I'm replacing the tie rods (104k miles) - took it in for an alignment and the shop said they needed replacing. Decided to give it a go myself, and realized why they called for replacement: the lock not for the ball joint was seized (enough that I snapped my channel locks trying to loosen it - pipe wrenches ftw!)
I noticed there was some fluid in the passenger side bellows/boot, though there was no leak of any sort, and it was certainly not full. Enough though that as I was trying to get the lock nut off in order to slide the boot off, fluid got whipped all over the garage floor. Let's say maybe a few tablespoons of fluid, all told.
The drivers side has no fluid, just grease on the rack as I would expect.
I recently had the power steering system flushed (last spring). From my searching, a little bit of fluid on a high mileage vehicle isn't necessarily a cause for concern. Aside from keeping an eye out for seeping and dropping fluid levels, should I do anything now of will signs manifest themselves before things fail catastrophically? Are the seals in the rack even replaceable?
I noticed there was some fluid in the passenger side bellows/boot, though there was no leak of any sort, and it was certainly not full. Enough though that as I was trying to get the lock nut off in order to slide the boot off, fluid got whipped all over the garage floor. Let's say maybe a few tablespoons of fluid, all told.
The drivers side has no fluid, just grease on the rack as I would expect.
I recently had the power steering system flushed (last spring). From my searching, a little bit of fluid on a high mileage vehicle isn't necessarily a cause for concern. Aside from keeping an eye out for seeping and dropping fluid levels, should I do anything now of will signs manifest themselves before things fail catastrophically? Are the seals in the rack even replaceable?
Last edited:
