January 8, 2022

1999 Camry - power steering leak

I tackled this as part of my timing belt work in June of 2023. All the details are there, mixed in with the timing belt work. I ended up replacing the pump and 3 hoses for a cost of about $150. I may not have needed the pump, and might have gotten away with generic hose from the parts store for the low pressure side. I might not even have needed to replace the high pressure hose. Who knows? There is such a mess it is all but impossible to really pin down the start of the leak.

My mechanic quoted me about $1000 for the job (which included replacing the rack). As near as I can tell, they have an "all or nothing" view of power steering repair because they don't want having repairs bounce back and if they replace everything, they are willing to stand behind it.

My mechanic also says that leaking fluid has damaged bushings which will need to be replaced.

I am looking at the leak in 2023 with the idea that the major leak may be hoses rather than the rack (this is based on seeing lots of fluid high up when I started on the timing belt job). Here is a video on replacing the power steering pump that may help understand the various hoses. The videos by TRQ have always been well photographed and produced:

Conversion to manual steering

My mechanic was extremely negative about the following idea, but here it is for what it is worth. Yes this is from a Honda forum, but I don't see why the scheme would not work on the Camry. My mechanics main objection was that steering effort would be hard and unsafe. Other forum discussions on this (elsewhere) confirm this with talk about "building up Popeye forearms" and such. But people do it, especially for hot rod cars that are raced on tracks (it saves weight and the PS pump uses a couple of horsepower). Other concerns are that the steering shaft and U-joint may not be rated for the additional force.

Rack replacment

I see rebuild racks on Ebay for $110 and this video details the process of replacing one. It does not look like I would need special tools to deal with hydraulic lines. One guy in the comments says it took him all day (8 hours) to remove his rack. Another guys says, "you can do this and save hundreds of dollars, but it ain't easy". This definitely looks like a job where a lift would make it much much easier.
Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Camry pages / tom@mmto.org