2008 impreza 2.5i 5spd hatchback

 

Leaking power steering rack

How hard is it to replace?

Do they sell rebuilt units?

 

was thinking od going to look at this car for sale

that's an odd failure, subaru racks rarely leak and it's usually when they're 20 years old.  i've always thought that if i ever had this happen i'd actually...and i avoid additives like the plague...try some of that stop leak stuff.  the power steering systems are so robust that it would be worth $3 to try in this case. if it doesn't work...what, you're replacing the rack anyway.  the rest of the system is only a pump and hoses, no biggie.

 

anyway - they're super easy to swap out.

1.  remove exhaust manifold

2.  disconnect 2 tie rod ends (you don't even have to remove the wheels - just loosen 19mm lock nut and unthread tie rod)

3.  4 bolts for steering rack brackets

4.  1 bolt to disconnect steering rack ujoint

5.  2 nuts for fluid lines on passengers side

 

mark carefully ujoint placement to retain steering wheel alignment and tie rods for toe alignment.

 

get a used unit, they fail so rarely and are so easy to replace that the cost of new/rebuilt is absurd. 

search for steering rack failures and you'll find 2000+ almost unheard of.

car-parts.com and get a low mileage used unit.

Only 3 places these can leak and not be considered fixable. The steering shaft seal, and the rack end seals (one on each side). And the shaft seal is actually replaceable, just not "easily". Being that new there's no way the end seals are bad unless someone has just dogged the crap out of that car. Only time the end seals go bad is when the boots on the ends split and let a bunch of dirt and rocks in the rack and damage the seals.

 

I would expect this to be a bad o-ring on one of the line fittings (common) or the fitting is just loose.

 

Find out who diagnosed it as a bad rack.

when looking at a used car, never believe what the seller says.

 

if they do not work on the car themselves, they probably do not know.

 

go look at the car,

but unless the bellows are torn and oil soaked, it may not be the rack leaking.

 

valve cover gaskets are much more common,

or CV boots

or cam seals,

or steering pump,

or .......

Looks like sometimes there is a seep from a flared fitting where the high pressure line connects to the control valve (by the shaft). Both my '95 Impreza and '06 Tribeca do that. Very hard to reach if you wanted to tighten the flare nut, but not much to worry about.