Steering rack issue?

I just got done replacing the bushings in my steering rack and lower control arms. I had to tilt the rack at a pretty extreme angle to replace the cam bolts on the lower control arms.

When I tilted it, oil started to come out of the rack and fill the boot.

is that normal? The truck is newish to me, I'm not sure if it's ever leaked before? Or is that indications seals are going out on the rack?


I circled the area the oil was sitting

 

YO woad4

fill out your profile so others can see what age/engine you’re taco is!

IMO, I would expect some fluid to seep out bc of extreme angle and old inr rack seals thou

 

Turn on the truck and cycle the rack lock to lock a few times. See if it leaks.

 

Just replaced steering rack today on my Land Cruiser. There shouldn't be any fluid coming out of there. My rack sprung a huge leak right there and pissed all over my driveway last week.

I've replaced the rack in 1st gen Tacomas several times. Compared to my Land Cruiser, it's a walk in the park.

They are a wearable part that Tacomas usually need every 100-200k miles. I recommend an OEM new part.

 

Good advice, I should have done that ages ago with my profile. Thank you

 

Silly question, do you know if its safe to remove my steering wheel from the lock position?

I'm doing my tie rods (inner/outer) power steering bushings, shocks, upper and lower control arms, ball joints etc etc.. The only thing re-connected at this point is my power steering rack. The instructions i've read say to keep your steering wheel locked throughout the procedures.

I should be able to unlock it and perform your test as long as my power steering rack is 100% connected? I cant imagine what it would mess up if i dont have my tie rods, or rest of suspension set up?

 

Yes you can unlock the wheel and turn the rack lock to lock. Whether or not the outer tie rods are connected won't hurt the rack or anything else. As long as your steering shaft is bolted to the rack you are fine.

 

You aren't kidding, I just got done watching a video on the 1st gen tacoma power steering rack replacement. It really doesn't look to bad, especially where i'm at with my tear down, its not much additional work.

Where was your leak at? I agree! from my basic knowledge of racks, it shouldn't have a leak anywhere. But i've never found oil under my truck in any form, and what are the odds as soon as i maneuver the rack it begins a leak.

I was hoping it was just because the angle? In reality, i think its just a matter of time before it starts a real leak?

 

From my understanding there should be zero power steering fluid outside of the rack. You likely didn't see any leaks because the boot makes a good seal, and fluid lived inside the boot, not leaking out.

I'd guess you have a slow leak there that will get bigger. As stated try turning the rack and see if fluid comes out. Having the engine running is even better, because that will pressurize the system.

 

Stole my wifes q-tips cleaned every spec inside the barrel there, cycled steering rack 4-5 times, not a drop.

Might be worth noting the oil that came out of the boot was crystal clear, looked like brand new oil. It definitely wasn't in that boot long.

 

Can run it for a while and open the boot up maybe in a week or 2. See if any fluid has come out. If a couple weeks goes by and it's dry you should be good.

 

I'd say run it and as @Superdave1.0 stated just monitor it. Could be on the way out. I ran a leaky rack for years lol

 

Thank you both for the advice, i really appreciate it.

 

I recently replaced my rack at 210k miles because there was fluid coming out both ends. Both boots had worn through from wear over 25 years and that’s how I saw the leak. Who knows how long it was leaking at that point. I figured if it’s old enough for the boots to be worn through, I should probably replace the whole thing.

 

@woad4 if the fluid coming out was crystal clear you have the wrong fluid in there. Our power steering systems call for DexIII ATF (which is red in color, turns dark dark red, to black over time). Might be worth draining your system out and adding the proper fluid unless you expect to change out this rack soon, as that's the easiest time to do that.

 

Well, if you have/are planning to disconnect the shaft from the rack output spline, you should have the steering wheel rope-locked in exactly dead center, key-lock is rarely center. Two things can go wrong. When you put it back together you may find the steering wheel will be at an angle to drive straight. One way to fix that is to over-adjust the TRE's, but then your TRE threads will differ on the two sides (not a huge deal.) The other is to remove the shaft from the rack again and adjust it by trial and error.

A new rack will have witness marks for the dead center position of the rack. Having the shaft roped to dead center will ensure you're pretty close on re-assembly.

The other thing that can go wrong is with everything loose the clock spring in the steering column can get too far to one side or the other. The result can be that turn signals don't cancel, or worse, a tight turn can break the clock spring and that's a bit expensive. Best to keep it rope-locked to center. I use ratchet straps anchored to the seat frames.