So, I figured out a long time ago that my PS boot was blown on the driver's side, and the original rack is leaking badly

 

I found a coupe with 125k on it at the junkyard, and got the rack out of it, complete with tie rod ends and all, for $50.

 

I bring it home, and the outer tie rod ends to my surprise were spewing grease out of the little boot

 

Then to make matters worse, the part where the u-joint bolts onto... well the seal seems to be seeping there too, on the rack itself.

 

All I've read on here from searching is "buy used, they rarely fail"

 

Yet my current one with 110k is done for, and looks to be the one I got with 125k on it is probably on the same path.

 

What should I do? Can I fix the outer tie rod end leaks? I already popped the boots off... And how about the rack?

tie rods are replaceable items. find good used ones or get new. if you plan on keeping the car awhile new ones are a good idea. they are one of the few very serious safety items if they fail. the rubber boots are 20 years old, it's hard to find good ones now days.

 

if you buy a new rack it won't come with new tie rods or if it did you'd be paying for them, so that's not an issue that goes away with buying a new rack.

 

i'm one of the proponents of going used here, so my apologies if you get hosed. i wouldn't worry about a little wetness or seapage at the top seal at first. i think there's a decent chance it will be just fine.

If the outer tie rod ends have no movement in them (as far as the ball and socket having any lateral movement between them) then they're still good, even if there's grease coming out of them. Usually ones that have been replaced with aftermarket will have a greasable fitting on them and so just regrease them to keep them up to snuff. As for the rack, the FSM says that the valve on the rack (where the steering column goes into the rack is a valve assembly) can be removed and if leaking, replaced with a new one. If the one on your old rack isn't leaking from there, best idea would be to remove it and put it into the new rack but be careful of the seals because if damaged, you have the get the valve from the dealership and I'm willing to bet its not cheap:dead:

I believe the rack I got from the JY is OEM, and I think the tie rod ends are too. Doesn't look like a grease fitting is on them, anyway.

 

The top seal doesn't necessarily leak, it's just a tad of seepage while I manually turn the rack myself, out of the car of course.

 

I just don't want to swap a rack if it's bad to begin with... it took me a while to get the used one out at the junkyard

Sorry to hear that. I am another who did very well going used. If this were a large leak, I would think you would have seen a lot of evidence of that before you pulled the rack. If the seepage seems light, I wouldn't worry about it. The big problem is when the leak is at the tie rod and boot. Mine was practically gushing.

 

How long ago did you buy the rack? Most J-Yards will let you exchange for another part within a months time.

 

PS. And be greatful that the rack, like everything else on a Subaru, is relatively easy to pull.

Non power steering rack, remove pump. Done, and no more crappy leaking powersteering.