Rep Power: 194

So the dust boot on my tie rod (drivers side) ripped open.
It seems to be leaking grease of some type quite heavily.
Can this be rebooted with a 2 piece boot while on the car, or will I need to pull the tie rid out and use a one piece boot?

If I have to pull it, is it a fairly easy job or am I going to have to rip out most of the suspension to get to it?

94 dx auto.

 
Rep Power: 209

i would just replace the tie rod end,

it is probably in horrible shape now anyways after being exposed without the boot

 
Rep Power: 149

What are you calling the tie rod? The actual steering link with the small cup boot or the actual drive shaft boot? Why I ask is the tie rod has little grease and I have never seen a two piece seal for it. I have only seen ball joint seals and the driveshaft boots. Both probably should get OEM boots if you are going to keep car. My son repacked his tie rod end and used tie wraps and a black plastic bag on his old Olds. Did it neat. Know the state man shook it and sorta then shook his head. About 5 or 6 years later, he still shook it but quit shaking his head and just smiled and gave us the thumbs up If you are talking tie rod and you can get a boot and it's all rubber and just that simple little cup, not sure why you could not cut one side of it and seal it with rtv. The boots on my 2006 Civic front struts were gone and I split the boots from Raleys and used RTV and black zip ties. It really did not need rtv since it's open on the bottom. It's really just a rock shield. I have cleaned up drive shafts, packed them with proper and correct amount of grease on my old 85 and 94 Civics and they were fine. 94 was a bitch to get it all out and so was the steering bellow. Part of owing a Honda. Youtube helps now. They even got a do it your self bypass surgery now. Saves Medicare a bundle. Put on there by the man himself, Good old Mitt Romney.

 
Rep Power: 194

It's called the Tie Rod Dust boot. I think the grease is actually power steering fluid and that the rack seal is blown. So I will probably have to pull it all out to get to the seal on the rack.

 
Rep Power: 149

I was thinking you were referring to the simple end at the wheel. That is what was a bear for me to fix on my 94. That is power steering fluid that has leaked by the seal from the inside of the shaft with the gear rack. Mine boot had a lot in it. However after cleaning it all up, I ran the motor and did a lot of steering it and it did not drip. So I just replace the bellow dust boots. I think a little weep over many years is not a real leak if it does not drip. However, if you turn it stop to stop and it leaks under pressure as a drip, probably need a rebuilt steering rack. I may just have the drive shaft on my 94 mixed up with this. Not sure why this would be a problem other then popping the tie rod taper out of the knuckle. If you do it, be careful not to tear up it's boot. Some generic tools will. Think I put pressure on loosened nut and tapped the side with a ball peen hammer and it popped out. Be careful to keep count of length so you do not screw up toe in alignment.

 
Rep Power: 518

Ok first evaluate if there is really a leak that needs addressed.
Is it or has it been losing PS fluid with no obvious visible external leaks?

There will be some amount of grease found in the rack boots just because the rack gear and pinion gear have heavy grease on them from the factory....that's the only thing that lubes those moving parts for their entire lives....PS fluid does not lube the heavy parts of the rack.

PS fluid stays thin, it does not thicken......and there may be some accumulation of any PS fluid that has seeped over the last 20+ years.

If there isn't and has not been a significant loss of PS fluid, I may just reboot the rack (if it hasn't collected a bunch of debris in the torn boot area), and then do a wheel alignment on it since the tie rod ends have to be removed to change the boots.

I have never heard of 2 piece rack boots.

You would need a pair of rack boots and the set of 4 clamps, maybe clamps for the small balance tube if equipped.
Sometimes the small clamps can be reused, but the large boot clamps usually need replaced to do the job.



If there IS a significant PS fluid leak, I might slap another rack in it.
Replacement is far quicker than DIY rebuild, and gives better results with far less liability in the shop.

HTH

 
Rep Power: 194

I just added power steering fluid for the first time. It was towards the low mark. It seems to be leaking bad enough to leave a few drops per day in the garage. This I believe is fairly recent. There is a decent amount of grease on the upper arm below the tie rod boot. Pretty thick and nasty. That seems to have been there for a while as the boot tore a few months ago.

 
Rep Power: 518

Replacement or rebuild or reboot or whatever is up to you...

Replacement may be the safest bet since you say it's been open for a while. Steering is a pretty handy thing on cars these days...

 
Rep Power: 194

Since this is a safety issue, I will replace the rack. Whether I keep the car or sell it, I think it really needs to be replaced.
Thanks for the advice everyone.