What aftermarket power steering racks actually don't leak?

[DBMaster]

I have used non-OEM "Honda" fluids for a long time. They are available wherever auto supplies are sold, including Wally World. As long as it says "made for Honda" you're fine. I have never understood why anyone would try to save money here. Of course, I had a friend who was a mechanic twenty years ago who told me that he rebuilt plenty of racks on Hondas and Acuras due to someone cheaping out and putting Dexron fluid into them.

[Dr_Snooz]

If you want a good laugh, take a trip to the junkyard and look at all the leaky racks underneath the Hondas. You'll know exactly how many people try using the wrong fluid.

[DBMaster]

I guess I should clarify. When I say "non OEM" I still mean fluid made for Hondas. This would not be the same as regular P/S fluid, "universal" P/S fluid, or ATF. Wherever you buy it just make sure it says that it is for Honda and you'll be fine. It is more expensive, but that's life.

[nswst8]

Just for the record the part through Oreilly's was listed under Rare parts #55214 (MOOG 55214)

Did alot of driving today and no leaks.

[A18A]

I got annoyed with my power steering fluid always disappearing. now i just use waste oil or what ever works. it lasts a couple thousand k's before i have to fill it again. probably not good for it though lol.

[Dr_Snooz]

I got annoyed with my power steering fluid always disappearing. now i just use waste oil or what ever works. it lasts a couple thousand k's before i have to fill it again. probably not good for it though lol.

I think once it starts leaking, the fluid question becomes academic. I mean, if the seals are leaking, why bother buying special fluid to preserve them?

Having said that, I put some special leak stopper PS fluid (not Honda spec) in my '82 Accord one time. It was already leaking pretty badly, and I just brain farted massively and used the worst fluid possible. It leaked like crazy after that and the car started wandering and became difficult to keep on the road. When you get to that point, change the rack.

[lostforawhile]

I got annoyed with my power steering fluid always disappearing. now i just use waste oil or what ever works. it lasts a couple thousand k's before i have to fill it again. probably not good for it though lol.

that will ruin your pump too, those pumps are high precision and the crud in that will ruin them

[lostforawhile]

oh and don't use the lucas power steering stop leak, I tried that once went from a tiny drip to the seals ruined in the rack and pump within a week

[A18A]

that will ruin your pump too, those pumps are high precision and the crud in that will ruin them

Shouldn't the filter prevent gunk from going through the pump?

I think once it starts leaking, the fluid question becomes academic. I mean, if the seals are leaking, why bother buying special fluid to preserve them?

Having said that, I put some special leak stopper PS fluid (not Honda spec) in my '82 Accord one time. It was already leaking pretty badly, and I just brain farted massively and used the worst fluid possible. It leaked like crazy after that and the car started wandering and became difficult to keep on the road. When you get to that point, change the rack.

If this happened to me, i'd start changing stuff lol. the fluid at least anyway. TBH I don't really care about the longevity of my power steering since I have lots of spare parts to fix whatever breaks. I wouldn't advise others to do what I do though, unless you live in a wreckers yard and enjoy working on your car lots

/thread jack

[cygnus x-1]

The absolute sure fire way to make sure your steering rack doesn't leak is to not put fluid in it. Power steering is over rated.


C|

[2oodoor]

The absolute sure fire way to make sure your steering rack doesn't leak is to not put fluid in it. Power steering is over rated.


C|

yes and no..

since were on the subject, about a year ago, my rack which was not leaking, made a strange gurgling noise when I was under the hood messing with the idle adjustments. When I moved the car the rack just puked out fluid, and it did this only 2 days and only when I was backing out of a parking space. I topped it off with Honda fluid, which I think it already had in it, and it has not leaked since.
Do NOT ever use Lucas like Lost says, as good as Lucas products are for some things, this one isn't a good choice for rack and pinions.

[nswst8]

MOOG rack took a dump yesterday. Put in a NAPA rack in, it's at Firestone now. we'll see how long this will last.

Funny how NAPA part number identifies with an A1-cardone part number. Yet they say NAPA does the rebuild.

[lostforawhile]

Shouldn't the filter prevent gunk from going through the pump?



If this happened to me, i'd start changing stuff lol. the fluid at least anyway. TBH I don't really care about the longevity of my power steering since I have lots of spare parts to fix whatever breaks. I wouldn't advise others to do what I do though, unless you live in a wreckers yard and enjoy working on your car lots

/thread jack

with these reservoirs being 25 years old and the filter being built in, there is no telling what condition that filter is,

MOOG rack took a dump yesterday. Put in a NAPA rack in, it's at Firestone now. we'll see how long this last.

Funny how NAPA part number idenities with an A1-cardone part number. Yet they say NAPA does the rebuild.

what happened with the moog rack,thats unusual, they usually have really good parts. On my nappa rack it leaked for a very short time then quit leaking, i think the seals have to wear in or something

[DBMaster]

I asked my mechanic the filter question a while back. I said that the shop manual specifies replacing the reservoir any time you do any work on the P/S system. Since the reservoir is discontinued that's not possible. The reservoirs Honda started using in 1990 did not have the filter built in and the hose nipples are in different places. Of course, I'm sure you could make it work, or go with something custom like Lost has done. So, back to the question. He said that in over 30 years of working on Hondas he never replaced a reservoir. He recommended that I flush the filter with some solvent, which I did. I then let it dry and flushed the filter with P/S fluid. It seemed to flow plenty freely. I don't think that an inline magnetic filter would be a bad idea, either. ATP makes a nice compact one that fits the 3/8" rubber line. It is for an automatic transmission, but it would work just fine in this application.

http://www.atp-inc.com/LinkClick.asp...sg%3d&tabid=81

IT's the JX-155. I installed one of these the last time I changed my transmission fluid. It takes up very little space compare to the Magnefine filter.

[nswst8]

The last three racks all leaked from the passenger side, so it has to do with the rebuild process. The reservoir flows freely.

If this rack fails I will get a rebuild directly from honda and see what happens with that one.

Mike, if you could call and find out where your mechanic got your rack from I would greatly appreciate it.

[lostforawhile]

there are a number of good metal power steering reservoirs in older Nissan's I believe and some other Japanese cars one of those would work just fine in these cars, and you could add one of the inline PS filters, I went complicated and used a spin on oil filter,but they make simple inline ones Snooze has one I believe

[Vanilla Sky]

Find a jobber that does good rebuilds. Don't bother with the parts store.

[lostforawhile]

there was someone who does really good rack rebuilds but they are expensive, I can't remember who it was,I guess if you plan on keeping the car it's worth the extra money

[DBMaster]

Danny said that my steering rack came from Worldpac (http://www.worldpac.com) which is in Newark, CA. He sources them elsewhere, though, depending upon availability. I agree 100% with Vanilla Sky, though. If you can find a local outfit that rebuild racks, that might be the way to go. I am not sure if Worldpac sells to consumers or not.

[DBMaster]

Not sure, but found this, also.

http://www.carsteering.com/addtocart.../80-00529.html

I forgot to mention that Danny has also ordered from Majestic Honda. If you want the best possible rebuilt rack Honda might be the way to go, but cost...? Who knows. You probably have to call to find out because I can't figure out how to display it on their web site.

[obdriver6]

When we bought the my car, the rack was crap so we replaced it with an O'reilly one(Checker back then), we put trans fluid at first without any problem. I later had problems with the high pressure line so I replaced it but this time I added preston power steering fluid without flushing out the trans fluid. After that my pump started leaking, I fixed the problem and kept using preston. Then a while later the same pressure hose was leaking so this time I decided to drain as much of the contaminated power steering fluid as I could. As soon as I started the car, I could still see a bit of pink fluid in the reservoir so I just left it. I figured its like 90% preston and 10% trans fluid. While all this was happening, the rack never leaked and hasn't leaked to this day.

[MessyHonda]

Danny said that my steering rack came from Worldpac (http://www.worldpac.com) which is in Newark, CA. He sources them elsewhere, though, depending upon availability. I agree 100% with Vanilla Sky, though. If you can find a local outfit that rebuild racks, that might be the way to go. I am not sure if Worldpac sells to consumers or not.

my local napa auto parts can get parts from worldpac. they have a warehouse were you can just go to will call and pick up your parts.

[nswst8]

My local Honda dealer quoated me $264.00 + core ($100) if the NAPA one I just put in fails then I will get the Honda rebuilt rack.

I'll keep this car until the wheel fall off or my girls will send them to the junkyard
being semi retired I have the time to pull racks allday long. Money is not an issue.

Thanks for all the help guys.

[DBMaster]

I still don't get why people are jacking around with other fluids besides Honda fluid. Do you enjoy fixing leaks? You can buy the fluid at Wal Mart, Auto Zone, etc. It doesn't have to be made by Honda. It just has to be made FOR Honda. Yeah, it's a bit more expensive, but you can buy enough to fill the whole system from empty for about $10-12.

How much is your time and frustration worth?

[Vanilla Sky]

If you had read the link that I provided, the "Honda Approved" fluid kills racks, too. Just go to the dealership and pay the $.30 more.