The steering rack on my van is starting to leak. The driver side boot is all wet with oil, although it dosnt leak enough to leave oil on my driveway yet. Is this going to get worse fast or can I live with this for a while.
Hank
Mine is doing the same thing, but I'll just keep it the way it is. It is just part of the way the steering rack was designed. If you replace yours, chances are it'll do the same thing again in a short period of time.
The only time I'll replace the steering rack is if it develops a major leak i.e. like loosing more than half of the steering fluid in the reservoir. So far my fluid loss at the reservoir is very negligible and I haven't added anything in it since I bought the van new back in 2006.
I just hope that the owners of chrysler even though cutting their cost, would continue to improve their mechanical designs as defects/flaws are found by end-users . . . if the company survives.
I would take the easy way out,and recommend Lucas PS fix like the shops seem to,however the leak is only going to get worse.Replace the rack when you can.But I would watch out for Cardone rebuilt units,I have heard horror stories about their lack of quality control in the rebuild process.
Ik this is old post, I’m looking for help. I’m hearing diff things it hard to get honest mechanic in my town.. I have 2001 DG Sports 3.3 and 180,000 on it.. my PS started to leak and found that hoses to cooler was leaking and fix that, but family member on my exes bend the cooler on one side instead of telling me the hoses was not right size..
idk if that part of leak.. but took it 3 mechanic and one said it ur low and high hoses, another said the boot leaking on the passenger side..need rack….
I put cardboard under it see where it leaking and it leaking on both sides and leaking more on driver side.. their spots in the middle, at first leaked more by PSP but now it more on driver side..some of guys saying anywhere from 1,500 to 3,200 rack job…Ik the rack is less the 250… unless buying new then it 500 more..
I wanted try the stop leak Lucas but scared bcz it might clog the reservoir..
I want to try slow it down until I find reasonable and honest mechanic. I’m 35 miles+ to bigger town .. idk driving that far will hurt?? Also I heard u say stay away with advanced PS rack from cardones are they still bad??? It 15 yrs plus since these replies.. that cheapest for me… hate to put too much into , I put everything in this van but a engine… worst car I’ve ever owned… I’ve never had do a rack job or tranny in any of my other cars never own dodge until the van…
so any suggestions would be helpful.. I’m limited on income, but it my only transportation.. thank you..
That tubing was to let one boot bleed off air into the other boot and vice versa when the rack is turned one way or another.The alternative is to have a hole in the boots to bleed off compressed air (a boot is a bellows) and that could let dirt in or squirt the leaky fluid out!
I remember the rack on my old 78 Ford Fairmont already had that crossover tube between the rack bellows. I doubt the rack teeth go through the seal. I wonder if the teeth might side load the rack and cause the rack to wear into the opposite side of the seal. Just guessing?
Hank
The imports I have seen have had a small cutout in the boot or a rather loose fit on the innner tire rod/boot connection.That air pressure has to go somewhere.
my old Dodge Shadow had a steel cross over tube. I havent had any problems with any of the racks on any of the chrysler products I have owned. On the fords I had to replace the rack on my old 78 Fairmont and 83 Ltd. both due to lack of assist when cold problems.
Hank
As of today I now have an oil spot under the driver side rack on my driveway. Has anyone had any luck getting Chrysler to pay for this out of warrany? I have 85,500 kms on this van now.
Hank
I have a solenoid pack that does that. Below freezing, it leaks, above freezing it doesn't.
Sounds like your seal (or a gasket, if there is one) is sensitive to temperature. Wonder what additives would soften the seal up a bit or swell it. Lucas comes to mind. :help_wsig
I would find out what the dealer is using, if anything, in that situation.
Mine is leaking faster as the weather is warming up. I looked under mine and the driver side boot is soaked with oil. Mine doesnt have the finned cooler that many of the older ones have.
Hank
Mine too is leaking faster in the warmer weather. The "thick" Lucas repair fluid works pretty well, but it is not fixing the problem. I went under to see the issue was fluid seeping out the far outside of the passenger side boot. Not a job I am looking forward to.
This is our 1st PS related problem ever in any van made after 1989. Our '87 Grand went through 3 racks, but the newer ones seem much better.
Mine just started to leak when we got it back from the mechanic for something else:ask_wsign(Maybe they are trying to get more business). I got an estimate for 162 dollars for a new rack and of course I have to put it in.
My '03 had the leaking rack replaced during it's 98,000km service, 50/50 third party warranty payment. Job still cost me AUD$1300, no wonder I did the brake job myself.
I just put lucas power steering stop leak in mine. It guarentees that it will work or my money back. I did noticed when I was draining out the resovour that there was alot of little blacks bits coming out.
Lucas ......... don't know about that, the screen in the reservoir is a very fine mesh and can plug easily. If there is dirt in the reservoir or a squealing during parking maneauvers (power steering not getting enough fluid return) I would replace the reservoir.
I used the lucas stuff in my daughters old 95 Cavalier with good success. It was leaking oil out of the ends of the rack. It stopped it after a few top ups with it and was leak free for the next several years. I am not sure weather I want to put in in this van as I plan on having it a long time, and dont want it softening the seals in the pump and hoses
Hank
Well about a week ago I put in the lucas power steering stop leak. Well since I have put it in, it has stoped leaking and has not leaked one drop. We will see how long this lasts. We want it to lasts hopefully to summer because he is a little tight on money right now to spend on a 160 dollars on a rack.
If you go aftermarket,try to avoid Cardone.They dont have a good track record overall with master cylinders,power window motors,water pumps,ps pumps.....you name it.
I did the one in my brother's van last summer. It's not a terrible job, took about 4 hours on my back in the driveway. You need a special tool to press the roll pin that holds the steering shaft to the rack in and out, I think it was around $25. Basically all that has to come off is the big sheetmetal brace between the engine cradle and the chassis, the evap canister is in the way a little but if you unbolt it and swing it out of the way it can stay in the car. Honestly the worst part of the job was getting the lines on and off the rack. We got the wheel straight and then did a tape measure toe setting, drives fine and isn't wearing the tires funny 10k later.
edit: It's a good time to replace the sway bar bushings if you haven't done it recently. Much better access with the brace out of the way.
Do you have to remove the clockspring when replacing the rack? The reason I ask is, I glanced at my haynes manual today because my rack is leaking and it mentioned something about removing the clockspring when replacing the rack.
Well tuesday I'm going to buy a new rack. The rack will leak all the fluid out of the rack, hoses, and resouvor in about three hours. If you go under the van, you can see the rack just drip it out. It drips and drips and drips until empty. I'll let you guys now how it went. I will porberly do it this weekend. Anything I should look for?
Well got the new rack yesterday and now here comes the fun part, putting it in. It cost me 159 dollars and 111 dollar core. Looks kinda of a bit** to put it. Bought a new resouvor for 25 dollars at the dealer. I am going to do it this saturday.
I got a couple of ?'s. I read my repair manual. How do I disconnect the power steering lines from the rack when it is still connected. I can't get a wrench up in there to disconnect, but it looks like I won't be able to lower it till I remove the lines? Also how does the the steering shaft connect to the rack. The manual says to disconnect a pin while the van is on the ground but once again I can't get to it, even when it is up in the air. I am mechanically inclined, but this is just a little confusing. I figured I would ask the pros(you guys) first before I dig into it. One more question, what happens if the old rack the tie rods are more to the left and the new one to the right. When I put the new rack on, now won't my steering wheel be at an angle instead of straight while the car is going straight. Sorry if this is confusing, it is the best way I can describe it. Thanks.
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