I had the same problem on my mom's 96 camry. Jacked the vehicle up and thought it was either the pump or a loose/bad hose. Come to find out it was leaking out of the rack and pinion from the right side. Looks like to be a bad seal where the connecting rod goes into the rack and pinion housing.

Option was to either rebuild it or get a new one. Decided on a new one from Kragen. Check 3 diffferent places, napaonline.com, carparts.com, and partsamerica.com. All three sold the same part by Cardone and all had different prices. Kragen(partsamerica.com) was the cheapest. Will be installing it today. The part cost $173.99 with a $149.99 core charge.

The removal/install isn't hard just make sure you jack up the vehicle high enough to move around.

 

Thanks Mike, If you don't mind sharing the details of your change out it may prove helpful for me. Are there any special tools required for this change?

 

Wow, I tried the three sites you recommended and only Partsamerica showed a rebuilt unit (at $298.88). The others just had new units, which were way more expensive. I did see a few sellers on ebay with rebuilt units that were more in line with your Camry unit's price and Napa and carparts have seal kits to do a rebuild. I'm amazed that the unit for the Camry was less than $200 new and on the Sienna, a rebuilt unit is almost $300. I just bought a Tundra so I am selling the van but I want to fix it right. Would it be feasible to pull the exisiting unit and replace the seals myself or is there quite a bit more to a rebuild than replacing the seals and cleaning it up?

Thanks,

Steve

 

Not sure on the rebuild but, I opted to just get another one.

As far as the process.

1. Lifted vehicle and placed on jackstands. Took both wheels off.
2. Disconnected sway bar from end links and removed sway bar mounts. Needed to do this to gain access to the rack and pinion mounting bolts.
3 Disconnected tie rods.
4. Removed bolt from end of steering shaft.
5. Disconnected incoming and outgoing p/s fluid lines and removed. Be sure to have a bucket to catch the fluid.
6. Removed smaller fluid lines (top of rack and pinion).
***I removed all the lines from the rack and pinion to make it easier when I remove the complete unit.***
7. Remove two rack and pinion mounting bolts.
8. Remove rack and pinion unti from the driver side. Book said passenger side but, it was more difficult.

For install reverse process. I'll be taking measurements on where the tie rods are placed to get it as close to alignment as possible. Afterwards, I'll be taking it in to an my local Wheel Works (aka Tires Plus) for a proper alignment.

 

Thanks, that is a big help.

 

Dont try rebuilding it. You'll will end up with a nightmare.
I have ALL tools to rebuild it and they dont work. We proved that to our factory and region reps, who accused us of being lazy.
We told them to come one down and show us how easy it was.......
THEY COULDNT DO IT EITHER.
The teflon rings tear when you try to replace them.
Like Dyogim said, it is easy to replace.
His instructions are very good

Good Luck

 

Finding the leak is step one, as you know.

Start at the top and work down...the reason is simple...fluid will flow down, not up.

Chances are that your van has a reservoir separate from the pump. The reservoir has a tube that feeds fluid from it to the pump. This is a low-pressure line and usually uses standard clamps. Check the reservoir and feed line for cracks or a missing/broken clamp.

The pump sucks in fluid from the low pressure line, pressurizes it, and sends it to the rack via a high-pressure hose. This hose is typically prone to leaking, especially at the pressed-on fittings. Inspect this hose carefully. Use a paper towel to check for fluid residue. Remember, fluid flows down towards the ground.

The rack is bolted the front sub-frame of the van and is usually held in place by two big clamps. Each clamp typically has two bolts. The center part of the assembly is where the rack and pinion reside and where fluid is held. The unit will have the high-pressure line coming from the pump and a low-pressure line going back to the resevoir. At both ends of the rack are dust boots...they look like little accordions. If you see fluid dripping from one of the boots, the rack is leaking, and as noted, the best bet is to replace the rack. Typically, replacement racks will come with inner tie rod ends. You should also replace the outer tie rod ends. Replacing the hoses and flushing the system would also be a wise thing to do. A simple piece of advice here is to make sure to set up your tie rod ends on the new unit so that the total length of the new unit matches that of the old unit. Drive to the tire shop for an alignment.

Good luck! Let us know how it turns out! I'll bet a dollar to a donut that it's a leaking high-pressure hose.

 

Thanks everyone for the input, I'll get into it this weekend and see what I find. I really appreciate the guidance and won't even think about rebuilding it myself.

 

Well, I got a good look (and rotated the tires while I was at it) and the leak is coming from the boot on the driver's side of the rack. Unfortunately, I'm not going to get away with just a hose. I'll need to order a replacement rack and get into it once it comes in. It will be pretty tight working quarters in there but I think I can get it done without too much difficulty. Since I'm at it, I will definitely plan to flush the system. What is the best way to go about flushing the PS system?

 

At a minimum, you want to get all of the old fluid out of there. When you have the lines off of the rack and most of the fluid drains, you might try filling the resevoir and spinning the pump by hand to force out any remaining fluid. When the fluid runs clean, then you can hooks the lines up to the new rack.

 

Thanks!

 

I dont know how much leaking you got. A few years ago my avalon PS is leaking, a few drops/night. I was told to change the PS pump/motor. I tried using Valvoline synthetic PS fluid. It is supposed to be able to stop leaks. Slowly it actually stop leaking.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, this is much more than a few drops a night. I have to add fluid every couple of days to keep the reservoir in the correct range. According to the owners manual on this vehicle, it requires ATF, not PS fluid. I did trya formulation with a stop leak for a while with no improvement.

 

Unfortunately, this is much more than a few drops a night. I have to add fluid every couple of days to keep the reservoir in the correct range.

Same thing with my moms camry. After she had left for vacation, I told her I'd fix her car. After a couple of weeks sitting in the garage, there was puddle of fluid underneath the vehicle. Glad I had my creeper...

 

Re: Leaking PS - fixed

The deed is now done. To say it was easy would be stretching the truth quite a bit. The challenge was more in getting the old unit out than the new back in. For anyone else that is attempting the same thing, the following is a quick summary of the project.

I loosened the lug nuts then put the front end up on jack stands, locked the steering wheel and also ran the seat belt through for good measure. I also applied the parking brake. Once the wheels were removed, I took off the panel inside the wheel wells to gain better access to the engine compartment. The next step was to disconnect the supply and return lines to the steering rack. This was a challenge because of the tight space. I found that stubby wrenches were the way to go for this.

once that was free I also removed the bolt from the lower U joint that connects the steering column to the rack. I found that a ratcheting wrench worked great for most of the rest of the bolts and nuts. Next the tie rods were disconnected from the knuckle, this involed pulling a cotter pin and removing a nut. Once that was off, I tried to pop it free with a few taps with a hammer and nail set but no luck. I went to an auto parts store and they loan out specialty tools. A small puller did the trick, no problem.

The sway bar end links and mounting bolts needed to be removed to gain access to the mounting bolts for the rack. The rack mounting bolts were probably the most difficult part of the project. The nuts (on the front end side of the rack) have tabs to eliminate the need for a wrench when tightening. These were covered in crud and I didn't notice them at first. The bolts need to be diconnected from the rear side of the rack instead of removing the nuts. These bolts were frozen big time and it took every bit of leverage I could get on a 1/2" x 24" breaker bar with a 19mm socket to get them free.

Once they were out, everything was loose except for the U joint to the steering collumn. I was able to use a very large screw driver and a mallet to tap it off from below. I also marked the tie rod ends with masking tape so the dimensions could be transfrered to the new rack. The rack needed to be lifted and then rotated toward the front in order to slide it out of the driver's side wheel well. Once it was out, I cleaned everything up and got the new rack ready for installation. I transfered the dimensions to the new rack from the old and then transfered the jam nut and tie rod ends to the new rack.

Putting things back together was much easier than taking it apart. I fed the new rack in and reconnected the U joint for the steering collumn. I was able to hold down on the top of the U joint and pry up on the bottom of the rack to force the U joint back into position. Once that was done, I re-attached the supply and return lines and put everything back together. I flushed the system and filled to the cold mark on the reservoir. I bled the system and added fluid until it stopped going down. I then let the van run and come up to temperature, shut it off and added fluid to the Hot mark. Once this was done, I took it for a road test and everything was fine. I expected to feel alignment issues but didin't. I'm having it check tomorrow anyway.

The following are tool recommendations beyond a metric socket set and common hand tools:

Stubby wrenches - Metric 14, 16, 18, 19
Ratcheting wrenches 12,14,16
Large breaker bar - 19MM socket
Torque wrench
Assorted extensions
small 2 jaw tie rod puller (can be borrowed from some auto parts stores)
Penetrating oil
Extra long bladed screwdriver

Allow a full day (especially if you have to run to the store for additional tools ). I bought the rack from Auto Parts Fast at RockAuto, they had the best overall deal and were great to deal with.

 

Great Job! I'm very glad to hear that you were able to tackle this yourself!

 

My only screw up was the position of the steering wheel. I had it locked straight but I must have had my dimensions off a little for the tie ends. When It was done the wheel was about 90 degrees when driving straight. I didn't think much odf it, thinking they could correct it when they did the alignment. I specifically told them of the issue when I dropped it off. When they called me to tell me it was ready, they said that the wheel was now closer to 180 degrees from normal and that I would have to pop the U joint and adjust it on the rack itself.

I would have thought they could correct this by running one of the tie rod ends in and backing off the other by the same amount, but they said no. Is this accurate or do I have a lazy technician? If I need to correct it on my end, is there enough play in the steering U joint to pop it off, adjust the wheel and pop it back on? Everything was loose when I took it off before, so I'm really not sure. I guess another option would be to keep things as they are but pop the steering wheel off to correct the orientation but that may be opening a new can of worms.