Help! Power Steering Fluid leak from rack

Hey guys was checking my truck out today when I noticed fluid on the driver side of the rack... hasn't came to a puddle just kind of a greasy mess over part of the rack. I traced the leak up higher on the rack to some lines coming down from the engine and there's a rubber boot which I outlined that it seems to be coming from which in return has gotten fluid over the rack/ sway bar/ and tie rod boot. It's the highest point of the leak so I'm pretty sure that's where it's coming from. Can anyone point me on the right direction ? Easy fix or new rack ?? Should I drive it?

 

All the black grimey residue over the rack just happened within the last week.... I wiped under the boot where I outlined with a rag to show the clean rack underneath lol

 

Seems to be coming out of the dust cover on the top left

 

New rack. Just had this problem myself. The seal inside the input shaft goes bad. And is not an easy task to rebuild requiring custom made tool and whatnot. Unless you can find a donor rack with a good input shaft to swap that whole shaft out.

I got a Napa remand rack and I think it's got a defect in it. Got some binding going on in a certain area... Of all the stuff I looked at recently I still couldn't find any good leads on which brand to go with. But I'd shoot for one that states it being "new". Because places offer reman'd units and new units. Even though I'm pretty sure they're all remanufactured to some extent. But also try to get one with a good warranty. Napa offers lifetimes on theirs. So one day I'm gonna deal with getting mine replaced through them again.

Edit. And its ok to drive. Just keep your fluid topped off. Worse it'll do is whine. Or get hard to steer if it gets really low.

 

Damn... not the answer I hoped for.... am I good to drive around for now until I get a new one ? Might just buckle down for the OEM or can I get a decent new one from rock auto?

 

Also how hard would the shaft swap be ?

 

@NightProwler appreciate it man... glad I can at least drive on it. Might try to check out rock auto for a new one. How was the install ? Did you ordered anything else in the process of swapping them ?

 

Its really easy to swap I think. Problem is finding a cheap donor rack that actually has a good input shaft but maybe leaking out the sides or other damage. But the input shaft may not even last much longer at that point. I decided it wasnt worth it and to just source a whole new rack.

 

Would a forerunner input shaft suffice I have a parts 4Runner from my 4x4 swap in my back yard... and just saw this has a 24 month warranty

 

It's a job. Fairly easy tho. I cleaned out the lines and reservoir/pump with brake cleaner before installing. They suggest you replace the lines, or at least clean them out... I might suggest poly bushings too. I gotta get new ones again Had them in my old one but they needed to be replaced i saw when I took it off. I figured the new rubber bushings would suffice for now since they were new, but there's tons of rack flex still.

 

It might!! I'd look into it/try that first!

And yeah I was initially gonna go for that exact brand/model number rack. Aae 3237n. I read some good stuff about that one. Also Detroit axle racks too, but they've double in price now iirc. But my local napa had one in stock and I was enticed by their warranty. Maybe I woulda been better off going with a "new" one. Maybe I can get them to replace mine with the newer one and I'll pay the additional cost. Ha. Doubt it tho.

 

Oh here's my thread where I ran into the rack issues. Should have some helpful info on there. Including how to make sure you recenter everything before buttoning the rack down. Which I highly suggest taking the time to do so your alignment shop doesn't give you any flack like mine did. As I had just eyeballed everything quick and buttoned her down, thinking the alignment shop would take care of the adjustments. Which they should be able to do no problem. But they might rack on additional labor to recenter the rack and steering If you make it difficult for them.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...r-alignment-and-balance.505587/#post-15829839

 

For sure !! I might as well go with the poly bushings while I'm down there ! Appreciate all the help dude ! I will probably hit you up when I install it, mind if I grab your #?