Power Steering Issue, please help...

My Tacoma sits for long periods of time. It recently sat for 2 months in the Colorado dry heat and now there is a bad power steering leak. I think its the rack and pin assembly and I have been told I need a whole new one, no repair possible. I keep putting p. steering fluid in, but it drains fast. Any advice appreciated. thanks very much.

 

Do you have a rough estimate of how much that might cost at a local shop?

 

3-5 hours labour, usually 160$/hr right now, about 800$ for a rack then another 140 for alignment.

 

A lot. But I will admit. Racks are a PITA.
Buy the best you can afford.

Between 4.5-5.0 hours book time.

So 5x$180.00 = $900

$900 Labor
$ Price of rack (OE Toyota rack is about $1,000.00) (Reman about $350)
$ misc shop fees.

So $1,500 - $2,000 if a shop does it.

BTW, I wouldn’t put a rack in myself for less than $300
Maybe more if there’s a lot of rust and the lines look bad.

 

great feedback. I am shopping around and unfortunately already tried the snake oil aisle of Autozone. If anyone is in the front range of Colorado, id love to support a local shop of individual. thanks

 

@MGMSangTaco is out that way I believe?
Maybe he knows a good shop?

 

I might suggest posting over in the Colorado thread for local shop recommendations.

-J

 

This sounds about right.
Me and my neighbor did my rack and high pressure lines in 3.5 hours in my driveway. I can see them charging 5 hours labor for it though.
Then I have my camber/caster locked in w/ taco tabs, so I only had to do the toe which we also did at home.

 

Are oem toyota racks back in stock yet? I remember they were out of stock for a long time.

 

I was able to get a new rack installed for 1540 and Im grateful to not be leaking steering fluid everywhere.

When I brought the truck in the left front tire had a camber of 0.0 and a caster of 2.6 and a toe of -.40
When I picked the truck up after the repair the left front tire has a camber of -0.7 and a caster of 3.9 and a toe of 0.07
They are saying they could not correct this because the left lower control arm eccentric bolt is seized and I need a
new control arm for an additional 1,080. Now the truck is pulling to the right when I drive it.
GAH !
Do you all think I have a right to ask for a discount because the alignment was so much better when I dropped it off?

Any advice appreciated. thanks TW.

 

You shouldn't have to buy a whole new LCA. Pick up some replacement alignment bolts from the dealership. Make sure you get both a front and rear bolt. Stock or . You might want to search around for better pricing but you would be looking in the ballpark of 20-50$ for new bolts and while you're at it, pick up new bushings. See the stock link for part numbers as well since they are highlighted. Get your best can of whatever penetrating oil you use and coat both the bolt heads and nuts with it. Let it sit for 24hrs or longer to work through then get out the and get to cutting the head of the bolt or the nut off. If you're having an alignment shop do the work for you, check beforehand before providing customer supplied parts. Some places don't like using customer supplied parts due to liability or warranty but if you're showing up with OEM parts sealed in their bags, I don't see why they wouldn't install them. The labor will be more expensive than just a regular alignment because they have to remove the LCA to press out and press in the new bushings but I don't see it being more expensive than buying a new LCA and paying for the alignment. The work I spoke of above is capable of being done in the garage with some jack stands, basic hand tools and presses borrowed from your local auto parts store. The most difficult part will be pressing out the old bushings. Pressing in the new ones is made easier by heating up the surrounding metal with a torch.


Here's a quick and dirty video which shows it being pretty easy, however if you dont have the same stuff he has, you'll struggle. Ball joint presses, swear words, sweat and tears will get you through. A small bottle jack that will fit between the forks of the LCA can help push out the old joint without doing all the drilling and hole sawing.

-J

 

I know its not apples to apples, but i just had my steering rack on my 04 4runner replaced yesterday. It was $690 for the rack (New OEM from local Toyota dealership) and $560 for labor. Just to give you ballpark of what I paid. Again, totally different vehicles... just giving you an idea.

 

I was just quoted $2k for mine at the local dealer. The recommended repair and price quote was based on what they described as an abundance of fluid in the boot (I’m not a gearhead, don’t know if I’m saying things right). Definitely sounds like I’ve been quoted the higher side of things, but if it means the dealer is going to replace the whole system at once rather than mix old and new parts, I’m okay with that. I hate the shopping around game. I know how the dealers work, but that’s what I get for not growing up around this stuff and not knowing what I’m doing.

Funny, I’d just taken it in for a basic oil change, then came out with nearly $3k in recommended repairs. I used to change the oil myself and wouldn’t have paid any attention to the steering system.

Out of curiosity, what’s a typical prognosis for a Tacoma that needs a steering rack replaced? I haven’t felt anything wrong with the steering but have noticed a very mild creaking/whining just when I turn the wheel to back out of the driveway, which I had lazily chalked up to cooling temperatures. I don’t drive that much, it’s a 2010 with 128k miles on it. Am I gonna crash and burn picking the kids up from school this week? Next week? Will we make it to Christmas?

 

rack and or steering shaft

not to bad to replace if you have the tools
drop the trans bracket for room
remove swaybar
bend ac lines
cut mounting bolts off and install new ones upside down or try and remove the AC pump, lol
the PS hose assy is not very forgiving on removal, buy a new one to make it easy

 

the mild creaking and whining kinda sounds more like it's the Power steering pump. Just a guess. I used Maxlife ATF with Stop Leak for a couple months before I had the money for replacement. Stop leak can be a nasty solution when it comes time to fix, I just replaced the whole system, (Pump, Lines and Rack) eventually.

 

Out of curiosity, I looked at the FSM for mine (2WD) and compared it to the 4WD procedure. Sometimes I really appreciate having a 2WD...