lv6l

94 Honda Civic Cx body with D16A motor.
Body has about 200k on it so far.
I saw this problem on my rack and pinion rack boot area. I do not know if this has gone bad and needs replacement. So far, steering feels normal, I do not feel any problem from it. I would never notice any problem from steering; only way I found out this boot problem is one day i was changing my brakes and notice it. Here are the picture.
Thanks.

Driver side.


Passenger side.

-JSpecEk*9-

theres a boot kit you can get and put new boots or just change out the rack. its up to you really. those are the 2 options or i think.

lv6l

Do I need to take out the rack and pinion if I decided to just change the boot using the boot kit?

How bad is it to leave it in its' condition to drive?

postman

needs new boots, somewhat of a bitch if you havent done it before

fastrc2

you can just replace the boots,a nd the procedure isnt thta bad, although you will need an alignment afterwards, loosen the inner tie rod from the outer tie rod, and separate them, they just thread into one another, then undo the clamps for the boot, slide it off, clean out any foreign material, and then slide ont he new boot, if the clamps are the crimp type a big set of side cutters will crimp the u shaped piece on the clamp. they do make a special tool, see if you can borrow it from a buddy in a shop then et an align ment, i would definatly take care of this now, becuase if crap gets in there, it will either take out the inner tie rod joint, or it will couse a rack side seal to leak, which involves a new rack and lots of money

wangkata

I got the same problem as u do both boots are busted on mine I'd notice a couple days ago when I changed my brake pad and I will change the boots.......soon

lv6l

What do I have to loosen first. Can you show me the steps using this picture.




Thanks.
Any suggestion on where is a good place to buy these boots? Would autozone have some?

fastrc2

ok yes you can get them at any local auto parts store, they may need to be ordered, but make sure you get at least the boot and clamps, some styles use an o ring that seals the end of the rack to the boot. first slightly loosen the lock nut that is against the tie rod end, mark where it was. fully unthread the inner tie rod from the outer, and remove the boots clamps. remove the boot. replace o ring if u gots it, then install new boot. clamps, the lock nut for the outer tie rod, and reinstall inner tie rod to outer tie rod then get an alignment.