My perpetually leaky power steering system has recently sprung a much bigger leak. It's sitting at a shop right now, and the mechanic wants to replace the whole rack. He says he's exhausted all of his local sources for parts, so he's going on line and he's open to suggestions. So, does anyone know if there's any good parts out there that hopefully are reasonably priced?
Rack? Power or not, no Maverick or Comet ever had rack from factory. Rockauto has all the parts to reseal the valve, assist cylinder and even pump seals. Same parts are used in Mustang, Torino etc. I rebuilt the Comet P/S in '14, and last year rebuilt system on my Cobra Jet. All came from Rock.
I just had the mechanic put some stop leak in it as a temporary measure, and I drove it home. I haven't had a car for going on a month due to all sorts of crazy circumstances, and this was dragging on too long. There's a scraping and knocking noise that the mechanic said went away when the pump was topped off. Now it's constant, even though it appears to be full. I guessing that must be the pump. I put some UV dye in the fluid, and as far as I can see, it's leaking from the back of the pump and control valve, and possibly at some points in the hoses. I figure I'll give it a shot at fixing it, though I've never messed with the power steering stuff. It'll be a learning experience. I see there's a rebuild service for these parts at Rockauto that I might go with. In the past I've read complaints about people having a hard time getting power steering hoses that don't leak, so I think I'll look into getting custom hoses made if the price is doable. In the early 2000s my dad overhauled the power steering system, but it starting leaking again a month later (although slowly), so he gave up on it. I've been topping it up every now and then since.
Hoses aren't usually the problem, it's the seats in valve and cylinder that causes leaks at fittings.
Hoses aren't usually the problem, it's the seats in valve and cylinder that causes leaks at fittings.
