hockeylvr93 Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 You all are great here, I have another question (yeah I know you are surprised) I have a 2005 Legacy 2.5 (I previously owned a Saturn 300 SL, V6), after about 115K miles on my Saturn, I had to have my ENTIRE rack and pinion steering replaced because of some fluid (I can't remember for the life of me what exactly, perhaps power steering fluid) wasn't flushed on a regular basis. I've been driving over 20 years and never did that to any car I owned before and that was the 1st time I had heard about this. My question is do I need to do this with my Subaru?? I plan on keeping this car until the wheels fall off or until my now 10 year old daughter gets to drive it so I want to make sure I am doing everything right. Thanks again!! You guys/gals are the bestest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 what is up maryland guy. i can't believe all these maryland peeps i'm seeing lately. subaru steering racks have a low failure rate, so i'd say it's personal preference. i've never replaced my fluid, i've had three stock racks at 198,000, 196,000 and 220,000 miles. still have those racks actually, the body couldn't make it past all the rust. changing fluids is never a bad idea, i think i'd be more concerned with brake fluid and coolant changing though. coolant systems and brake components have a higher failure rate and more likely to have contamination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 You all are great here, I have another question (yeah I know you are surprised) I have a 2005 Legacy 2.5 (I previously owned a Saturn 300 SL, V6), after about 115K miles on my Saturn, I had to have my ENTIRE rack and pinion steering replaced because of some fluid (I can't remember for the life of me what exactly, perhaps power steering fluid) wasn't flushed on a regular basis. I've been driving over 20 years and never did that to any car I owned before and that was the 1st time I had heard about this. My question is do I need to do this with my Subaru?? I plan on keeping this car until the wheels fall off or until my now 10 year old daughter gets to drive it so I want to make sure I am doing everything right. Thanks again!! You guys/gals are the bestest! did somone sell you a bridge too. if not i have a nice one with a river view i have never ever heard of flushing PS fluid on a PS system. GM doesnt have the best racks in the world, so they were just trying to blame it on you instead of the car. You should go well over 100K miles in a sooby before having an issues. Usually its just a leaking "O" ring. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeylvr93 Posted April 4, 2006 Author Share Posted April 4, 2006 Thanks again for the advice and the chuckles... I've got 65K on my 05 Subaru....so I was wondering when things were gonna start breaking I always heard about the reliability of a well maintained subaru and I am doing my share to make mine run forever With your guys help I'll be able to do that! Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny Clark Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 It's always wise to change the fluid out periodically. This can be done by emptying the majority of it with a cheap plastic turkey baster. Then just refill with fresh fluid. You won't get it all out, but you will prevent damage to your R&P system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 If you go thru the trouble of replacing the PS fluid, then maybe do what some of us did here a while ago: replace the fluid with Mobil 1 AT synthetic fluid. Probably not necessary but might prolong the life of the system and is sure to give you a good feeling. Take care. P.-s.: To do the best job possible, remove the old fluid with a turkey baster (like said earlier). This will not remove all of the fluid. Put new fluid in. Start the engine and move the steering back and forth to mix the new with the old. Repeat that two or three times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 furthermore - if you're looking to replace all the fluid best to drain it from the rack. remove the fittings at the bottom and turn the wheel lock to lock a few times, that will get most of it out. i believe there are drain plugs on the rack as well. i just pulled one and installed another a couple weeks ago and seem to recall a drain plug on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 double post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 furthermore - if you're looking to replace all the fluid best to drain it from the rack. remove the fittings at the bottom and turn the wheel lock to lock a few times, that will get most of it out. i believe there are drain plugs on the rack as well. i just pulled one and installed another a couple weeks ago and seem to recall a drain plug on them. If doing it that way, is it necessary to bleed the system and if so how? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny Clark Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I don't think I'd go that far, but if you do, the system is self-bleeding; just a few full turns to the right and left and all the air should be gone. I hate taking connections and plugs loose that aren't leaking... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subarian Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I know it sound like one of those "Duh!" things to say, but if you drain it, do it with the engine off, to avoid pump damage. Like Tiny Clark said, the system will bleed itself. Just full it to the mark, start the engine and turn it lock to lock a few times, and then refill it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 turn the wheel lock to lock a number of times then refill. check again after driving awhile and refill. edit....grrrr posting while you were....same thing.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 I have a 2005 Legacy 2.5 (I previously owned a Saturn 300 SL, V6), after about 115K miles on my Saturn, I had to have my ENTIRE rack and pinion steering replaced because of some fluid (I can't remember for the life of me what exactly, perhaps power steering fluid) wasn't flushed on a regular basis. I've been driving over 20 years and never did that to any car I owned before and that was the 1st time I had heard about this. Now you know why Subarus have a reputation for reliability and Saturns do not. That is about the lamest bulls**t excuse I have ever heard for a component failure. You should also refill the blinker fluid from time to time. . . Sheeesh. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanski06 Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 he's joking about the blinker fluid haha j/p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinsUBARU Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 At approximately 86,000 miles, the steering rack in my Impreza had to be replaced becuase it would not pass NYS inspection. Apparently, the tie rod boots had tears in them which allowed the rack to get all funky on me. Maybe I was taken to the cleaners, but the car steered a whole lot better after it was replaced for mucho $$. Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 with all the members here i'm not surprised to see a handful of bad racks. on the older generation the steering suffers significantly when the steering rack bushings go bad....or fall out completely. you'll start feeling slow response and drifting to one side or another. sort of wobbly. feels like bad or loose rack, but typically a sign of bad bushings. replacing the rack may replace the bushings and solve the problem indirectly that way. if tie rod boots or linkages are to blame, the inner and outer tie rods can be replaced independently as well without replacing the steering rack gear box itself. steering is nothing to mess with so good to address it right. the front wheels don't go where you want if the steering goes bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 It's always wise to change the fluid out periodically. This can be done by emptying the majority of it with a cheap plastic turkey baster. Then just refill with fresh fluid. You won't get it all out, but you will prevent damage to your R&P system. Hey All, I have two Subaru GL wagons right now that i plan to change the fluid in. I'm changing it because it smells and looks like automatic transmission fluid gone bad. I too use the turkey baster to do a partial change on occasion if needed. I did a partial change on my daily driver but it still smells bad. I'm going to flush it all out when I get around to it. Cheap insurance to me. This car in particular has 174000 miles on it. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 if you can get to it, i would losen the return line from the rack to the pump / resivoir in order to bleed the system. put a catch basin under that part of the car, fill with new fluid, and turn lock to lock several times watching the fluid level. don't let it get too low. refill as needed. when the "draining / leaking" fluid is clean and obviously new, tighten the return line and refill with fluid. now you've removed almost alll of the old and good to go with new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 he's joking about the blinker fluid haha j/p So the mobile 1 blinker fluid i just bought isnt necassary? hehehe nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballitch Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 if you want an easy way to replace fluid here you go: put fornt of car in air with jack and jackstands. loosen and remove the return line from the PS pump, its the rubber one, not the hardline. make sure you have a helper. start car and keep the PS fluid level up to not allow air into the system. keep car running and new fluid pouring into resevoir until you have about 1.5 qts. in catch basin. shut off car, re-attach return line to PS pump. rinse and repeat to reach desired effect...opps, reading shampoo bottle.... ~Josh~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2X2KOB Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Bad PS racks are a well-known and expensive weak point on some Saturns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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