I had red/brown fluid in my boots as seen in my post on the previous page. Do you know if the stop leak would have any adverse affects on the inner tie rods if it were to get to them? Keeping those in good shape are my primary concern since they were so expensive and I just put them on. I'd really like to avoid replacing the rack if at all possible.
Steering Rack Replacement
- Thread starter NEKExplorer
- Start date
I had red/brown fluid in my boots as seen in my post on the previous page. Do you know if the stop leak would have any adverse affects on the inner tie rods if it were to get to them? Keeping those in good shape are my primary concern since they were so expensive and I just put them on. I'd really like to avoid replacing the rack if at all possible.
BamaDrewski
New member
I can't say enough about how pleased I have been with the BRAND NEW rack from Carsteering.com. AND NO - I DON'T WORK FOR THEM. It came quick, well packaged and with the 36 month warranty.
At the time I bought this (April 2013) I could find few "new racks" for sale - let alone with a good warranty to boot. The only issue I had is that the high pressure line connections were practically impossible for the mechanic to get off. I decided to put on OE new lines. Also, make sure whatever rack you buy - they FLUSH out your power steering system (including reservoir) to make sure there is no contamination in the system that will impact your new rack.
My rack went on at 216K and I have 265K now. So, 49K miles and not one complaint.
At the time I bought this (April 2013) I could find few "new racks" for sale - let alone with a good warranty to boot. The only issue I had is that the high pressure line connections were practically impossible for the mechanic to get off. I decided to put on OE new lines. Also, make sure whatever rack you buy - they FLUSH out your power steering system (including reservoir) to make sure there is no contamination in the system that will impact your new rack.
My rack went on at 216K and I have 265K now. So, 49K miles and not one complaint.
etc.
Member
Thank you for the picture. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it an oil leak.
I would rub my hand on the backside of the heads to check for oil escaping from the valve covers...you may want to wait until the motor cools. You can also do a sniff test of the oil and see if it smells like the dip stick in the reservoir.
If it is indeed a PS leak, your reservoir should need refilled.
JayRolla
New member
This company has changed names countless times. But with the same website format. When I bought mine from them they where toyotasteering.com.
Mine about 40k miles later is leaking. The inner tie rod ends failed first time offroading because they dont have as much droop as OEM's. I had emailed them, called them countless times and would not answer or call me back. Then website disappeared. I have seen them called nissansteering.com autosteering.com, and now carsteering.com.
This guy had exact same issue as me. http://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...rom-carsteering-com-aka-buyautoparts-com.html
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gamefreakgc
Elite Member
Maybe that's power steering fluid, it's hard to say. If it is you might want to look into siphoning it out of the reservoir and filling it with fresh stuff. Could also be motor oil but that's a TON of motor oil to magically find itself in the boot (not likely).
If you order a new rack, it comes with new inner tie rods. There's no way to order without them, so either way your unfortunately brand new inners will be wasted. If you're sure it's power steering fluid you've not nothing to lose, put in a bottle of the stuff (use as directed) and give it a go. Maybe it will work like it did for me. It's not anything super harsh, nothing worse than transmission fluid/power steering fluid, which by the way will strip away grease as well, a trick to remove sludge in an engine is to run 1 quart of transmission fluid in the crank case.
Might as well try the $5 fix before you have to do the $500+ fix. Although, you only have to replace the rack if you have adverse steering issues. If not you can just keep your power steering full and keep on truckin'.
Thanks. I'll give it a shot for sure. Can you recommend which stop leak you used?
I haven't noticed any adverse steering but I'm taking it in for an alignment today and will see what they say. If it is leaking is this a situation that would hurt the inners very quickly or is that more over a long period of time?
gamefreakgc
Elite Member
Here's the stuff I used (little more than $5 but was the most powerful stuff they had) Bar's Leaks 1600 - Power Steering Repair | O'Reilly Auto Parts
A failing rack shouldn't hurt much of anything really, what will happen is:
This. Once this happens it only gets worse and worse until it's hard to control the vehicle. I had like 5 inches of dead zone in my rack when it failed, almost a quarter turn before the wheels actually moved. Luckily it broke over time off from work!
There's nothing that I feel is very noticeable. That said I haven't had it very long and never really driven another 4Runner so I'm not sure how tight is should feel. There's definitely nothing drastically wrong with it though.
gamefreakgc
Elite Member
I think the FSM states that anything under 1" of dead zone is acceptable. So next time you are driving at moderate speeds on a straight patch, move the wheel back and forth in very small quick motions that gradually get bigger until you notice the wheels turning. That's how much dead zone you have. Then mentally (please don't try and put a ruler there while driving 
) measure the distance the wheel travels from side to side without moving the wheels. If that makes any sense, it's hard to describe but easy to show.
) measure the distance the wheel travels from side to side without moving the wheels. If that makes any sense, it's hard to describe but easy to show.I think the FSM states that anything under 1" of dead zone is acceptable. So next time you are driving at moderate speeds on a straight patch, move the wheel back and forth in very small quick motions that gradually get bigger until you notice the wheels turning. That's how much dead zone you have. Then mentally (please don't try and put a ruler there while driving
Makes perfect sense. Thanks. I'll try that out today.
I think the FSM states that anything under 1" of dead zone is acceptable. So next time you are driving at moderate speeds on a straight patch, move the wheel back and forth in very small quick motions that gradually get bigger until you notice the wheels turning. That's how much dead zone you have. Then mentally (please don't try and put a ruler there while driving
It didn't seem to have too much dead zone. Also I took into a local alignment shop to do the post tie rod alignment and he said the rack seemed fine. I think I just have a little seepage and I believe those to be the original inners and boots with 223K miles on them. I think I'll try the stop leak. Any suggestions on particulars for that would be appreciated.
gamefreakgc
Elite Member
Not really much to it, just empty the power steering reservoir via turkey baster, suction, however and then refill to the hot/cold line depending on temp. Then drive around a bit and it'll do its magic. You can turn the wheels from lock to lock for a little bit to speed things up and get the fluid circulating.
Thanks. Any particular stop leak you prefer?
gamefreakgc
Elite Member
The one I linked a couple of posts back is the only one I've used so far. Worked fine for a while, before I whacked my steering rack into oblivion and had to replace.
Not sure how I missed that. Thanks again.
O2RunnerSR5
New member
Can u swap a 2wd steering rack into a 4wd steering rack? I think mine has crapped out and there's a 4Runner with 56k miles at the salvage yard that I'm willing to take steering rack off of if it is a direct bolt on with mine
Chuckles89
New member
They are the same