Just noticed my steering rack in my TH is leaking quite badly from the top.

Whats the best fix? One from ebay for $240 or one from a wrecker. Just thinking a good one from a wrecker might start leaking as well in due course.

Also the TH steering is quite light, i hear you can put the TW racks in which sharpen up the steering?

Also. im pretty good with the spanners, how hard are these to change?

Replace the whole front subframe with one off a tl or tw.

We do complete frame for $350. Comes with pump and hubs etc etc

Not really after a full front end

Then you can buy a rack from a l series for the same price :) as the rest is just scrap. Given the k frame half comes out to do the rack most opt for the full k frame change over as bearings, joints and bushes generally have a lot less mileage and are newer

lol Never yet seen a Magna with high kms where the rack doesn't leak out the top.

I just keep topping up the steering fluid. Both my second gens leaked, both had over 200,000 km on them. Went through about 1 L of steering fluid a year between the two.

You can get your rack reconditioned but it's a bit of a job doing the swap.

It's more difficult to change the rack as it is to change the subframe. Not as big of a job as you might think.

lol Never yet seen a Magna with high kms where the rack doesn't leak out the top.

I just keep topping up the steering fluid. Both my second gens leaked, both had over 200,000 km on them. Went through about 1 L of steering fluid a year between the two.

You can get your rack reconditioned but it's a bit of a job doing the swap.

Yerp, just tell op to leave his car unsafe and unroadworthy......when seal does blow then no power steering and then is all over......good advice

Yerp, just tell op to leave his car unsafe and unroadworthy......when seal does blow then no power steering and then is all over......good advice

We don't have roadworthy checks here in SA. And I sold both cars before that seal went completely on either. So not my problem. lol

I did say "You can get your rack reconditioned but it's a bit of a job doing the swap." I would trust a recon rack more than one off another car, no matter how low km it is.

Really, that is so funny. Do you know the amount of reco racks I have seen leak in the first 6 months. IMO a rack is something that when it wears it should be thrown out, so any fail many more than used ones where there was no wheel impact

My two cents please, I put a low Km TW rack only in and it was a hellish job. Ended up dropping 90% of K frame as it was and I am still going to replace lower control arms and ball joints, so getting a complete low km K frame is the way to go. I have had two vehicles with power steering fail on me both at critical times. When don't they?? One was a car in the snow regions of Victoria, and two days later a Mack truck in the same area, both had the seals fail, both in winding roads at different speeds and I can tell you, muscling either one of them around is not funny. To advise someone to just keep topping up is foolhardy and irresponsible if you have never experienced one of these failures. Fix the damn problem or get a new car. About time SA got with the program and started pit checking some of the death traps on the road :(

PS, my car has never handled as good as it does now with the TW rack, tighter feedback, less turns lock to lock and it even feels like it has a tighter turning circle, but that I am not certain of, i just keep my mags off the wall LOL.

Well, I'm here to learn . . . .:io:

Well mine is leaking too badly topping up every 4 days ,getting it sorted tomorrow under warranty,should i ask for them to put back the same TW rack in.

Well mine is leaking too badly topping up every 4 days ,getting it sorted tomorrow under warranty,should i ask for them to put back the same TW rack in.

Definitely. TW rack is supposed to be better than earlier models.
Seems like a bad leak there if you need to top it up that often. Leaking out the top I suppose?
If they get you a recon job, try to find out who does them, then ask them what they do to recondition them.

yeah its leaking very bad ill ask about the part oh can i get it new or not.and if they replace it they should really put back same part that was found right.
Definitely. TW rack is supposed to be better than earlier models.
Seems like a bad leak there if you need to top it up that often. Leaking out the top I suppose?
If they get you a recon job, try to find out who does them, then ask them what they do to recondition them.

My two cents' worth.... based on personal experience. Had the rack replaced in my wife's KJII Verada because it was leaking out of the LHS. Had a local steering specialist fit a reconditioned rack on a changeover basis at a cost of $925 (this was 2 years ago). Within three months the changeover rack was leaking out of the RHS. The steering guy tried to fix the leak and as this was unsuccessful another reconditioned rack was eventually fitted (at no charge). To date there have not been any leaks.

In contrast to this experience, I had the rack in my TJII AWD replaced with a rack out of a TW AWD. This occurred at approximately 200K. The donor car had done about 90K and I've had no issues with the rack and I've done about 60K in the meantime. Total cost of the replacement rack was $500. Hate to think what it would have cost to replace the rack with a changeover unit, particularly as the steering specialist told me he would have to remove the transfer case whereas this was not necessary when my rack was replaced (by MitsFix).

This will get done under extended warranty,should i make sure they install same TW AWD rack? or is this something they should automatically do :)

It's something they should automatically do, but if they know a cheaper unit (for them) will fit... better to make sure they definitely replace it with the TW rack.

ok will do thanks heeps :)
It's something they should automatically do, but if they know a cheaper unit (for them) will fit... better to make sure they definitely replace it with the TW rack.

anyone have the part# for the TW AWD rack thanks.

Got the new steering rack put in Yesterday my god the car feels new again, nice and stiff

Note: its a new Ralliart rack

Yerp, just tell op to leave his car unsafe and unroadworthy......when seal does blow then no power steering and then is all over......good advice

hey Mal, do you know of examples of these power steering seals blowing and resultant power steering failures in magnas?

Thanks

Peter

hey Mal, do you know of examples of these power steering seals blowing and resultant power steering failures in magnas?

Thanks

Peter

Have a look at the manual for the design of the power steering rack, and decide for yourself how likely it is for that seal to just fail catastrophically and dump all of the power steering fluid onto the roadway.

. . . . just my 2 cents worth.

hey Mal, do you know of examples of these power steering seals blowing and resultant power steering failures in magnas?

Thanks

Peter

Ignore the post below yours mate. While they generally won't blow and drop fluid in 2 seconds I have seen cars come in with no power steering where owner topped up prior to a 40km drive to my shop if that answers for you

That's what I thought, they don't blow but leak worse as time goes by.

Obviously need fixing well before the leak is so bad it runs the system dry and makes you lose power steering on a 40 km drive.

Common sense, really.

I check my fluid levels on a weekly basis, would never let it get that bad.

OK, mine leaks a tiny bit: it needs topping up about once every 6-9 months. I'll keep an eye on it.

OK, mine leaks a tiny bit: it needs topping up about once every 6-9 months. I'll keep an eye on it.

Doesn't sound too bad yet.
I think it is a common problem when the car gets to a certain age or km. Both my second gens were leaking at 220,000 km, went through 1L of steering fluid in a year between the two. I knew I would have to do something about them sooner or later.

The car I am referring to started initially leaking about 2 weeks prior, was in for a service and I noticed was a little moist around the input shaft and the boots were squishy as there was a little fluid in them. THe car was rebooked for the following week when the customer had the $$ to do the job but then a week before the booking on his way home from work the steering started to get shall we say, quite noisy. He got home and checked the fluid, was almost empty. He filled it up the next morning and the rest is history so yes they can get worse very fast. Remember that some of these cars are getting on 15 years old now