Honda Car Forum

I have a 2002 (new to me - purchased 3 mths ago) Honda Accord which I
took in to the dealer recently & found out it has a steering rack leak
- not what one expects on a car with only about 65,000km. Has anyone
else experienced this kind of problem with the Accord? My confidence in
the car (which has been terrific - I love driving this car) has been
shaken by the news of a hefty replacement.

roadrunner wrote:

> I have a 2002 (new to me - purchased 3 mths ago) Honda Accord which I
> took in to the dealer recently & found out it has a steering rack leak
> - not what one expects on a car with only about 65,000km. Has anyone
> else experienced this kind of problem with the Accord? My confidence in
> the car (which has been terrific - I love driving this car) has been
> shaken by the news of a hefty replacement.

I have never heard of a steering rack failing on a Honda... unless somebody
put in the wrong power steering fluid. That is one fluid that absolutely
must be Honda-specific.

High Tech Misfit wrote:
> roadrunner wrote:
>
>> I have a 2002 (new to me - purchased 3 mths ago) Honda Accord which I
>> took in to the dealer recently & found out it has a steering rack leak
>> - not what one expects on a car with only about 65,000km. Has anyone
>> else experienced this kind of problem with the Accord? My confidence in
>> the car (which has been terrific - I love driving this car) has been
>> shaken by the news of a hefty replacement.
>
> I have never heard of a steering rack failing on a Honda... unless somebody
> put in the wrong power steering fluid. That is one fluid that absolutely
> must be Honda-specific.

I had a 1984 Accord with a power steering leak. First time Honda did
the work under warranty. Second time it was out of warranty. The leak
was fairly slow, so I just added fluid for the next 10 years.

Honda steering racks do fail. I own a 2001 Acura TL and the steering rack
has been replaced twice. The firast one was noisy when turning the wheels in
a driveway and the second one was making noise whenever I drove over a speed
bump. The first one was under warranty and I only paid for labor when the
second one was replaced last week at 81,500 kms. Honda accepted to pay for
the steering rack because it had less than 40K kms.

"High Tech Misfit" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
18hk3hntn089m$.dlg@hightech.misfit...
> roadrunner wrote:
>
>> I have a 2002 (new to me - purchased 3 mths ago) Honda Accord which I
>> took in to the dealer recently & found out it has a steering rack leak
>> - not what one expects on a car with only about 65,000km. Has anyone
>> else experienced this kind of problem with the Accord? My confidence in
>> the car (which has been terrific - I love driving this car) has been
>> shaken by the news of a hefty replacement.
>
> I have never heard of a steering rack failing on a Honda... unless
> somebody
> put in the wrong power steering fluid. That is one fluid that absolutely
> must be Honda-specific.

"roadrunner" <squidink@nl.rogers.com> wrote in
news:1161134815.810045.311970@m73g2000cwd.googlegr oups.com:

> I have a 2002 (new to me - purchased 3 mths ago) Honda Accord which I
> took in to the dealer recently & found out it has a steering rack leak
> - not what one expects on a car with only about 65,000km. Has anyone
> else experienced this kind of problem with the Accord? My confidence in
> the car (which has been terrific - I love driving this car) has been
> shaken by the news of a hefty replacement.
>



Somebody put the wrong fluid.


--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

So, you can just keep adding steering fluid? I think it's the steering fluid
leak since I have to add some every now and then and my car smokes because
the leak I think drops on some metals inside. I check the oil sometimes and
I don't have to add anything to it so, the power steering fluid is the one
that leaks.

I have change headlights and starters in the pass. There's a hose that
seems to be wet when I touch the lower side. It is a short hose, don't think
its complicated one to take off but I'm afraid when I take it off something
will come out and drain everything out.

I forgot to mention, I have an accord lx 1988. Still running good., except
for the leak and the smoke. No the car is not on H. It's still COLD.

Hondamom wrote:
>So, you can just keep adding steering fluid? I think it's the steering fluid
>leak since I have to add some every now and then and my car smokes because
>the leak I think drops on some metals inside. I check the oil sometimes and
>I don't have to add anything to it so, the power steering fluid is the one
>that leaks.
>
>I have change headlights and starters in the pass. There's a hose that
>seems to be wet when I touch the lower side. It is a short hose, don't think
>its complicated one to take off but I'm afraid when I take it off something
>will come out and drain everything out.

"Hondamom" <u28032@uwe> wrote in news:67f69796261a5@uwe:

> So, you can just keep adding steering fluid? I think it's the steering
> fluid leak since I have to add some every now and then and my car
> smokes because the leak I think drops on some metals inside.

Then it can't be the steering rack because that is forward of and below any
hot parts. Maybe it's the power steering pump? Or hose TO the rack?

Maybe the smoke is coming from some other leak.

> I check
> the oil sometimes and I don't have to add anything to it so, the power
> steering fluid is the one that leaks.
>
> I have change headlights and starters in the pass. There's a hose
> that seems to be wet when I touch the lower side. It is a short hose,
> don't think its complicated one to take off but I'm afraid when I take
> it off something will come out and drain everything out.

Good possibility.

Get a service manual.
Then you will know what is what.



--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

On 19 Oct 2006 00:35:34 GMT, Jim Yanik wrote:

> "Hondamom" <u28032@uwe> wrote in news:67f69796261a5@uwe:
>
>> So, you can just keep adding steering fluid? I think it's the steering
>> fluid leak since I have to add some every now and then and my car
>> smokes because the leak I think drops on some metals inside.
>
> Then it can't be the steering rack because that is forward of and below any
> hot parts. Maybe it's the power steering pump? Or hose TO the rack?
>
> Maybe the smoke is coming from some other leak.

My only experience with this problem was on a 1997 Dodge Caravan, which was
caused by a rotted Power Steering Pump, so this may be the case.

--
Joseph M. LaVigne
jlavigne@hits-buffalo.com
http://www.thelavignefamily.us/MyPipePages/ - 10/19/2006 4:26:59 AM
Tobacconist Brick and Mortar Database: http://bam.tobaccocellar.org/

"For thy sake, tobacco, I would do anything but die."

-Charles Lamb

Ghislain wrote:
> Honda steering racks do fail. I own a 2001 Acura TL and the steering rack
> has been replaced twice. The firast one was noisy when turning the wheels in
> a driveway and the second one was making noise whenever I drove over a speed
> bump. The first one was under warranty and I only paid for labor when the
> second one was replaced last week at 81,500 kms. Honda accepted to pay for
> the steering rack because it had less than 40K kms.
Wow, that's one or 2 too many racks to replace.
Well, I have limited warranty, as I purchased car 3 mths ago at 60km so
I pay for part but not labour. So I think I'll go ahead & get new part.
Hopefully that's it for major part replacement for a few thou more kms.
thanks.