Power Steering Issue on 2003 Ford Explorer 4.0L V8 (Is dealer at fault?)

[Jaserobh1970]

Hello, First post here but it looks like there is a ton of information in these forums. Thank you for your input on my issue.

I have 2003 Explorer with 80,000 miles on it, and we brought the vehicle in to the dealer for a steering issue. The steering seemed tight every half turn of the steering wheel.
The dealer discovered an issue with the steering shaft. They also came up with a laundry list of other items such as rear brake rotors, rear coil springs, etc.
As I couldn't afford to get everything done right there and then, I told them to just repair the steering shaft and leave everything else.

We brought the vehicle home and we were happy with the repair. We haven't been using the vehicle recently so it sat on the drive for a couple of weeks. When we came to move it, we discovered a significant puddle on the drive. This vehicle has never leaked any fluid before. We drove the vehicle back to the dealer and they said that the vehicle had two rusted out power steering lines and the fluid was pouring out of them.

Having discussed this with the dealer, they said that it had absolutely nothing to do with the repair and was purely coincidental. I expressed my disappointment with the situation and they stated that they would give me a discount on the repair of the two lines, so instead of costing $1,000, it would now only cost $500.

I gave them the ok to perform the repair but got another call from them tonight to tell me that the two lines were replaced and now they have found another leak (although this one is just a drip) in the power steering system attached to the rack and pinion. They said that that line is not serviceable and I would need to have a new rack and pinion.As I was very skeptical with them on the phone, they invited me around to take a look at the vehicle from underneath.

I have a couple of questions. Is it possible that these leaks could have been caused by them replacing the steering shaft? Is it possible that this is all a complete coincidence?
If I drive the vehicle away from there tomorrow night, could I use a Power steering leak fix fluid to stop the small drip?
Also, what recourse do I have with the dealer on this? Basically do I just have to take their word for it?

Thank you very much for your help

 

[Tech By Trade]

Probably not the rack if its one of the seals on the ends. They tend to dry up and drip a bit. Little bit of stop leak usualy puffs em back up. Not sure how the pump lines could "rust" though. Sounds fishy to me.

 

[Jaserobh1970]

Probably not the rack if its one of the seals on the ends. They tend to dry up and drip a bit. Little bit of stop leak usualy puffs em back up. Not sure how the pump lines could "rust" though. Sounds fishy to me.

Thank you very much for the reply. Do you think it is possible that any damage could have occurred to the lines while they were changing the steering shaft?

 

[Tech By Trade]

Were they leaking on the rack, or on the pump end? If I remember right the shaft comes down between the lines, I guess if someone bent them out of the way, or if they were frozen and they were removed to get at the shaft they could have been damaged during removal. Could have happened, but they were probably just worn out. If the pump end was leaking its not likely they touched it.

 

[Jaserobh1970]

Were they leaking on the rack, or on the pump end? If I remember right the shaft comes down between the lines, I guess if someone bent them out of the way, or if they were frozen and they were removed to get at the shaft they could have been damaged during removal. Could have happened, but they were probably just worn out. If the pump end was leaking its not likely they touched it.

Thanks again for the response. They told me that after they replaced the two lines (one of which was pouring fluid), that there is now a small drip on the rack end and it is not serviceable so they would need a new rack and pinion to repair it.

 

[Tech By Trade]

Probably a dry seal, my 07 did the same thing. Just added some power stearing stop leak. It just swells the seals and it quit leaking. that was months ago. Not sure about down there but up here it was 1200 just in parts for the rack alone. Not worth it for me. Same thing happened on my old Sunfire and the Wifes old Camry she drove. I just put some cardboard down on the driveway of our old house.

 

[Jaserobh1970]

Probably a dry seal, my 07 did the same thing. Just added some power stearing stop leak. It just swells the seals and it quit leaking. that was months ago. Not sure about down there but up here it was 1200 just in parts for the rack alone. Not worth it for me. Same thing happened on my old Sunfire and the Wifes old Camry she drove. I just put some cardboard down on the driveway of our old house.

Thank you very much again, I will try that when I get it back. It is at the dealer right now and I am heading there this afternoon to take a look at the rusted out line. I am still suspicious.

 

[rb142]

Every one of these vehicles (at least the ones in the salt belt) have crusty, rusted lines on the power steering rack. Having lines rust through is quite common, especially if they are disturbed. Your dealer may or may not have disturbed those lines doing the steering shaft work, but if that caused them to fail then they were just about ready to fail on their own already.

As for the new leak, you need to understand where it is coming from. From the description, I would guess it is a leak in the cooler lines. That is also a very common place to have the lines rust through. If so, that leak will only get worse and stop leak won't fix it. If it is leaking from a fitting or from the rack end seals, that would be a different story. You can probably live with a slow leak from the seal as long as you keep it full of fluid.

Assuming all that is true, I don't see any fault on the dealer's part here.