Steering Rack

I have a 93 3.3 Grand Caravan. About 2 years ago I had to replace the
steering rack. Last year I had to do it again because it was leaking. Now
I see it's starting to leak again. The racks are remanufactured from
CarQuest. Lifetime warranty, but I don't like the idea of replacing them
every year or 18 months. Has anyone else had bad experiences with CarQuest
parts or steering racks in general ? Any suggestions on where to get a
better part or are they remanufactured by only a few companies.

thanks,
Nick

 

It's amazing and sad that people will continue to inflict the
unreliability and the time and money waste of "remanufactured" parts upon
themselves again and again and again, all the while going "But...lifetime
warranty! Lifetime warranty! Lifetime warranty! It can't be the
'remanufacturing' process, it must be, um, the store I bought it from!
After all, lifetime warranty!".

Check with Steer & Gear, or look in your local yellow pages.

 

I've been dealing with my local CarQuest and its predecessor(same
management) for some 26 years. No telling how many thousands of
dollars. Can't recall ever getting a bad reman. part from them. The
staff there is good as gold...they will tell me if what they are
selling is junk or if it's good stuff based on feedback from other
customers. I sure as heck can't say that about some of the
others....Autozone, Checker, Advance, etc. My only steering rack
experience with them is a CarQuest reman. we've been running in our '96
Grand Voyager for about 4 years and 60,000 miles with no problems. I
would be looking for another source of problem....like using the wrong
fluid or not adequately flushing the old fluid from the pump and lines.

Steve

=----

 

Could be, and it could be shitty re-man for carquest. Carquest does not make
the re-man part, they buy it from a re-man facility. Which typically can be
from a reputable re-builder , or a shoddy one. I suspect the re-builder uses
shitty seals, or does not change the seals during the rebuilding process.

 

Daniel - Is this a situation where a part from NAPA will likely be
better (a btter screened supplier, etc.)?

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')

 

It might vary according to what region of the U.S. but around
here, Cardone is the rebuilder for both Carquest and NAPA for
such parts.

 

thanks for the advice. I'm wasn't aware that there could be a wrong fluid.
I used Valvoline SynPower. Is there a more preferred brand that's better ?

thanks,
Nick

 

It's tough for me to gauge which is a better part by just looking at them,
which is the only thing I have to go by. True a lifetime warranty doesn't
do me much good if the part keeps failing.
I think the dealer sells reman. parts also and they are more expensive. Is
there one or two parts chains out there that is better than most ? NAPA vs.
AutoZone, CarQuest vs. local stores ? And I've never had a problem with
these chains and their parts before. They are usually pretty good and
cheaper.

thanks,
Nick

 

I am lucky that I have two good independent parts stores near me, but
NAPA is also usually good. I've heard good things about CarQuest but
I've never lived near one. Pep Boys, AutoZone etc. I usually only go to
for consumables like oil etc., although AutoZone seems to be getting a
little better.

nate

 

My experience with replacing rebuilt steering racks from AutoZone was
positive. In each case, the replacement unit worked perfectly and gave
no trouble until I finally sold the car. In the case of the '86 Mark
VII, it was about 40 months. In the case of the '87 Taurus, it was only
10 months. Paid $105(1/2001) for the Mark VII and $70 for the Taurus
(1/1998).
Stan K.

 

Yep: Fluid that specifically indicates it meets the relevant Chrysler
spec. Not "universal" P/S fluid, not transmission fluid, etc.

 

Time was, yes. Nowtimes, NAPA is cheapening-down their line to try to
compete with Schmuck's, AutoBone, Schlep Boys, etc. Their O2 sensors used
to be Echlin (good), now Bosch (highly inconsistent). Their remanufactured
components used to be Rayloc (reliable), now Cardone (junk).

 

funny... my power steering on my 2004 PT says ATF +4 for it, same as the
transmision wonder if many more models are the same.

 

While it was UAP up here in Canada, the parts were generally pretty
good. You could buy their in-house VERDIC brand and save some money,
getting sometimes slightly less quality.

Since they went to UAP/NAPA, and now simply NAPA, the quality of MANY
parts has definitely taken a HUGE nose-dive. My brother's shop is in
the other side of a NAPA store - and it's getting to the point the
"inhouse parts department" is getting a lot less of his business
because he's getting sick and tired of constantly returning defective
parts - and crap that's boxed wrong right from the warehouse. He has
had 3 different (wrong) parts supplied under the same part number
before getting the right one........

 

Pesonally, I just don't mess with the low-quality for low-bucks outfits any
more. I found out many years ago that real parts stores (the kind with an
ashtray shaped like a tire and fan belts hanging from the ceiling) are
actually cheaper than Advance Auto. That did it for me. I used to have to
put on 2 or 3 rebuilt starters from Advance to get a good one. I don't have
to do that any more!

There are certain things you shouldn't buy rebuilt, but I don't really know
if racks are in that category. I've never replaced the first one. I don't
even look to see if they're leaking. Have you considered doing nothing?
That's probably what I'm doing, because I don't know if my rack is leaking
or not.

 

Per TSB No. 19-005-03, you are correct for the Cruiser and most Chrysler
vehicles of very late 90's and later. However, Daniel is correct on the
earlier Caravans that still have to use the approved power steering
fluid only. The TSB has a chart that is too complex to copy here, but
unless I missed something, there's nothing earlier than '99 for which
ATF+4 can be used for p.s. fluid, but there are some vehicles that must
not use ATF+4 for p.s. even as late as '04 MY ('05 MY is not in the
chart) - that's why I say, you've got to see the chart to determine the
requirements for any given vehicle.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')

 

So are you saying to buy from the local auto parts stores versus the chains
? I see there's a site on the web, 'CarSteeringwholsesale.com' that charges
about $40.00 more but says it's racks are better than the production line
racks put out by the remanufactures. Anyone have any experience with these
people ?

thanks

 

If NAPA has cheapened their line, where am I supposed to go for parts
now?

 

My experience is that NAPA will now offer you two parts, one which
costs a whole bunch more than the other. Take the expensive one.

 

When all else fails, read the freaking owners manual or call your
local dealer.