1990 Integra 2dr.

There was a mess of oil this morning under the passenger side of the engine, its not leaking engine oil tho, couldnt find a leak on the tranni i checked the seals on the axel/tranni. Theirs a torn boot on the rack and pinion but that only grease?

 

u need to get it up in the air and find it man, impossible to say from that description.

 

the bellows on the rack don't seal any fluid. just there to keep dirt, water, and debris from damaging the rack.
if you think it's power steering fluid, look at the reservoir. is it low?

 

There's liquid in there, not grease.

Engine oil, transmission oil (provided you're using the right stuff), and power-steering fluid all have different odors. If you can gather up a large enough sample, smell the dripped fluid. Now go smell the PS reservoir. Same smell?

A torn boot will eventually result in leakage of power-steering fluid. The rack boots are there in order to keep dirt and dust off the sliding components. Dirt and dust on those will tear the oil seals in the rack, and that will result in dripping.

In addition to the boots, the rack also has an equalizer hose connecting the two boots. The same (clean) air is meant to circulate from boot to boot endlessly as the steering wheel is turned.

 

So it was coming out of the the torn boot. I had the front of the car lifted on jack stands and had my buddy turn the steering wheel back and forth and some of the PS fluid came out(couple of drips) of the boot. ill get it fixed as soon as i get some cash.

Thanks for the replies.

 

i've never replaced those rack seals myself, but from what i've heard, it's worth just picking up either a reman or good used rack instead of taking on the task

 

Folks, let this be a lesson: do NOT allow the rack boots to split. This is why. Inspect them at each oil change exactly as you would the CV-joint boots, and schedule a replacement once you see signs of cracking.

The only economic options here are:
1) replace the entire rack, or
2) live with the leak, and just keep feeding fluid into the reservoir as needed.

If you choose Option 2, you now have nothing to lose by using "Honda compatible" aftermarket fluid, so this option should be pretty cheap.