I'm probably breaking some etiquette with this being my first post, but I'm in a jam and I'm hoping the community can give me some feedback.
I have 99 LX 470 that I've owned for the past 3 years. When I bought the truck, the steering rack had a slight leak on the passenger side. After buying it, I flushed the fluid / added AT-205, and I've done yearly fluid changes since then. Other than a slightly annoying (slow) weep from the boot, the rack held up fine while running ~34.5 inch 295/70r18 Toyo M/Ts for the past 3 years.
With the leak, and the pump starting to groan more noticeably, about a month ago I finally pulled the trigger and had it all replaced. I had a local dealership do the rack, lines, and PS pump.
Flash forward to today - when I turned on the truck this morning, I was greeted with a grinding/mechanical sound. I did a quick inspection and found lots of PS fluid underneath, and an empty PS fluid reservoir - hence the unpleasant sound.
It's dry where the hoses meet the reservoir, but I see PS fluid on top of the steering pump banjo bolt, and the rest of the pump is wet underneath. It looks like fluid was dripping down from the pump onto the rack. I haven't taken the airbox out to inspect any further yet. The driver's side boot of the steering rack is completely dry, while the passenger's side boot is covered in fluid. I can't tell if the rack is leaking from the seal on the passenger side, but my guess is the wetness is from the pump dripping onto it. I'm hoping the rack is ok.
Has anyone seen a brand new OEM pump (and potentially a rack) fail like this? Any ideas where the failure might be exactly, and what could cause this? The Toyo's I'm running are close to 70 lbs, but I know other people on here run 34inch+ tires and the only steering rack & pump issues I've read about were age/maintenance related.
The dealership is closed today and I'm calling them in the morning, but they don't warranty anything, and I'm potentially up a very expensive creek right now.
I have 99 LX 470 that I've owned for the past 3 years. When I bought the truck, the steering rack had a slight leak on the passenger side. After buying it, I flushed the fluid / added AT-205, and I've done yearly fluid changes since then. Other than a slightly annoying (slow) weep from the boot, the rack held up fine while running ~34.5 inch 295/70r18 Toyo M/Ts for the past 3 years.
With the leak, and the pump starting to groan more noticeably, about a month ago I finally pulled the trigger and had it all replaced. I had a local dealership do the rack, lines, and PS pump.
Flash forward to today - when I turned on the truck this morning, I was greeted with a grinding/mechanical sound. I did a quick inspection and found lots of PS fluid underneath, and an empty PS fluid reservoir - hence the unpleasant sound.
It's dry where the hoses meet the reservoir, but I see PS fluid on top of the steering pump banjo bolt, and the rest of the pump is wet underneath. It looks like fluid was dripping down from the pump onto the rack. I haven't taken the airbox out to inspect any further yet. The driver's side boot of the steering rack is completely dry, while the passenger's side boot is covered in fluid. I can't tell if the rack is leaking from the seal on the passenger side, but my guess is the wetness is from the pump dripping onto it. I'm hoping the rack is ok.
Has anyone seen a brand new OEM pump (and potentially a rack) fail like this? Any ideas where the failure might be exactly, and what could cause this? The Toyo's I'm running are close to 70 lbs, but I know other people on here run 34inch+ tires and the only steering rack & pump issues I've read about were age/maintenance related.
The dealership is closed today and I'm calling them in the morning, but they don't warranty anything, and I'm potentially up a very expensive creek right now.
