Had some recall items fixed on my 06 XLS and I knew there was a leak from some where and they said it was the power steering and to fix they would need to replace the rack and pinion, flush, and re-align. Its 871 for the rack plus 376 labor 84 for the flush and 129 for the alignment. I needed a good laugh! So now my options are to A) try and tackle this myself B) throw in some stop leak stuff as a try C) Price some private shops out. Has any one had this problem?
Sorry to hear about your situation, but unfortunetly, they do go bad. I have priced this out a couple of times over the past 6 months on that very same year and model, so I don't think its just your Dealer.
rockauto has your rack for $265 plus sipping minus the 5% discount
I bought a 2002 ford focus a month ago and the rack was totally shot..would not hold any fluid......I was able to get it from Advance auto using the online discount for $187........They don't carry your rack......I went to a local shop and they charged me $175 to install it...I needed 2 new tires so I went to Town fair tire and bought 2 tires.....if you buy 2 tires from them they align it for free.........and it was a PITA one.they had to drop the subframe......depending on how bad the leak is you might rehab it by flushing the sytsem and adding some Lucas.....I have done that before with good results.........
*see if you can get just a seal kit and pull the inner tierods.....they did not sell anything lie this for my Focus
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2006 Vibe, White, 1zzfe, auto ( Toyota type IV), AWD, PW, PL, CC, AC, 161,000(5/12/2012)
1998 Camry LE, 4 door, Puke Green, I4(5S-FE), CA Emissions, Auto(A140E), 122k(3/22/2012), AC,CC, ABS, Built in Japan 04/98. Grandmas old car(acquired 7/22/2011), work= precat Denso A/F sensor, NGK wires.
Last edited by Woodyg; 07-12-2011 at 03:19 PM.
Reason: *
Thanks and yes I am going to drop in some lucas today and also take a look at to see where it is leaking from. The reseal kit are only like 30 bucks. I will post my Lucas results
I would pull the return line and pump the old crap out. It will look like pudding. Add some fresh fluid and the lucus
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2006 Vibe, White, 1zzfe, auto ( Toyota type IV), AWD, PW, PL, CC, AC, 161,000(5/12/2012)
1998 Camry LE, 4 door, Puke Green, I4(5S-FE), CA Emissions, Auto(A140E), 122k(3/22/2012), AC,CC, ABS, Built in Japan 04/98. Grandmas old car(acquired 7/22/2011), work= precat Denso A/F sensor, NGK wires.
How many miles on your avalon? You owned it for how long?
Honestly, $1400 dealer fix is not out of the norm even though it may sounds like alot.
The question is more like what you should do now.
Do you have any issue in terms of driving, steering?
Just like you, I will try some stop leak 1st (but probably not going to help much)
then try to get some quote from local shops and compare their work coverage.
From experience, I have some luck from craigslist. I was able to find a guy who worked for a local Toyota (I did verified it) and he worked on my car during his off hours at the dealership for reasonable cost. YES, he did a good job.
I am at 74k and have had it for a year and a half. No other problem except I seem to crack a winshield every other month I have dropped sub frames on other cars to replace racks before so if the stop leak doesnt work I will most likely do the swap myself
This seems like low mies for this to happen. I am starting to regret buying my Avalon.
I have been pushing people to flush their powersteering system. It take 15 minutes. <$10
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2006 Vibe, White, 1zzfe, auto ( Toyota type IV), AWD, PW, PL, CC, AC, 161,000(5/12/2012)
1998 Camry LE, 4 door, Puke Green, I4(5S-FE), CA Emissions, Auto(A140E), 122k(3/22/2012), AC,CC, ABS, Built in Japan 04/98. Grandmas old car(acquired 7/22/2011), work= precat Denso A/F sensor, NGK wires.
As stated above - flushing helps prevent PS issues.
At the least - you can easily siphon the reservoir during an oil change and refill - drive car a few miles and repeat.
PS fluid does get old and dirty.
Totally agree! I worked at an independent import shop. They used BG products, they had a machine to do the P/S flush. I'd watch the technicians to this and sometimes, they couldn't use the machine and just removed the return hose and ran about 1-2 quarts of SYNTHETIC fluid (Honda/ Acura were the exception) about every 30K miles. SOme flushes where the oil was a dirty as engine oil. I just did my 05 Avalon (70,000 miles) this is the 2nd flush.
After you put that fix it in a can stuff in, you can go ahead and buy a rack and a pump.
Stop leak of any kind is just about the worst thing you can put in a car.
I have never missed any of the blue collar routine maintenance and can assure you that this has been flushed twice by Honda during these visits. As for the Lucas, its a no go so far and still leaking. Looks like I will be buying a rebuilt ebay special and tackling this myself. I have separate a sub frame to replace one before but it was on an older ford car. I just hope this one isn’t going to be difficult. Does any one have access a Helms or other repair document with this replacement?
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I have dropped sub frames on other cars to replace racks before so if the stop leak doesnt work I will most likely do the swap myself
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