Schleprock

Hi Guys,

My 2000 Ford Taurus had a rack and pinion rebuild by Strauss Auto at 80,000 miles. Picking Strauss was my first mistake. They suck. I recently posted here that I was having shaking in my steering wheel and I thought it was a tire that recently had a flat in it.

Well it wasn't the tire and immediately after that I started to lose alot of power steering fluid. For a month before that I was losing a little power steering fluid.

I found a new mechanic and he is saying that I need a rack and pinion rebuild again but now my mileage is at 170,000 miles. He said he doesn't know if I will need tie rods.

Do you think this is on the up and up or should I get a second opinion?

Any intelligent response is much appreciated.
Thanks again,
Schleprock

chipset

Are they rebuilding your old rack or is this a reman replacement ? Are you using the proper fluid ? HINT. Don't even think about rebuilding your old rack. It's done.

Schleprock

This is a replacement. I am using the right fluid. Thanks for the questions. I take these back to the mechanic and I even show him the posts

qman2

Mine went out in my 98 at around 100Kmi. Dunno if that's normal or not but sounds like no biggie to me. If the first one went out at 80Kmi and the second 90Kmi later, seems about right.

Get under there and find the leak though. It may just be a hose or your PS pump. When I had to replace mine it went from losing a little fluid to a lot real quick like. I got under there and the fluid was coming out from behind one of the tie rods. If you look at a cutaway diagram there's an O-ring back in there and either that wore out itself or something else wore out and damaged the O-ring.

If you find the leak and it's coming from the rack unit then ya, you need a new one. If the leak is the pump or a hose, then no, you don't need a new rack.

Although I must say there's nothing wrong with a new rack. I like most racks, new and old if they've been well cared for. New ones just have a tighter feel.

RickMN

Got 90M miles out of mine. Replaced with rebuilt one.

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I'm a retired ASE Master/L-1 Technician. I still keep current with the latest automotive technology. Visit my blog for cool articles and TSB's: http://www.ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com/

Schleprock

Thanks for your reply. I had him take me under the car and show me the work. I believe it needed a new rack and I had it installed. Again thanks for explaining as the teaching I get here helps me for future work.

Schleprock

Thanks for responding.My mechanic put in a new one and it is running fine.