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I've got a power steering leak. I didn't notice any problems driving but there were always a few drops on the bottom of the frame. I thought it was coming from the flare nuts on the cylinder lines but when I went to tighten them I noticed a drop on the bottom of the valve body above the nuts. From the diagram it looks like there is an o-ring right at that joint. Is that a pretty good possibility for the source?

To get at this I need to disconnect the steering column and remove the whole rack, right? Is the only special tool I need for that a ball joint puller? Is that something I can borrow from autozone, or is there a cheap one I can get somewhere?

Thanks

 
Rep Power: 518

O rings are always a good possibility.
Make sure it isn't the pinion shaft seal leaking. Look inside the firewall boot from under the dash.

I'd clean the thing off with brake cleaner until it's spotless and dry, then hit it with white powder (spray Right Guard, bath talc, or some foot powder) to help show the leak better. Drive it and reinspect it.

Wouldn't you hate to get it all apart and change seals just to find out it needed a new clamp on the return hose all along?

Got service manual? You may need one before this is over.

Hammer is all I need for tie rod ends. You can get a hammer damn near anywhere. LOL

You can use the special tool if you wish though.


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Price a reman rack?

That's an awful lot of work.....Just how much fluid is it losing? Is the leak hurting anything? Fluid is cheap, and it's gonna be hot out there.

 
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I really appreciate all your help. If it isn't obvious, I don't really know what I'm doing but I'm slowly figuring it out.



Looking past the hairy steering column if I stick my finger past the flange with the pink dot I feel a rubber ring and a decent little pool of fluid. You can kind of see the the reflection of the end of the valve body in it. So it is coming from higher up than I thought. Is this definitely a problem somewhere in the valve body, or is there somewhere else it could be coming from?

Is this something I should be worried about? I just see something wrong and I want to make it all right. There is almost always a big drop of fluid on the bottom of the car under the drivers seat but they don't fall off so fast. I think it started leaking a little faster when I jacked it up. But it hasn't leaked for a few days now, it hasn't been driven though. There is still at least a little bit of fluid in the reservoir. But like I said I never noticed any performance issue. I bought new fluid and was planning on changing it but I wanted to stop the leak first. But if it isn't going to cause my any steering problems I could just forget about it. It looks like overhauling the valve body is more than I want to get into right now.

 
Rep Power: 186

Exact same thing happened to me a few years back. Fluid leaked in through the fire wall and drenched the driver side carpet with PS fluid. I just decided to replace the whole PS rack with a Honda reman. I later replaced the entire molded carpeting in the car with new molded carpeting from Honda.

Replacing the PS rack in this generation is very easy..even for the DIY'er

FYI, I replaced the boot on the engine bay side as well because it had swelled from all the PS fluid it absorbed.

 
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Thanks, that's good to hear that replacing the rack isn't too bad. I was thinking about rebuilding the valve body as well. It just feels like a waste to me to replace the whole rack when the problem is probably just the seals in the valve body. How much was the reman rack?

I think mine isn't quite that bad yet. I don't think it has really leaked inside too much. The rubber flange that I felt in there seems to be doing it's job and holding it back. I'll definitely keep an eye on it though.

 
Rep Power: 518

Factory reman (says "NO RACK ENDS") through Majestic looks like $289
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...VIN+Number+---


IDK what a local parts store would want for one.

If I had all the time in the world and it was my own car, I'd probably try to do the same first. You can buy all sorts of seals for the thing thru a dealer.

 
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Well it is, and I kind of do so I think I might try. I can buy a lot of seals for $289.

I think I'm going to go to pull a part soon and see what I can find. Maybe practice hammering some tie rod ends. If I can find one to work on and still be able to drive the car, that would be ideal.

 
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I went and found a new valve body. It looks pretty good. I didn't notice any signs of leaking in the same way mine does. I'm going to attempt to replace it but I had some questions about the process before I start.

1. The o-ring on this valve body looks pretty good. Feels firm and rubbery like I'd expect. Should I replace it anyway?

2. The manual mentions cleaning the valve body with solvent. What is solvent, brake cleaner?

3. I obviously need to clean off the gear but should I avoid getting cleaner on the bearings? I'm not going to disassemble this before I put it in. I figure if anything goes wrong with this one I'll just rebuild the one I take out.

4. It calls for grease on the o-ring and the bearing. The only grease I have is bicycle grease, "polyurea grease" "super slippery...reduces bearing drag, resists water, inhibits corrosion, and protects parts under extreme conditions". Will that work or is there some other kind of grease I should get.

5. I think my tie rod boots look bad. There isn't any play in the tie rods. Is this how the boots are supposed to look? Should I replace them?



6. As for popping out the ball joint, I saw a video where the guy turned the castle nut upside down on the end of the bolt and knocked it up with a hammer. Is that the best way without a tool?

7. I found this thread https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...geout-diy.html where instead of removing the steering wheel he holds it with the seatbelt. How much movement in the steering wheel am I worried about, just preventing a full rotation?

8. Completely unrelated, I can't stop my oil drain plug from leaking. I used new washers and torqued it to 29lbf and then a little beyond but it's still weeping about a quarter sized drop a day. Are the washers supposed to actually crush? I got mine off ebay and I tried smashing one on the ground with a hammer and nothing happened at all. Looking at pictures I took of the previous leaks I think it may have been RTV'd on from the previous owner. What should I try first? New washers? New drain plug? OEM?

Thanks again for all the help.

 
Rep Power: 518

1) I would replace it.

2) Yes, brake cleaner is a solvent.
FYI so is water.
I'd use brake cleaner because it is supposed to dry completely and leave no residue.

3) The main thing is to remove all dirt so the steering gear is not contaminated by dirt or other foreign material.
If you clean out the bearings with solvent I don't think it would hurt anything as long as the solvent isn't strong enough to damage any of the seals.

4) Grease, huh? Manual is kinda vague, just says multipurpose grease.... Can you sorta match the grease that's already in it?

5) Boot looks cracked, is it split all the way open? Losing grease yet?
Now would be the time since it will be apart. Or not.

6) You gotta undo the ball joint? I figured just the tie rod ends needed to come apart.

This is where I hit it: strike the suspension part, not the joint itself.


(random google image)

7) Right. If you let the steering wheel get away from dead center and get it installed a turn off, you can rip apart the clockspring for the airbag and add another 120 hamburgers to your parts cost.

I use bungee cord, usually wrap it around the shifter and wheel. Seat belt works if you don't have to climb in and out of the car while it's apart.


8) OE washer is SOFT aluminum and squashes noticeably during tightening. A plain steel washer can't squash at low torque.

I've seen the steel oil pans cracked around the welded interior nut too. From a lifetime of improper procedures, flexing the pan causing metal fatigue and breakage.

You can purchase seal washers with embedded rubber from other sources. I use these if a pan feels like the threads are about to rip out if I attempt to tighten to spec (Jizzy Lube patrons FTW), this design will seal just by snugging the bolt enough to squash the rubber ring.



You can buy drainplug seals made of other materials, such as copper, paper, and plastic.


HTH

 
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I got new boots after I convinced the dealer not to charge me their 10x retail markup for them. What is the purpose of the special tool to install them? Is there an easy way to push them on without that tool?

Sorry I was confused because the manual calls pushing the tie rod end out "ball joint removal". Just the end needs to come out. Which direction should I strike it from? And how hard? I tried a couple of times hitting it straight on (1) with a hammer almost exactly like the one in the picture you posted and nothing happened.



When I am reinstalling the feed and cylinder lines how do I measure the torque? I only have sockets for my torque wrench.

The drain plug threads feel like they are holding just fine but I'm worried if I make it any tighter I will mess them up. I got a new washer at the dealer but it feels a lot like the ones I already had. I'll try it and if that doesn't work I'll just go pick up a sampler pack at autozone.

 
Rep Power: 518

Socket? PVC pipe? Any round thing close to the proper size?

To do it my way it takes a pretty hard strike.
No special tools other than the hammer, and works on damn near any tapered/interference fit stud. Super fast if you have room to swing at it.

You can do it however you want.
Just don't damage the threads.

You might use a crowsfoot on the torque wrench.
Most important is to get them tight enough to not leak, but not so tight you trash threads or fittings.

 
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Sweet I got it. I braced an 8lb maul on the ground and just pushed the head into the arm. Came loose pretty easy. The other hammer just wasn't heavy enough.

Does the crowfoot change the torque reading. I think I saw somewhere if it's at 90 degrees it doesn't. Is that right?

Thanks again.

 
Rep Power: 518

A crowsfoot is usually short enough that the mechanical advantage difference (torquing error) is minimal.

But yes, at 90* would make the least difference IMO.

 
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Well it wasn't so easy, but I got the rack out. That is a really tight squeeze through the wheel well. I got stumped for awhile because my car has a cross beam in front of the rack that isn't in the manual or the rack removal guides I've seen. What is this? Is it just something that isn't in the 01 models?



Now I am kind of stuck with the tie rod boots. Or rather the boots are stuck to the ends. How do you get them off? Should they just pull off, or should I cut them somehow?

Also just out of curiosity, if there isn't supposed to be any movement in the tie rod ends, why do they have a joint? Why aren't they just solid pieces?

 
Rep Power: 186

I believe that's the front stabilizer bar. I removed it even though it didn't say it in the manual just because it opened up a bunch of room to remove the rack.

Sorry I didn't mention that above in my post where I said it was pretty easy to remove. AFAIK, all models 01-05 have it.

 
Rep Power: 518

The stud in the joint has to pivot (rotate) as the struts are turned left and right, and as the wheels (and struts) move up and down with bumps in the road.

 
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No problem. I just didn't see it in the manual and for awhile I thought it was held on by the same screws as the mounting bracket. But then I realized I could get it off. I don't think you could take the rack out without removing it. The whole process wasn't too bad. Only about a couple hours to take it out.

What about removing the boots? Mine seem like they have fused on there. Is there any trick to getting them off, or just lots of pulling?

 
Rep Power: 518

I think the factory tie rod end boots have a steel ring embedded sorta like a valve cover ring (around the spark plug tubes) has a steel ring embedded in them. Chisel them off? Make sure you figure out how to install the new boots before you take off (ruin) the old ones.


You got aftermarket replacement boots or factory?

Factory tool says its 42mm but I don't have one at home to look at.

 
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I got Honda boots. I'll try to hook them off like the valve seals.

The outer diameter of the big end is 37mm. Inner is 30mm. Maybe 42mm is the height of the tool? I was thinking about going to home depot to look for a little pipe but I realized I had this tile hole cutter that is the perfect size. It sits right on the lip. I'll try it and if it doesn't work I still may go look for a pipe. But if I screw up the boot somehow it's only $3 and wasting some more time so I'm not too worried.

 
Rep Power: 518

Sure could be, it's gotta be tall enough to clear the end of the stud. There wasn't any other description other than a tool number and image.

 
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Damn you're right. The hole cutter isn't tall enough. Guess I'm going to look for some pipe.

I'm a little confused about packing the grease. For (C) does it want me to put grease on the inside ring that will touch the post or on top of the boot? And if I put grease on the inside do I have to keep it from touching (E) as I put it on?

 
Rep Power: 518

The joint is lubed with that grease, so I'd use chassis grease. The boot can't be completely full of it because it will squish a lot out when you bolt it down. The moving parts of the joint should be covered and move the stud around to work fresh grease into it.