Rack and Pinion problem 1999 Taurus

I have been helping my father replace a rack and pinion gear on his Taurus. His original problem was power steering fluid coming out of the reservoir. His mechanic replaced the high pressure line (~$250) and said that there was a lot of metal coming out of the gear. He drove it ~ two weeks and the original problem came back. I gather that when you replace the fluid it steers fine; it just blows fluid out at "random" times.

His mechanic said that he could not change out the gear and sent my father to another mechanic who gave an estimate of $700 to replace the rack and pinion.

SInce I have never heard of a problem with power steering fluid coming out of the reservior (except if you over fill it). We decided to replace the power steering unit and the rack and pinion, flushed out the lines, but discovered that the original unit had a small "spring loaded" check valve on the high pressure line. The replacement unit (from Auto Zone) did not have one and did not mention using the original valve.

So we have a check valve and are ready to put it all back together but cannot find out what to do. Of course I was wondering if a sticky check valve could cause this original blow back problem.

I personally have not heard of your scenario, but much is possible. If the check valve is positioned such that it allows pressurized fluid to leave the pump to the rack and not allow any back to the pump by the same line, then yes, it is theoretically possible in light of the quantity of metal that is there for the check valve to not be able to fully seat and allow fluid to back up into the ps pump. But, I'm not sure that a high enough back pressure can come from the rack to excede the pressure that the pump developes to create such a scenario as it also has to go thru the pump gears to get to the reservoir. Though, maybe when they designed it, they knew this could happen, hence the check valve. Since the high pressure line isn't connected to the reservoir directly, I think the sudden blasting of fluid into the reservoir may be from some sort of surge of fluid from the return line. But again, much is possible, so I could be wrong.

Yes this is an odd problem. What is really odd is that the check valve "fell out" of the original rack but is not in the rebuilt unit and there is no mention or pictures of it in any books that Auto Zone has or that I cannot find it in the Haynes manual. Perhaps a Ford manual might mention it but. I guess I could leave it out and see what happens; and install it later if there appears to be a problem. Unfortunately, I will not be able to get back to it until March. Thank goodness he does not need the car.

Call you ford dealer parts guy. He should be able to tell you what should be there. If the check valve comes with the rack, is separate, or the pressure line. If not him, than try the service area mechanic.

I have been on vacation for the past two weeks. My dad was able to get the information to reinstall the check valve, connected the lines, and tried to "bleed" the air out. While doing this the fluid was forced out of the new pump. We seemed to have replaced everything but still have the same problem. I am confused. While the pressurerized line was replaced originally by the mechanic my father took the car to; could it be contaminated. From some other posts I gather there may be a filter on the line. I will be going back this weekend and am looking for suggestions because I really do not understand what is happening here

Check to see if there is a filter. I may very well be clogged.

It might not have one but check

Mike
:smokin:

please update I am having the same problem and any I have not been able
to locate a filter but it says it has one also i replaced hoses and pump with same problem arises could there be a leak in rack causing a air leak not allowing rack to send fluid back to pump

still looking to correct the problem

I will let you know what I find this weekend. I certainly hope there is NO leak in our rack since we replaced it BUT. As far as I know my father never saw any fluid coming from the rack (old or new). Right now my best guess is a clogged filter on the NEW high pressure hose from the old rack since it was replaced before we decided to replace the rack and power steering pump. I am leaning toward this explanation assuming that the filter is part of the high pressure line. I remember the line was odd shaped, metal tube around the motor and expensive. I am concerned that the filter is internal to the line and not replaceable. We replaced the fluid BUT we did not back-flush the high pressure line?? Oh well we will see this weekend

I have a 1999 Taurus with the exact same problem. Bought it new and have replaced the power steering pump twice in the last 2 years. The thrid pump needs to be replaced now (new in Aug 08). I do not have a problem steering the car. Just keep going through pumps. Noise is pretty loud. I too have noticed that the only symptom is that the resevoir appears to every now and then take a pressure surge and fluid leaks out of the fill cap.

I do have a filter on a line. I cannot remember if it is the low or high side. The filter is not easy to miss because it is at least 2 inches round and 3 inches long.

I will wait for your response on Monday. Good Luck!

well guys i have replaced both the high pressure and rack and pinion
and all is well no leaks and no noise put about 100 miles on it to test
no problems
bought parts myself through a buddy and had a friend with lift and we did the job takes about 4 hours and was a bit tricky for me as i am a rookie and backyard mech was quoted 1200.00 for job did it for 300 parts 150 my buddy
All i need now is 2 new tires brakes and alignment

good kuck all hope this helps

ps

also check to see if dipstick is broken off i think that is what started my problems broken off fell in pump cut it up and clogged pressure line and got into rack that is what i have come up with

After looking for a filter and not finding one, we decided to bleed the air out of the rack. First trying to do it with the engine off, we moved the wheels back and forth to the stops which force the fluid up to and out of the reservoir. I removed some of the fluid and we continued to move the wheels to the stops until we saw no air coming out (always at the stops). We then straigten the wheels and turned on the motor and repeated the bleeding. After we saw no more air and adjusted the fluid level to the correct "HOT" level. It seems to be working; my only complaint is that the reservior should be at least 8oz larger. It seems to me the fluid level is low when unit is running.

I now believe the original problem was air in the system but I am not sure if the rack was leaking. If it was leaking it was not obvious.