Steering rack needs to be replaced after 50K miles - 2019 Tacoma

Hi just want to confirm this is the Mazda transmission fluid on Amazon? Not power steering fluid? Mine 22 TRD started leaking very little at 50,000

 

Yessir. The linked Mazda ATF is used in their PS also, which is why I had it on the shelf and topped up my Taco with it. All the same Dexron III spec.

My boots are still dry at 110k.

 

Sooooo I just noticed my PS boots were wet on my 2021… the things got 54000 miles on it. Has anyone gotten a rough estimate of what it would cost to replace with an OE part? The dealer is probably stupid expensive and I assume this isn’t a warrantable item?

 

Dealer quoted 2700, but honestly I'd just fill it when low and keep adding. It's a VERY slow leak. People have also had luck with the Mazda fluid (search through this forum)

 

Please post up if the Mazda stuff helps. I just want to be sure that it is worth noting.

 

Here we are in the summer of '25 and learned that my 2019 Off-Road Rack & Pinion Steering is leaking and needs to be replaced. 63K miles, out of warranty of course. My quote is $3800, plus alignment. There goes my vacay fund. Previous owner of two Gen 2 Tacoma trucks that went over 200K miles without such an issue. This is very frustrating
as Toyota is no longer impeccable and reliable.

 

Before you replace it, fill it and see how fast it is leaking. Mine was leaking incredibly slow.

 

Don’t immediately jump to spend money, wait it out and see. Just because it has a small leak doesn’t mean it needs imminent replacement. Tons of us have had evidence of leakage and are still driving around just fine.

 

I agree BLtheP. I will milk it for as long as possible, just keep my power steering fluid up. Thanks for the reply lol

 

Just sayin', but I have heard of a lot of 2nd Gen racks leaking also.

 

FWIW mine has been leaking for at least a year and doesn't seem to be getting any worse. I replaced about half the fluid with the Mazda stuff and the boots seem drier now and haven't seen any fluid loss lately.

 

Almost 80k miles on my 19 and I take it off road any time I can and lock it out daily getting into the garage. So far so good

 

What is the Mazda stuff ?

 

It is automatically linked below. Same spec as shown in the owners manual.

For me and a couple other folks, it seems to condition the seals and stop weeping.

 

My boots always look damp but I haven't seen any noticable change in fluid level since topping off a few years ago

 

Crawl under and look yourself before spending big bucks on a new rack. The boots can be damp for years and never cause any problems

Racks do a lot of physical work moving the wheels and a little bit of fluid getting past the seals and dampening the bellows boot isnt a big deal. The real indicator is to simply watch the fluid level in the reservoir and see if it's going down over time

 

I'm beginning to think that Toyota must have found a warehouse full of Tacoma steering racks sitting on its books and decided to start recommending newe steering racks for everyone. My 2019 Pro was in recently for service at 95,000 miles and they told me mine is leaking and I should replace it ASAP. And while I was having a conversation with the service advisor I could overhear another conversation going on one desk over between another Tacoma owner and that service advisor also talking about replacing the steering rack.

I might have been born at night... but I wasn't born last night. I can see some evidence of seepage, but nothing substantial. I haven't seen any stains on my garage floor nor has there been any discernible difference in driving performance. I'll keep an eye on it, but I see no reason to fret about it. Anyone think otherwise?

 

Nope, you’re on the right track. These things are janky and do show signs of leaking very commonly, but it’s still rarely a big enough deal to be worth doing anything about for a long time.

 

Yes there are a lot of hungry service writers out there..

but there are other things to consider when shops are recommending to fix all these minor leaks..

As a mechanic myself, quite simply, if you don't recommend things customers don't think you're looking around and doing safety checks. They'll get suspicious that you're lazy or don't care. "He probably didn't even check my fluids or tires"..

Also, despite the insane amount of frugal-ness that exists on this site, there are people out there that want a nice clean engine bay with zero leaks anywhere. They want to fix every last little leak and keep fluids from dripping. They want that thick stack of maintenance receipts..

As a mechanic, who am I to assume that this person will be uninterested in this or that repair? By not bringing up leaks and bringing stuff to their attention im actually doing them a disservice.

Over the years ive learned the best approach is to bring up everything. Big, minor and everything in between. Do your job, tell them about everything and then let them decide. If they get hurt feelings that's their problem.

There's also the legal liability aspect to consider. If I dont write down and document stuff like thin brakes and bald tires I can get in trouble if accidents happen right after the car leaves my shop..
true there isnt much safety concern with a damp steering rack, but if the next mechanic brings it up and I didn't.. again, I look like I'm not doing my job.

This rant isn't directed at anyone in particular, just trying to offer some perspective