Notchy/Whiney Power Steering

We recently had some ice and snow a week ago and the back end of my 06 double cab sr5 kept giving out on me making me slide and I guess my power steering was not too fond of this. Now my power steering is whiney and when I try and turn it is really notchy. It is leaking out of the bottom of the truck at the connection of the axel. Could it possibly be a bad hose or is it the pump? I put more ATF fluid in and it just leaks at the bottom! I am not much of a mechanic so I have no idea what is really going on!

 

Sounds like it may be time to replace the rack.

There's a ton of places fluid can leak out of the rack. Can you please post some pictures so we can actually help? Otherwise we're just shooting suggestions at you blindly, some of which may be totally invalid. There's an "Upload File" button at the bottom-right corner of the chat window. You can upload as many photos in a row as you like.

Needless to say, don't drive the truck if it won't hold fluid in the rack. You'll blow up the pump and fuck up the rack. Both may be shot.

 

Could just be one of the lines, however, go see a mechanic. This is not a DIY fix if you're not skilled.

 

Thank you for the help! Here are a few pics from tonight! It is a 2006 with 76,000 original miles on it!

 

For whatever it's worth, the power steering rack in my 03 has been leaking for 20k miles and I've just been keeping an ear on the whine and topping it off religiously. The leak has even slowed recently. Again, I don't recommend it, but depending on what situation you're in -- sometimes shit just keeps working when it's lubricated

 

Wipe it all clean with rags, fill it up, start it up, then crawl your butt underneath with a flashlight to see where it's leaking. It looks like its leaking fast enough to easily see

 

Looks like the rack and the lines are leaking.

Here's a link to the rack:

https://www.detroitaxle.com/part/20...-suspension-kit/3ks1900579/?submodel_name=SR5


And here's a link to the lines:
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...01,steering,power+steering+pressure+hose,7320

Incase the RA link doesn't work right, it's this one:



That rack replacement is definitely a 2 man job, takes a bit of knowledge, and will get you dirty.

 

Low miles on these trucks is a bit of a curse. Don't be too proud of an under-used truck, it comes with its own headaches.

That said, I see you have the typical valve cover leaks that comes with low miles 1st gens. You may want to read over this thread, since other things look solid on the truck. https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

What he said ^^

Fill the reservoir 1/4" above the top fill line with ATF (it doesn't take power steering fluid), and start the truck so the pump is pumping. You may not even need cardboard. Look at all the metal and rubber hoses to check for drips.

If it's not blatantly visible, there's a safe place to jack up from the center of the truck to lift both wheels, do that, and with the engine running, have a 2nd person turn the wheels lock-to-lock to force fluid through the system. You should be able to spot the leak. When you spot the leak, curious to see that info.

There's not a lot to this system on most cars .... you've basically got a fluid reservoir, and if that reservoir isn't an all-in-one unit integrated with the pump, it'll have rubber hoses connecting it to the pump itself like on our trucks. Then you have hard lines connecting the pump to the rack. The rack is supposed to be sealed It's going to be leaking from one of very few places:

• Where the rubber lines go into the reservoir
• Where the hard lines exit the pump
• Somewhere at the rackbody: One of the hard lines coming from the pump, OR a freeze plug on the pump, or from the boot/bellows (accordion looking thing)
• One of the hard lines itself is leaking

Visualize the above system in your brain. Now get under the truck and figure it out. When you find the leak source, give us a picture. We can help.

 

To me it looks like your power steering rack and your lines are leaking. As others have said, you can always clean everything up, run it for a bit and then take a peak under the truck to confirm.

Not to hijack this thread, but has anyone use the Detroit Axle power steering rack? Quality stuff? I seem to always hear "OEM Only". Certainly is cheaper than OEM. I'm asking because I currently have my power steering rack out, driver side tie rod on the rack has some play, wondering if it's just better to replace the whole rack at that price.

 

I have one. It's been fine for 2 years now. Would recommend.

 

Fun fact: our racks suck when driven hard. Probably the only real weak point of our trucks. They like to go boom if you push them too hard

 

Thanks. Toyota wanted $181 for 1 tie rod end, figured it be best to replace both since it was out, but the Detroit rack is way cheaper.

 

with what I said earlier. I’d just go down the route of the cheaper rack and plan on replacing a few years down the road. Even the oem racks will give out eventually if you do enough off-roading or hard driving

 

Thank you guys for all your support! I really do appreciate it! I live in an apartment complex with a garage so not sure if I can get it in there with it being so large!! And I am in a bit of an upscale neighborhood where they don’t like you working on your cars but I say f it! My dad passed a few years back and gave me his truck! He would take it to the dealership for service and they would always want to buy it from him! I get it and seem to be beating the hell out of it like a truck is suppose to be used!!

 

Once I find something I will update my post!!

 

My dad gave my this truck as well. I’ll never get rid of this thing. I plan on this being like that old Chevy short bed you see every now and then, in 20 more years from now

 

Make sure your timing belt has been kept up with once your power steering mess is fixed. Would hate for your engine to (potentially) turn into a brick.

 

I’m not sure just looking at those pictures that your rack housing is leaking. The bellows visible in the pics appear dry. This line is definitely wet. If it leaks as soon as you fill it up, clean the rack and lines and let them dry, then fill the reservoir and see where the fluid comes out.

 

Replacing the rack on my 05 as we speak and can’t seem to get the hard line threads to tighten, can get about 3 turns and it loosens. This is the rack I’m using, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...2005+Toyota+tundra+power+steering+lines&pos=3

 

There've been a shitload of threads around here about aftermarket lines completely fucking up racks and not being threaded properly. Like, a stupid amount.

The only aftermarket lines anyone around here has gotten to work - at least that I've seen - are from Sunsong. Hopefully whatever the bullshit is O'reilly sold you (fuck I hate that goddamn store) didn't fuck up your rack. It's happened to others. I hate to be that guy who says, "don't buy aftermarket parts", but this is one of those times where - just like with catalytic converters on these trucks - it pays to research BEFORE you buy if you plan to get something other than OEM.

 

Another vote for the Sunsong lines. I'm in the middle of installing them in my truck. I compared them to the old ones and they are awfully similar. Only difference I noticed was the Sunsong included 1 less clamp for attaching to the frame than the OEM. Hoping to finish getting it in tomorrow

 

FYI -- I had my rack and lines replaced at the dealer in December (both had sprung bad leaks). They told me that new OEM racks are no longer available and the only option was a Toyota rebuilt unit. I would expect a Toyota rebuild to have a good warranty, but was disappointed to only get a 1 year warranty. So considering Detroit Axle's warranty and price, I would go for it if you have the time, space and tools to do it yourself.

 

Just ordered the Detroit rack.

Currently doing my whole front end, so my rack is currently out. Tundra isn't my daily driver, so thankfully I do have the time.

 

The thing is, with the QC Toyota has in place with their rebuilds, you're almost guaranteed to get as-good a product as factory, because they're rebuilding it as it was build in the factory, to the same tolerances and specs, using essentially all the same OEM parts.

Does it justify the price? Probably not, although ... if I can replace my rack only once in my truck's next 18 years of life, it's money well spent. I'd rather do that than spend half as much on an aftermarket rack and suffer thru replacing it twice in the next 18 years, or less than half and be replacing it every 4-6 years... It is what it is, at the end of the day.

But others on here had good experiences with Detroit, so I don't discount it. Sadly, we only have a few years of first-hand experience, so ...