'02 Steering rack failing

[dxve]

Yet another expensive repair... heard a whine from the engine in synch with the revs, found power steering fluid low. topped it up, noise gone. a nice $3 fix. ...not so fast... notice a small puddle on the floor of the garage a few days later, it lines up with the power steering fluid resevoir. head to the garage to trace leak, expecting it's a loose line or a crack in the plastic resevoir. not so lucky... apparantly the steering rack is leaking and needs to be rebuilt/replaced. GM offers a rebuilt replacement for C$1,600!!! Trusty garage guy sources rebuilder to rebuild ours for C$550. All in, parts, labour, taxes, it was C$1,100!! on top of being without the truck for almost a week. I find it hard to believe that a four year old truck needs a new steering rack already.

Apparantly the rebuilder couldn't get to it right away because he had three Envoy racks in ahead of us. Further proof that GM designed this thing on the "infinite number of monkeys principle" (an infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of type writers would eventually produce the complete works of William Shakespeare, and a lot of nonsensical garbage along the way)

I only share this story in case it helps someone fight with GM about their own issues. Ours is relatively high mileage (~160Km's) so we tend to be ahead of the curve in finding the problems with our TB.

The good news, no one we know will ever by a Trailblazer. The bad news, now I have to work harder to unload it onto some unsuspecting bugger who clearly doesn't have internet access.

[dmince]

Replaced mine at 30k last Nov. Started growling about July and the resivor was low. Refilled it and was fine untill Nov when the boot left all the fluid out finally. Never left a spot before then or used any more. GM rack was $700ish and the Delco was $500ish. '02 are great aren't they.

[sdfischer]

AArrggghhh!!! My 2002 has only 32K miles but at about 28k I found the steering fluid smelled 'burnt' so I flushed it. Was fine for a few thousand and now needs it again. My GMC trucks don't have these issues. At least I have an extended warranty (I think)...

[rodeo02]

Did u guys notice if the p-steering fluid (ATF) was all burnt and nasty when the seals blew out? You see this more and more these days on rack and pinion minivans and trucks. The systems run HOT and chew up the fluid in ~30K miles. A pump out and refill of the P-steering fluid reservoir will help prevent this. You also need to address the trans fluid every ~30K if you want your 4L60E to last.

G/luck
Joel

[ScarabEpic22]

OK, so whats the best and easiest way to flush the power steering system and replace it with new fluid? This is the only remaining fluid that I havent changed yet.

[rodeo02]

I personally just suck out & refill the reservoir (repeat if needed) if it's not real dirty. The best way is to pull the low press return line from the pump to the reservoir, route it into a jug to let it dump into, start the the truck and turn the wheels lock to lock while a helper is adding fresh fluid.

G/luck
Joel