No steering rack boot available?

[VORTMAX_99]

On our 2010 Mountaineer, when I was changing oil,
I noticed that the passenger side power steering rack
boot was quite wet on the bottom. Checked the power
steering fluid reservoir and it wasn't low. I looked at the
boot and compared it to the driver side and it looked
as though the boot was working its way off the end
of the rack. I decided to have local Ford dealership
look at it as it's still under warranty (only 6000 miles).

They agreed the boot was leaking, and that they would
have to replace the entire rack as the boot was not
a "serviceable" item. The warranty will cover the
cost, including re-alignment.

Was curious to know if there are any other sources
for just the boot, should it happen again in the
future (as least past warranty time). Seems kind of
expensive to replace a whole rack for only a boot.

Come to think of it, there probably shouldn't be any
fluid in the boot if the seal in the rack is doing it's
job, so maybe I'm making more of it than I should.

But for future reference, has anyone else been able
to find just a boot?

Tnx,
Geo

 

[Turdle]

The boot will leak if the rack seal is blown. The old boot will work fine on the new rack --it may need cleaned up a bit though. It's job is to keep dust-dirt-mud out of the inner tie rod joint and rack area.

Zip ties hold it in place well, once it is positioned.

 

[VORTMAX_99]

Thanks for the reply Turdle. They swapped out the rack
today, so I'll just continue to keep an eye on it.

tnx again,

Geo