Need new Rack and Pinion? 1997 Buick Lesabre

Took my car to autoshop yesterday. Ever since I had the car which has been about 10 months the steering wheel has had play in it. I finally got the chance and took it to a well known small auto shop by my house. Me and the mechanic looked at the car as he had it on a lift. And checked my tie rod ends ball joints stab bar, links etc. Then noticed that the boot on the passenger side connected to my RACK AND PINION is leaking :( ....

He told me the whole rack would have to be replaced..... Now i have no money and am still paying off this car on an auto loan. No way can i afford to have the whole rack replaced. He quoted me over $650.....

My question is ----- CAN I JUST HAVE THAT BOOT REPLACED? Instead of the whole rack?? I assume that that would be cheaper right? :frown:

I will check this later tonight, and thanks for anyone who provides info i really appreciate it!!


And my car is a 1997 buick lesabre VIN K 3.8 engine with 80,620 miles on it.

The boot is not the leak it is the inner seal. Maybe a good used one?

Now the question is how much is he marking up the parts and what is he charging for labor.. Keep in mind,

Its not a lot of fun to replace the Rack and pinion, but on the H bodies its not that bad.. You will also have to have an alignment once this is said and done.. I will hazard a guess and say this is part of the total bill..

Also not that price will depend on what suspension you have.... If its an FE1 the Rack is fairly cheap.. If you have FE2/F41 this rack will run in the area of $200 all alone...

For the amount of work and the parts, the price he quoted was not bad... And I'm sure you get a warranty with that as well