Impreza steering rack

[gcleeton]

I have added a 97 Impreza Outback Sport to my 99 and 96 Legacies.

A garage has replaced two of the leaking power steering tubes but another tube was found to be leaking yesterday and is to be replaced (the metal tube with nuts on its ends).

While we had the car on the lift we noticed one of the bolts holding the steering rack to the chassis had sheared off (corroded or not torqued?).

The garage proposes drilling out the remains of the bolt and re-tapping - is this OK please?

Gil Buffalo NY

[idosubaru]

yes that's perfectly fine to do that. the bolts that hold the power steering racks are relatively benign anyway, but drilling out bolts even in engine blocks, heads and more crucial components is fine to do. shops typically have good tools for doing this too, so yeah you're golden.

 

 

my only concern is all the problems with the steering rack. hoses being replaced, a bolt sheared off (it's been messed with before!?!?), another metal line is leaking? i'd be tempted to just replace the thing with a known good unit, but i guess you're this far already. subaru steering racks very rarely fail, so this is a case where a used unit is a good and inexpensive solution should you ever need to consider that.

 

good luck.

[edrach]

I agree with grossgary's suggestions: okay to drill out, re-tap, and replace bolt and okay to find a good used rack and install.

 

A new, steering rack from Subaru is somewhere around $650 (I recently priced one for my '97 Impreza). There are two rebuild kits for the rack, both under $35 (discounted from a dealer). I got a known good rack and had it rebuilt and installed with new mounting bushings for under $150.

[gcleeton]

Thanks I've done it

Gil