steering rack on its way out!

[carpetguy00]

When I got my camry at 90k in Feb 2010 it leaked a little PS fluid. I could not find the leak (im pretty busy, drive a lot) so I flushed fresh fluid thru the PS system, following the DIY here, and I added a bottle of lucas power steering fluid additive. Since I added the Lucas, ive put 30k on the car, and it hasnt leaked at all. mechanic said it looks like the rack boots leaking. Of course!

maybe about 3 or 4 months ago i started hearing a clunking noise from the front end, thought it was a strut or something related (new quickstruts) but the mechanic think its the rack clunking. the ball joints, tyrod ends, etc, everything on the front end was tight, so the clunking is coming from the rack, according to him. I dont doubt it. I just moved close to college, and the roads suck bad. my poor car's suspension is taking a beating.....

I was wanting you guy's opinion on approx how long I have on this rack. A friend said the rack could clunk for 'years' before needing to be replaced. Im not so optimistic. Maybe changing the fluid will help matters? or not... the clunking seems to be getting worse. is there a symptom or something I should be watching for that is a sign of impending doom, or am is that the clunk?

[pmesfun]

Make sure to double check the inner tie rods. Have someone turn the back and forth left to right and feel the tires, do you feel popping sounds? I did and it was the inner tie rods, and they would make clunking sounds.

[Ahil]

also check to make sure ur steering rack bushing is not worn out and the rack's worm gear is adequately tightened.

[carsrus]

If its clunking while going straight its probably not the rack.

If its leaking just suck out whatever you have in the reservoir and keep on refiling with lucas. The stuff is amazing. Its really thick and helps build pressure/ slow leaks. Basically try and put as much lucas into the system and as little atf.

If it gets below freezing where you live the steering will be a hard the first couple turns since the fluid is so thick. If you let it run for 1-2 min before moving on a cold day it wont do that.

[carpetguy00]

i took it out to my buddy's place and put it up on jackstands. turns out the swaybar endlinks i got from oreilly's a YEAR ago are sloppy. not loose, but i was able to grab the one on the drivers side and move it.... clunk clunk... buddy said any movement is too much. so i am gonna replace both by their lifetime warranty, for now, and order better ones later.

there was NO movement from any of the tyrods or ball joints. i had no idea that a stupid endlink could cause so much friggin noise!

its been about 30k since i put the lucas in, and i only put one bottle in, with valvoline maxlife synblend ATF, but it stopped the leaking, and i havent had to fill the reservoir up since. but maybe ill flush it again, and add more lucas. i was under the impression that its a temp fix. but if its not leaking and not in danger of coming apart, i wont replace the rack. at least, not right now.

buying the 2 toyotas i have now, and joining this site, has been 2 of the best things i could have done. great cars, easy to work on, and plenty of info here. DIYs and good ppl with good advice. havent had to pay a mechanic since!

thanks again!