The rack seals are shot, so you need to replace the steering rack. The boots are there to keep everything clean. When you see fluid leaking from the boots, then the internal o-ring seals are leaking, and the rack needs to be rebuilt.

 

Weak... How would I go about doing that? Is this something a rookie like myself can do? Guessing that Lucas Stop Leak stuff won't do much then...

 

Probably too late for stop leak. As far as replacing, some say its easy, some say its not. It is somewhat difficult, IMO. You also will need an alignment after youre done. Also you need to flush out the power steering system prior to installing the new rack.

 

Well I guess I had might as well try Lucas since it's 9 dollars and I'm not going to be able to replace the rack in the next week, doubt it will do anything but we'll see.

 

Well I guess I had might as well try Lucas since it's 9 dollars and I'm not going to be able to replace the rack in the next week, doubt it will do anything but we'll see.
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It wont do any harm so as long as you keep your power steering fluid at full level. Ran my Saturn like that for one year with a leaky rack and pinion.

 

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Well I guess I had might as well try Lucas since it's 9 dollars and I'm not going to be able to replace the rack in the next week, doubt it will do anything but we'll see.
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It wont do any harm so as long as you keep your power steering fluid at full level. Ran my Saturn like that for one year with a leaky rack and pinion.
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Agreed. I got lucky on an old Dodge I owned. The rack was leaking on it and I kept topping it off with Transmission stop leak. Eventually the system had to have nothing but stop leak in it (three quarts over a couple months) - and what you know - it stopped leaking. I drove it that way for a couple years.

On the other hand I haven't heard of too many people having any luck with "stop leak" on a Taurus's rack. Make sure you keep the fluid at a safe level - other wise you'll be replacing a PS pump too.

 

Replacing the rack in your car should be relatively easy if you follow the shop manual procedure. I replaced the "two-speed" rack in my 91 with a 3.8 in a few hours, and it required more work than if it had a Vulcan and a "single-speed" rack.

(2-speed rack has a valve on it that decreases pressure at a set speed to increase steering effort)

 

You might try Auto-RX instead of Lucas. Gonna cost about $25 the stuff sounds like snake oil but flat works. It cleans and revitalizes the rubber compounds to fix the leaks. All the other stop leak products swell the rubber seals. Thats not good IMO...........

I don't sell it, but it is one of the few additives I believe in because it is excellent.

 

Yeah, the stop leak didn't work, so I'm going to look into getting a remanufactured rack this saturday... In the meantime, where would I find this Auto-RX stuff?

Also, I think I'm going to replace my PS pump anyways. The damn thing is so loud. Is there a particular brand I should look for if I want it to be quiet and not too expensive?

 

Yeah, the stop leak didn't work, so I'm going to look into getting a remanufactured rack this saturday... In the meantime, where would I find this Auto-RX stuff?

Also, I think I'm going to replace my PS pump anyways. The damn thing is so loud. Is there a particular brand I should look for if I want it to be quiet and not too expensive?
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Auto-RX is a great product, but it's not going to fix your leaking rack. Plus, Auto-RX is about $24 per bottle.

Get a replacement rack. Be sure to check your inner and outer tie rods... they are probably due for replacement too.

 

Okay, I've decided not to even try the RX stuff because I'm sure it won't stop the leak, so where is the best place to get a new rack, tie rods, and a pump? Any brand I should go for? How much am I looking at spending?

 

I think my pump just gave in. I haven't been able to order a new Rack & Pinion simply because I don't have the money for it at the moment, and the leak seems to have gotten a lot worse than it was. I will fill it up, drive for 20 minutes and it will be low again. I ran out of extra fluid to pour in today and so resolved to drive to Advance Auto to buy some more... By the time I got there, it was lower than it has ever been, and it took some umph to turn the wheel. I noticed something when I put the car in park - the whine of the pump was gone. I could barely hear anything from my car rumbling, the "WHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" I was used to was gone. So, I bought another bottle and filled it back up, the whine came back, but much worse than sounding than before (there was also a weird gurgling sound coming from the radiator), and it is still really hard to turn, albeit not as hard as when it was really really low. So, I'm thinking my PS Pump is either on its last legs or gone, and the leak is now a fast dribble rather than a slow drip.

Is it safe to drive the car like this? If so, I really don't care about driving without power steering until I can afford to get it all fixed... Rather than spending money I don't have. I figured that since it is on a serpentine belt the car wouldn't work too well at all if the pump failed, but if it just does what it did tonight then I could go without it for a bit.

 

I don't know if its safe to drive the car like that. Not so much because it's difficult to steer, but more-so because I'd be afraid of the pump seizing. There's no way to bypass the pump with the belt. Putting more fluid in it isn't gonna help either since it's just pouring out of the rack.

:dunno:

 

My thoughts exactly... But I have to drive something today, I guess I'll check everything out before I leave and take it easy on the road... Don't want my pump raping my belt or anything, too bad there's no way to bypass it.

 

This really has gone back and forth, guess I'll tell you guys what's happened. I decided to try refilling it with Prestone PS Fluid that has some mixture of Stop Leak in it, and it slowed it down again, and the pump still works, even though it sounds like it is going to explode. I was just refilling it every day with that (bought 3 bottles of it). Refilled it tonight, ran out again, so I went and bought 3 more. I went to my friends house... used 1 there. Came back home (literally 2 miles away) and it was almost empty again. You can literally hear the thing the making a squirting sound when you turn the wheel to the left, and see more of a stream coming from the boot. The only way to keep it from leaving a huge puddle where I park is to turn it to the right before turning it off. Also, the entire wheel well is COVERED in power steering fluid, and the back of the tire - guess that's what happens on the interstate.

Anyways, I looked into the cheapest way to get a rack and found that ebay was the winner (surprise, surprise), and so my friend who has an ebay account with good feedback is going to order it for me. Hooray.

 

We're gioing to start calling you slick, for the oil slick you are leaving everywhere you go......

 

Shh... That wasn't me! Seriously!

The Rack and Pinion is on its way down from NC though, thank God.

 

Okay, bought a new pump (obviously not installed yet) and the rack and pinion should be here on Monday... I also have been noticing lately that sometimes when I start accelerating, I hear something creaking, sounds like under my feet (behind the petals), so I was wondering if I should replace the CV joint too?

Going to buy outer tie rod ends tomorrow.

Also, is there a guide on here to replacing the rack and pinion? I have the Ford CD but its guides aren't very clear...

 

see if this link works

 

Yep, it worked, makes a lot more sense than the Ford one too. Thanks!

 

So, believe it or not, I finally got around to working on all of this. I started with changing the power steering pump. My first problem was that I couldn't get the tensioner to move to get the belt off. So, I had to cut the belt. The tensioner was completely frozen up, so I got another one of those, along with a new belt (the other one was very worn, plus I cut it), changed the PS pump and then started on the rack and pinion. The old outer tierod ends basically fell apart when I took them off. I found that the swaybar links were busted on both sides, so I replaced those too... I got under the car and found what looked like a crushed can and said "Power Steering Fluid Filter" on it. Went to Advance to buy a new one and the lady didn't have any idea what it was and couldn't find it on the computer, so I guess I'll be going by AutoZone later... :huh:

 

you can get a generic power steering filter. Most of the Vulcans seem to have them from the factory, while the Duratecs do not.

 

The Magnefines work good for the PS.

http://www.bulkpart.com/Merchant2/merchant...e=inline-filter

 

Damn, the rack and pinion part isn't coming along well at all... 2 and a half hours in and we JUST got the Y pipe off. That thing was ON THERE. We had to drill the bottom bolt off, and soak the top one in PB blaster for about 30 minutes before it broke loose...

 

Well, the old rack's out, hopefully it will follow Ford's tradition of being hella retarded to take apart but easy-ish to put back together, 'cause that took WAY too long...