threaded part of the puller, grabbed the upper part of the bolt with a vice-grip, and carefully pounded the vice grip upward:



Finally, make sure not to mix up your crush washers! I did this on my rack, resulting in a shower of ATF on my garage floor, and my having to extract the rack once more...which also meant having to undo tie rod ends and stablizer bar assembly. Not fun!

[OK-944]

ps...I could not re-edit the above to include this photo of how the above mentioned rack lock "dimple" should look (while also checking the position of the milled flat as seen above) as viewed through the inspection/locking port in the lower rack:

[jjeffries]

I guess we all have our particular strengths and weaknesses and for me, my power steering rack reseal skills - and hydraulics in general- are among the latter. Next one I’ll send out. Glad to hear others are more successful.

John

[OK-944]

Electrical diagnosis/testing is my weak point, as I'm current-ly coming up short...trying to figure out watt's up. But I cannot resist...even though it sometimes seems beyond my capacity. Gotta stay amped! (Ohm - my!) Still...losing a bit of hair from so much head scratching!

As for my rack rebuilding "skills," I probably just got lucky with that first one...and shoulda steered clear of this one, or at least racked up a few more o-pinions from those who can run o-rings around my skill set! But hey...no pressure!

[OK-944]

Seriously, John...as I peruse your very comprehensive write-up on your project, its quite obvious that you've got a seriously deep and broad skill set, and that if you could choose to just "dive in" to doing something like rebuilding a rack, you'd end up doing a great job!

[Spring44]

Originally Posted by OK-944

ps...I could not re-edit the above to include this photo of how the above mentioned rack lock "dimple" should look (while also checking the position of the milled flat as seen above) as viewed through the inspection/locking port in the lower rack:

OK-944, that is a good picture to illustrate the rack-centering dimple.

You probably already know this, but the inside of that hole is threaded (M12x1.5, I think). And, you can get a bolt that size, grind a blunt point on its tip and screw it in to hold the rack in that centered position as you put it back in the car.

Keeps it from getting back off center as you are trying to work the steering U-joint back on. Once the rack is installed, just unscrew the bolt and install the plastic cover plug back in the hole.

I have such a bolt somewhere, but couldn't readily lay hands on it to post a picture.

[9FF]

Originally Posted by Spring44

…Once the rack is installed, just unscrew the bolt and i̶n̶s̶t̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶s̶t̶i̶c̶ ̶p̶l̶u̶g̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶o̶l̶e̶ shim the bolt out with some washers and leave it in the rack. (So it’s there for next time and you don’t lose it)

I have such a bolt somewhere, but couldn't readily lay hands on it to post a picture.

Fixed it for you

Left is my factory bolt with the part number on the packaging, right is one I made.

https://imgur.com/a/Tup9sYd

[Spring44]

Thanks 9FF!