Steering Rack Leak

[Jomo1994z71]

...lots of good info here...however...I too, have the MM aluminum steering rack bushings and looked at my boots and one of mine is scrunched up more than the other, not as bad as yours...is this normal...? I will take a pic tomorrow when I have my car up on jack stands when I'm installin' the Bassani catted x and HIDs...great thread...

 

[LuDamiKE81]

Ford told me there is no guarantee i will get a spr-zm cobra specific rack, guess ill wait until i found a wrecked one.

 

[Jefe]

Mine says 23RZ-3504-AARM

 

[cbr repsol]

+1,000,000,000,000,000!!!

Don't get the Auto Zone rack!!! I did. It never worked as well as the stocker and 9mo later I had to replace it again! Lifetime warranty or not, you still have to either pay for labor or do the job yourself. I picked up a new unit from Ford for $250 I believe. Has been perfect ever since!

You have got your hands dirty from auto-zone more than once I see. Their parts are crappy. I replaced a alternator on a friends 03 cobra and had to put in another a month later. You guessed it the part was from auto zone.

When I was in high school my dad had a 280 z the alternator went out and I got a auto zone part. It didnt even charge the system, I went through 3 of them and they all did not work right off of the shelf. The amp meter was at like 10 instead of 14 volts it should of been at. I went to kragen and bought one of their alternators and the 1st one was fine. We had the car for 5 years with no other charging problem. My dad sold it though for a jeep to pull his boat.

Their brakes suck to I put their brake in the mach 1 I used to have and they squeeked bad all the time. I changed them out to some ceramic raybestos from kragen and never squeeked once. All in all if you want to perform the same project on your car twice, Go ahead and get your parts from autozone .You might get some dumb kid to help u with your car that thinks there is a 83 corvette or might sell u a muffler bearing. :beer:

 

[Rev Happy]

Looking for one also...

Ford told me there is no guarantee i will get a spr-zm cobra specific rack, guess ill wait until i found a wrecked one.

We're in the same boat. The ratios will be the same on the remanufactured racks, but the 03/04 Cobras have a t-bar in them that gives a nice stiff steering feel. I don't know if the non 03/04 Cobra remanufactured racks will have this. I did ask hillarysnuts how the steering felt compared to his stock rack, and I'm pretty sure he said they felt the same. Finding a used spr-zm rack out of a wrecked Cobra is always a gamble. I did find a new 00R rack which is suppose to be the best out of them all. You're going to need $650 dollars though to get it...:nonono:

 

[Jefe]

Steering felt just about the same but a little bit tighter when turning. But that could just be how worn out my old rack was. Feels great to me and Ive put about 100 miles on it since then, no problems

 

[LuDamiKE81]

This sucks. I guess ill get on from the dealer. Im tired of finding bent used racks, and even MORE tired of NOT HAVING MY CAR! :fm:

 

[Rev Happy]

Well I ended up going through the dealer and gave them a vin # from an 03 Cobra. Got the remanufactured steering rack today and to my surprise, it had the 03/04 Cobra part number "SPR-ZM" marked on it.

 

[Jefe]

Well I ended up going through the dealer and gave them a vin # from an 03 Cobra. Got the remanufactured steering rack today and to my surprise, it had the 03/04 Cobra part number "SPR-ZM" marked on it.

Did it have that scribed into the rack? Or on a sticker? Mine had a series of digits scraped into it :??:

 

[Rev Happy]

It was scribed into the rack toward the right side front... Did yours come pretty messy too with residue on certain parts of the rack? I didn't take it out of the plastic bag yet, but I'm going to have to clean it up a bit before I install it. There was a little plastic orange plug loose in the box which is probably why the rack was messy.

 

[Jefe]

Mine was really clean. A tiny bit of fluid in the bag, not sure if it comes with a bit in it or not. Didnt think so. I think the orange plug goes where the p/s lines connect

 

[mu22stang]

...lots of good info here...however...I too, have the MM aluminum steering rack bushings and looked at my boots and one of mine is scrunched up more than the other, not as bad as yours...is this normal...?

+1, anybody have an answer for this?

 

[Jefe]

From what everyone here has said thats not normal. Might be that the seals have already given way and theres fluid in the boots already. Get some pics up, any leaks?

 

[Taz]

+1, anybody have an answer for this?

No, it isn't normal. It's also not due to the aluminum rack bushings, if that's what you're wondering. My MM rack bushings have been on the car for years, and my boots are still perfect. Same ones that have been on the car since it was new, and my car is a lot older than any Terminator.

:shrug:

 

[arodsvt]

i had my steering rack take a dump on me, not sure if it was shop error though but i was able to get the shop to replace it with oem parts and at no cost to me which i was so happy....i actually drove the car with no fluid when i found out it had a leak and u cant drive the car hard to stear and brake and u can ruin other pieces shop guys came to my house to fix also and believe it or not it took about 2-3 hours to take off and install its not that easy also it was 1 man working on it......

 

[mu22stang]

What action do I need to take, if any?

 

[Jefe]

Did you try squeezing the boots a little? I could hear air suction on mine that was leaking. Dont think there anything too abnormal with your boots. Passenger side you can see the clip that hold the boot in place and I think over time thats why mine started leaking. The boot was being pulled away from the clip. Couldn't see those on the new one I bought so thats really the only thing I see. Besides a little grime on the drivers side, probably from the oil fiter...

You dont have the front end noises everyone complains about? Get rid of those rubber bushings!

 

[mu22stang]

I do have the front end noise - the MM Al Bushings are the next mod. I just got her back from getting my IRS Brace and MM Diff Bushings put on.

I'll try squeezing the boots to see if I hear suction. Is it possible to loosen those mounts and pull the boots out straight?

 

[Jefe]

I think the clamps on the rack need to be broken off in order to check inside the boots. You could probably take the clamp off the tire rod end and squeeze the boot to see if any fluid is in there. But you gotta be able to get it back on. Would be pretty tough...