power steering leak !

[ACCORD EX]

today i drove my car and came back and a drop of Ps fluid is on the ground ! damn !
i raised teh car and looke where is was coming from ! and looked in the service manual and it was the AIR transfer tube !????
it's marked in the pic below ! please tell m what can i do to stop it ! it does leak much ! can use a clamp , wire , gasket maker , glue ! please reply as soon as possible ! :(

http://members.fortunecity.com/accordex87/steering.jpg

MIKE

[smufguy]

oh oh oh look at the number its 69. heheh, no i am just being an ass. well anywayz, i really never heard anyone having a prob with their pwr at that particular point. wipe it really clean and use some carb cleaner to clean that area real good. if possible, put something over it. see if u find the leak at that same point. why i ask u to cover it is because something might leak and drip on it. this is only true, when u did not double check if its the place where its coming from. i dont know man. i dont really have a clue how to fix it.

[DBMaster]

It could actually be a steering shaft seal leak and the fluid is just coming out of the air bleed hole in the boot.

[AZmike]

Your steering rack is leaking. Mine was doing the same thing. It's either bad rack end seals, a sticking control valve or a combination of the two. I replaced my rack with a rebuilt one. No leaks since. It's not especially difficult, but it's a very time consuming job. A lot of the car needs to come out to remove the rack.

NHTSA Item Number: 005241
Component: STEERING:GEAR:RACK
Summary:
DIAGNOSING STEERING RACK LEAKS-RACKS DON'T ALWAYS NEED NEW RACK END SEALS, EVEN FLUID SPEWING FROM BOTH ENDS-PROBLEM AMY BE LEAKY CONTROL UNIT THAT CAN FIXED WI THOUT REMOVING RACK-BEFORE PULL RACK OUT OF CAR, SLIDE BOTH BOOTS BACK AND CLEAN RACK, GEAR HOUSING, AND CYLINDER-START ENGINE AND TURN STEERING WHEEL BACK AND FORTH UNTIL YOU SEE WHICH END OF RACK LEAKING- IF RIGHT END LEAKING, RESEAL RACK -IF LEAK COMING FROM LEFT END, RESEAL CONTROL UNIT FIRST-ALL HONDA ACCORD AND PR ELUDE MODELS TLH


So disconnect the air hose, clean the rack and check for both sides for leaks. My rack was $140 with a $30 core rebuilt by Crown. Plan on taking about a day to complete the job if you do it yourself.

[POS carb]

out that shit in faq!!

[ACCORD EX]

damn ! it's coming from the left side !! damn damn damn ! :( :crying:

what can i do in the mean time ! what happens if i leave it that way for a while ( adding fluid ofcourse ! )

BTW what else should i change when doing this job ! other oilseals !? any machinning required ! ???

MIKE

[AZmike]

Rather than adding fluid (which gets expensive over time), remove the PS belt and drive it like that until you have the parts to fix it. You won't hurt any thing by doing that as long as you want. I've seen a seal kit available on NOPI but I've heard that you need special tools to disassemble the rack (the factory manual shows it anyway) so I spent a little more so I would have one less thing to deal with and got a whole rack.

[ACCORD EX]

ok thanx guys !


MIKE

[ACCORD EX]

BTW what is all the stuff that i can change while the steering is out ! tell me everything ! so i won't worry about it again !


MIKE

[AZmike]

I'm going to assume that you're swapping for a rebuilt rack since you haven't said anything different. IF you PS pressure hose is leaking it would be easier to replace that, but since it's expensive you wouldn't want to bother if yours is still good. I had to replace my PS pump's pulley shaft seal. For $5 it might be a good idea. My guess is that someone used non Honda PSF is my car for a while and that's why I've had to reseal just about everything. Since you need to pul your exhaust it would be a good time to install exhaust headers. Your tie rod ends will also need to come off. If yours aren't in good shape there's another couple parts you could replace. You should make sure that your rack bushings are in good shape. Mine were fine so I bet yours are too.

Don't forget to flush the PS system and be careful not to overtighten the rack clamps (follow Honda torque specs) otherwise you'll crack the rack housing (so I hear). Plan on getting an alignment. I eyeballed mine and it barely pulls so I haven't bothered yet, but I really should.

Did I miss anything?

[ACCORD EX]

one thing about honda HSF ! i can't find it anywhere ! what can i do ! can use other oil ! ??? :(

MIKE

[AZmike]

Absolutely not. You need Honda PSF. Some other brands make PSF 'for Honda' which would probably work ok too. I have pretty good access to the real stuff so that's what I get. I've heard other types eat your seals. Every time I asked anyone at a parts store about PS seals they checked to make sure I was using Honda fluid. You'll probably end up needing 6-8 of the 12 oz bottles to flush your system and swap out your rack.

[POS carb]

I heard that to replace the inner tie rods you need a special socket that goes over the entire thing so I dunno, check out the price for a new/rebuilt rack and ask if it includes innner and maybe even outer tie rods. :wave:

[AZmike]

My Crown rack came with inner joints and tie rods. I had to use my own outer rod ends though.

[ACCORD EX]

thanx for all the help guys ! i 'll look @ my options !

MIKE

[AZ89Accord]

When you replace a PS Rack, make sure to keep the jam nuts from your old PS rack. This is hardware, so you will not get it with the new rack .