Leaking steering rack (2 Viewers)

[TwiceWithHair]

My shop says the seals on the ends of my steering rack are leaking power steering fluid. He said the leaking oil is damaging the boot. I took a look while it was on the lift and saw that the drivers side is actually torn, while the passenger side is just oily. I was quoted $1500 parts and labor for a new rack and $850 for re-manufactured. I told them I was having zero symptoms while driving and they advised with a price tag like $1500, to just drive it and watch fluid levels as there is no safety issue. They said it was a very slow leak.

MY THOUGHTS are that leaking is what you get when you buy a Land Rover, not a Land Cruiser. I wish she wasn't leaking, but I would hate to be wasting money on something trivial. Advice from you guys would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Almost forgot. Elsie is a 2004 with 105,xxx. She hasn't been wheeled very hard since 79,xxx. No clue how the original owner used her, but she seems to be in great shape overall.

 

[bluecruiser]

I think you are fine watching fluid levels. I would not recommend a reman either. Been there and they do not last. If you were consistently in the middle of nowhere, I would replace it. Fwiw, I'm on rack 3, but I've wheeled it pretty hard.

 

[TwiceWithHair]

original broke. re-manufactured broke. new one is holding strong? How long did reman last? how long have you had the new one? and how long were you on the original? You've raised so many more questions

My mechanic told me that he wouldn't waste money on the new. Says reman should be of same quality. was your re-manufactured one OEM? Or CHINESE? Checking fluid as it leaks out is fine for my old Civic, but my cruiser deserves better. As does my driveway. I'm trying to talk myself in to the $850 fix, but I hate wasting money...

FWIW, Elsie is about to ship back to Maui and be as 'in the middle of nowhere' as you can get on that little rock. Gonna go from Tahoe snowmobile, to fishing/camp mobile. More offroad is in her future. As is the slippery slope of upgrades.

 

[bluecruiser]

I bought used, so I assume my first one was OEM and original. I replaced it at about 170k when it started leaking. The OEM units were on back order and I liked the reman price so I tried one and it only lasted about 15k miles. Dealer covered the labor for the quick failure and I did the new OEM unit and its been in for about 15k miles. There have been others who have experienced the reman early fail, as well. Check the sponsoring dealers on mud for good pricing on an OEM replacement.

Fyi, my reman was from dealer, not sure where they get those.

 

[TwiceWithHair]

Thank you Porter for your awesome advice via PM. Unfortunately I am in a time crunch. Because I am shipping my car back to Maui next Monday, I will not be ordering my parts from a mud vendor. I'm going to let the shop make sure all the parts are accounted for and what I need for my 2004. And in the interest of doing it right the first time, I'm going to be getting the *gasp* $1500 new rack put in. This better be the last rack I need for the next 100,000 miles... Thanks for your help as well bluecruiser. I might've gone remanufactured route and regretted it had you not shared your experience.

Toyota service department quoted me 1,7xx.xx to do the job. At least I will be saving a couple of hundred over dealership....