H2

In foto one, you can see the steering rack plate that's secured with two 13mm bolts. I have a small leak from here (and only here). From what I've read in the list, I should be able to pull the plate, remove a washer, a spring, the guide pad and piston, and put in a new O ring that should stop the leak. Right? The piston would be Part # 30 in the exploded drawing.

Has anyone done this? Does anyone know what size O ring is needed? Is there a special technique for getting the piston out?

Just fixing one more thing on the shark. The steering is tight as they come, I just have this little leak from this area.

Thanks,

H2

Tom in Austin

Interesting, I think my rack may be leaking from the same location ...

M. Requin

After looking at the pix, I don't think that's the leak. Clean everything up really well, and check again. I think you are going to find that it's the hoses.

Tom in Austin

I replaced both hoses (and all seal rings) on my car and am seeing fluid just like in HZ's picture. I originally assumed this was just normal rack-end leak going into the boots but have wondered why it would end up where HZ sees it.

Mrmerlin

you may have an internal seal leaking. Usually the rack will start leaking from having the wheel held at the stop and IE during full lock turns It is best to go to the stop and then back off an inch this will not really effect the turn radius but will reduce the pressure that the rack is having to hold

mj1pate

I agree...mine was leaking at the cover plate as well. As I understand, there should not be fluid behind the plate unless the internal seals are leaking. Check the forums, but I think you will find that DIY rebuilding the rack is an unbelievable pain to succeed at, and a 3'rd party rebuild is the answer. They aren't really that expensive and replacement wasn't that big a deal.

H2

Rather than rebuilt the whole rack with a couple dozen washers, I was hoping to replace this ONE O-ring that seems to be the offender, without removing the rack. My rack does not leak from the hoses, it leaks from under this plate.

Photo 2 shows the O ring I'm talking about.

H2

M. Requin

Sorry - didn't understand there was fluid BEHIND the plate as well. Your projected fix might work.

As far as DIY rack rebuilding goes, doing just the seals is pretty easy, just keep it clean etc etc. And if you go that route, DO NOT follow the advice that appears online here and there (not on this site I think) about digging out that hard-to-get-at seal in the tower with a screwdriver, you'll likely bugger the seat up and it will never stop leaking. Buy or borrow a pilot bearing puller and do it the easy way.

toofast928

H2 have you found a vendor for the seal? How about the guide pad.

IcemanG17

mine also leaked from the same spot.....but it turned out there was A LOT of play inside and the rack needed to be replaced!!

mj1pate

Hmmm....good luck with this and I hope your seal replacement fixes the problem. When mine was leaking (under the boots as well), a search on this site suggested that there should be no fluid pressure under that plate. BUT, I didn't spend enough time with it to become an expert.

H2

In theory, it should be a really simple fix, without the agony of taking the whole rack off and messing up the alignment, messing up seals, buying a new rack, and so on. An O ring should be about the right price for a really cheap fix but I'm guessing that the O ring size has to be spot on.

I was hoping someone had done this.

H2

jon928se

HH

If the O ring is the source of the leaking fluid I would imagine you would be able to find the correct size at a hydraulics specialist.

I was wondering how you could get the "piston" and O ring out without dismantling the rack as I remember it was a tight fit to get the piston in with the rack disassembled, and there is nothing to grab hold of to pull it out. It then occured to me that all you need to do is loosen the bolts, then with some steering lock applied in one direction or the other turn the engine over with starter - this should generate sufficent hydraulic pressure to push the piston out.

H2

We don't have a good haudraulics shop locally so I'll have to drive 100miles to the nearest. I've read that the piston is tricky to remove, and maybe there's a ring of somekind holding it in. the rack is not leaking bad so I'm in no hurry. But if this will work, it shouldn't be difficult to try...if I can get the right size O ring.

Thanks for replying.

H2

Mrmerlin

if you have fluid pouring out of the bottom of the rack then your internal seals are probably toast, at best putting a new O ring on this part is a bandaid fix at best. You should consider either rebuilding the rack , it is a big job or better get a rack from one of the site sponsers and plug and play, if your doing rack also consider replacing the resivour and the hose to the pump as these will also usually be leaking.
The Resivour has an internal filter that cant be replaced so its best to renew it so to add life to the Hydro system