PS leak...

[McCoy]

Curious if anyone else has had a PS leak like this one I just found... I assume this is due to all heat I get from the T28 on track, especially the one I did with a dying fuel pump (lots of heat off the turbo that day).

I'm getting a pretty good leak from where the lower knuckle of the steering linkage meets up with the gear and linkage assembly. Hard to see in the picture, but top of the picture from under the little metal dust/heat cap. I didn't see any while at track, but after the car sat in the garage for a while I found a good sized PS fluid puddle under the car.

[2Fass240us]

I don't have that problem, but I also don't have PS.

[undesiredshoe]

What do you pour into the system?

[racepar1]

If there is fluid inside the boot then your rack is bad, get it re-built. That is the only place where I really see anything leaking, the rest just looks like oil that has been blown back from other leaks.

[Def]

Had that. Made the cap fall off eventually.

Drain the fluid and run a bottle of Lucas PS stop leak and some high mileage PS fluid to swell it up. Mine stopped leaking in a few weeks. I think the heat causes the seal to shrink/dry up without seal conditioners. I ran with no PS for a while too which didn't help either.

[McCoy]

I just picked up some ATF fluid with dexron, but am planning on adding some Lucas stop leak to help... I agree that the seals probably dried up from the excess heat... thanks for the feedback guys.

[McCoy]

I started adding the Lucas PS stop leak last night... I'm still adding it this morning! This stuff is like Shockproof heavyweight tranny fluid!!!

Jacob, are you using the AFT fluid (per S13 FSM) or just PS fluid in combo with this stuff?

[Def]

ATF like the fsm calls for.

I did look last night and the damn thing is leaking again. It had stopped, but I guess the heat from a couple of 20 run autocrosses nuked it again.

I think I might get a rebuilt rack and become with it. PITA to replace it though.

[McCoy]

Ehhh, guess I can do the same this winter when I add the DET pistons

[McCoy]

So, went out again last night and the puddle under the car is still pretty big, not as big as the night before, but enough to concern me.

Hopefully it will stop after a week of driving, if not I'll use more drastic measures... brake fluid seems to do a good job, don't ask me how I know this

[Your Mom]

might be from your guys massive tires. I've had no issues with my current rack.

[McCoy]

What rack are you on again, Brian. I'm pretty sure this is the original rack on my car... 177K miles roughly, and the three days I ran with an fuel pump that was starting to fail probably didn't help things out either...

[Def]

I only have 235/40-17s on 9" wheels up front.

Once the plastic/rubber cap got so brittle it fell apart, the seal started leaking a few weeks after that. I think I'll devise some kind of heatshield for it whenever I get a fix. Mine isn't really leaking badly, just enough to keep things wet in that area, but that's still a problem. I never have to add any fluid, so it can't be more than a few drops here and there.

[Def]

Even though I could probably get by with a rag or something ziptied around the top of the steering shaft, I'm going to pull the rack and get it rebuilt at a local place. It's only about $75-80. He said he might be able to quicken the ratio, and that'd be about $150 while he's got it apart which seems like a good deal to me given how "rare" HICAS racks are and how often you're ripped off when buying one.

Still partially undecided about the quicker ratio, but I think it'd make the car feel a little more "lively" so I'm probably going to go for it.

[McCoy]

Well, after my 3rd drive with the 240 (tonight), I only have 1 or 2 drops on the floor. Good thing since I leave Friday morning for the track