Thanks to the folks esp. OK, my crankshaft seal and distributor O-ring leaks have been fixed. Now there is more leak. The power steering rack & pinion is leaking. So far the level has gone from max to min (I refilled today). The car is a '95 Galant with 135KM, has spent its life in the rusty climate. I don’t have much faith in it passing the smog in 6 months, but if it surprises me then I will drive it for now until the tranny says bye. We use this one for city driving in South OC which gets to speed of 50MPH frequently. The part will cost me $350, another $300-350 to put it in. I don’t think I am ready for a DIY tackle on this one. Can I drive it for now and just top the fluid. It only drips on the floor once a week. Mostly soils the engine bay. I have changed belts and mounts and do front brakes, the repair manual does not have much on the rack, can I do it myself?
Give Lucus Power Steering Stop-Leak a try. So far I’ve used it in three vehicles that had rack & pinion leaks. And I was amazed!
Tester
Yes, you can drive it forever if you keep the fluid up. Here’s a bit of info if you decide to do it yourself. They have the parts listed numerically in the order they’re to be removed and reinstalled.
You may need a line wrench or two to get the hoses loose as a regular wrench may have a tendency to crush the line fitting.
The flat rate labor shows to be about 3 hours on this job. I don’t know what the general flat rate labor is in your area but you might price this around and see if you can beat the 300 and up.
Another possibility is removing the power steering pump belt and driving it as a manually operated rack and pinion. A number of cars years ago had manual racks with no power assist. I’ve owned 3 or 4 of them. The handling is fine, but the downside may be one that the car is more difficult to turn when the wheel is turned sharply at low speed in cramped quarters.
A lot of that depends on the tires though.
Hope that helps.
(One thing I would strongly suggest checking on this car is the lower ball joints. They are under recall by Mitsubishi but their policy is pretty cheap about this issue and is pretty much designed to deny you IMHO. It does not hurt to check with the dealer though; you may get lucky and get new ones for free. If the joints are bad, maybe prying the dust boots loose before taking it in to the dealer would help. Hint, hint.)
Thanks for the responses. I saw the Lucas in store and I thought it is a waste of $10, but now I might reconsider.
Ok, thanks for the link, I guess if I really wanted I could do it, just that I don’t like doing this on stands, just getting to the rear motor mount from above can be a bit tight. I have had the boots checked 5 yrs ago when I bought the car, they said mine was changed based on the VIN, but them being cheap could have to do with it too. On a different note the car really needs front and rear suspension, but then if I want to spend that kind of money I might be better off upgrading a bit.