Leaking Power Steering Rack

[Jondon007]

I was told I had a power steering leak (2008 Ford Explorer). The invoice says P/S Rack leaking. Anyone know how this is fixed and about how much is the cost of repair. The mechanic said something about the rack and pinion steering, about re-alignment, and quoted around $1000. Does this sound correct to anyone?

 

[rb142]

P/S rack leaking is the power steering rack and pinion. If it is leaking, then generally it has to be replaced. It is a lot of labor to do. Yes, it will require an alignment afterwards. Pricing always varies with region, but for NY, $1000 sounds pretty reasonable. I haven't looked up the price for that rack (look it up online), but some of them are pretty expensive -- plus labor. If you have any wear in the inner or outer tie rods, now is the time to change those too.

 

[DjDom]

Lucas power steering stop leak.. try it. Saved me some big money and actually worked..

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Which part of NY do you live in? Lucas has worked well for me, but I want to give you some advice. Too much of a good thing isn't always good. I had a leak on a line fitting in my 1995 van when I got it, and a little Lucas worked very well for years. In more recent times I had a minor leak on the power steering front pump seal. I added a little too much Lucas, and it caused the seal to expand to the point where it blew out. As a result, I ended up swapping the pump with a spare pump that was in my basement. The same thing happened when I tried it in another place on my van. So to sum things up, Lucas works very well for most but not all seal leaks when you don't over use it.

 

[chefduane]

I just had my rack changed on my '98 about a month ago at my local shop. It was slinging oil all over the undercarriage. I thought about doing it myself but from what I have read here its a real pisser to remove/replace. The rack itself was only $250 but with labor, fluids, and alignment, my total was $839. Make sure you drive a few stop-to-stop figure 8's in a parking to 'burp' any air out of the system.