Hey HT, was messing w my car this past weekend & noticed I've got a couple of damaged pieces. I took a cell phone pic in hopes that someone could help me identify what actually is broken



This is on my passenger side. I also have the same torn boot on my drivers side I noticed. It's not the axle.. This is closer to the cabin than the axles. The thing to the right in the pics I'm also wondering about.. What is that?? Appears to be broken off on the bottom

Any idea what could have caused this?

Thanks in advance

 

looks like the boot for your rack and pinion. are you leaking p/s fluid?

 

yes! im slowly losing ps fluid

 

thats where i think its leaking from!!!! dont know if you can just reboot it or long that would hold up. IMO you need to replace the rack and flush the power steering system.

 

I'm pretty sure the PS rack boots DO NOT contain PS fluid. There should be grease in there but not PS fluid.

Yes those are the steering rack tie rod boots, but if you're leaking PS fluid it's probably leaking from somewhere else - maybe on the rack, maybe from the pump, or maybe from the line somewhere in between.

 

so your saying you've never seen a rack leak power steering fluid into a rack boot? man ive got a few photos to show ya then....

 

Ya but then the leak is still not coming from the boot. the main area where the leak is beginning is from the rack then. So check to find where the leak is coming from. Not just where the leak has been.

 

Ahhh ic! Replacing the rack sounds like quite a mission.. ill deffinetely look into that. Any idea if this is somewhat common on high mileage Hondas? Ive got 225k

Im BARELY leaking any p/s fluid. It sat for quite a while & only dripped once onto my driveway, but my reservoir is slowly becoming lower & lower so it is going somewhere.

Thanks geetee74!

Anybody have a clue as to what that piece w/ the chunk snapped off the bottom is?

 

there are seals inside the rack where the boot is at. that is what im refereing to as leaking into the boot. am i wrong? possibly. just trying to hand out a lil info.

 

Yes that is right, but replacing the boot won't fix that leak. I would just replace the whole rack with a rebuilt unit. I did mine at around 250K miles. PITA but got it done. OP do you remember where the drip you saw on the driveway was located in relation to the engine bay?

The other broken piece looks like it might be the bottom of the charcoal canister.

 

Yea, it was near the driver side between the oil pan & the wheel well.

Did you do the work yourself Patrick? Do you remember the cost??

And did u notice any difference after the install?

Thanks everybody, big help.

 

Yes installed myself. Was a PITA with the engine in the bay, but doable. I got a good price from a friend's shop for the rebuilt rack, was like $240 after core or something like that.

I actually replaced it thinking it was going to fix a different problem I had (which ended up being the lower ball joints), but since the old rack was original with 250K on it I figured it couldn't hurt to have the new one anyway.

 

you're right and i dont even know why i mentioned a boot replacement. A rebuilt rack is the way to go. DEFINITELY a PITA!!!!!!