Power steering leak

Ser_Egg

Ser_Egg

Forum Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2019
Messages
286
Location
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Car Year
2005
Car Model
Subaru Forester SG series 1
Transmission
5Spd Manual
Evening all. So ive been going at this P/S leak for a week now, thought it was come from one of the lines underneath the rack and patched it up with gasket goo but its not that apparently. I know its definately not the hoses but im suspicious on the connections of the hoses that go into connect to the rack itself hence why i gasket goo'd one of them on assumption that it was the problem. I wondering if these connections have little O rings in them or not, If that is the case, can i just use any old O ring from lets say bunnings or a plumbing shop?. Also is it easy to drop the rack, because if it is i may just do that and inspect it outside the vehicle and clean it up
 
Let me know what you find, I've got a bit of a steering fluid leak too. not enough to need topping up, but I can see a stain that looks like it has leaked.
 
will do man, i think ill drop it, seems easy enough just by looking at a youtube vid, ill just have to mark out the bolt and nut locations on the rack tie rod ends before taking it off otherwise im gonna have to get her aligned again :/ I really hope its just a busted O ring in these connections lol
 
@Ben Up North i replaced the O rings in the connections and that stopped some of the leaking but not all of it. The little slow stream i think is coming from where the ball joint shaft meets the housing. I dont know exactly but from observation of a few videos and reco images, i think there is a type of seal in there as well, so for mine, it might be time to replace :)
 
When you do your rack, you will have to get it aligned again. Subarus are extremely sensitive to alignment, but IME do not tend to lose it in general use.

When I first got Roo2, all wheels were within spec, but all facing in different directions! It handled like a canal barge ...

A 4 wheel alignment fixed it, and handling is very nearly as good as my Impreza was (Roo1) .
 
I have been putting off doing the leaky rack in my 06 Forester too, what a pain.

I will say this though - and feel free to flame me for even admitting it, but my leaky rack was probably letting air back into the system which in turn caused a bit of whine in the pump and some light shuddering at full lock. I tried a bottle of snake oil from the local auto-cheap and blow me down if it didnt fix it right up! I have never known any bottle of magic potion to fix anything before but within 1-2 days the whine was gone and no more shudders. The leak slowed up a bit too. I believe that stuff swells the rubber seals. I still need to get it properly resolved but the mere thought makes me groan.
 
What if i have leaks from underneath more like from places where those tubes comes to steering rack but didint had any leaks until i drove some with air in system then i bleed out air but leaks appeared and its no way to reach those tubes with tool with that exhaust on.
 
Yo
scalman said:
What if i have leaks from underneath more like from places where those tubes comes to steering rack but didint had any leaks until i drove some with air in system then i bleed out air but leaks appeared and its no way to reach those tubes with tool with that exhaust on.
Click to expand...

You can get in there with some tools for sure man. But is definately better undoing some exhaust bolts to get in. Those connections your talking about are easy to fix and seal, just pop some small o rings in there and boom, leak sorted, for me it was
 
I looked at that area and i think i cant fit my hand there or tool. And exhaust header bolts looks like they where never touched scary looking like will brake lol.
So you say its orings in those connections? I thought its just tube metal on metal.
 
It was just metal on metal, thats why i out the O rings in there so the fluid doesnt leak through the threat out the gap
 
So im looking at just buying a whole new rack, what other Subies can i salvage a rack from and install in an SG??
 
man i remember i removed steering rack on my 2001 outback , not that hard but i didint hold wheel in place so i lost that center , then had some more fun to finding center . on 2001 that can be removed without removing headers , and i think that is the deal now with this ez30.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top