Power Steering Rack 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe

My mechanic says I should have the power steering rack on my 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe (~125,000 miles on it) replaced, though it is not an emergency. He says it is leaking fluid, but it must not be a huge amount because I haven’t noticed it leaking and I haven’t had any problems steering.

I did not ask for a quote, but from looking online it looks like it’s going to be around 1k to fix, if not more.

Two questions:

  1. Should I trust the mechanic that the entire steering rack has to be replaced? Could it just be a hose?
  2. Could I have my mechanic put in a used power steering rack? The part can be bought used for around $100 in my area.

Thanks so much!

I’d keep a close eye on the power steering fluid level. If it really is a very minor leak I certainly wouldn’t spend 1K on replacing it now.

it takes about 4 to 5 hours labor for this job. you can buy a lot of p/s fluid for a grand as long as the car is safe to drive. the million $$ ? is how much longer are you going to want to get from your sante fa

For the record, I love my santa fe. I hope it lasts at least another 50k. Time to stock up on power steering fluid!

I saw some horror stories on the internet about mechanics saying the entire rack needs to be replaced but the car only needed a hose. I guess I’ll get a second opinion once I’m ready to spend the cash to get it replaced.

@santafe-er if your mechanic can’t differentiate a leaking hose from a leaking rack, he may need to rack up some more experience. If he’s not sure, perhaps he should thoroughly clean everything, then check later.

Do you trust this guy?
Has he been wrong about other things?
Has he been right about other things?

I too would hold off depending on how much fluid the car is leaking. Remember than any fluid leaking out of your car is ending up on the road where rain will eventually wash it into local streams, rivers, etc. which is obviously a bad thing.

As an aside, this may not help much at this point but never hesitate to ask your mechanic to demonstrate the problem to you, i.e. take you into the shop and show you exactly what’s leaking and why it’s necessary to replace it. A reasonable person will do this as they’d realize $1000 is no small sum and to ask someone to blindly spend that much is unreasonable.

It didn’t take long for me to develop a great relationship with my current mechanic (at the local dealer no less) because from the outset I asked lots of questions and asked to see precisely what needed repair. We’ve now reached the point where I can stop in and ask him questions about repairs I plan to do myself. I suppose the point is take charge of the well-being of your car in the same fashion you would for your health at your physician’s office.

Keep checking the fluid level and if it is not going down, don’t sweat it. The more common spot for a leak is a hose or hose connection. Don’t let it get too low as you can fry the pump in no time. If you hear the pump whining get some fluid in it fast.

If you, the OP, haven’t noticed any leaking, then I woouldn’t worry about it. Also, my grandaughter’s husband had a rack replaced on a Taurus in less than an hour.