Ford Repair: 04 Taurus power steering issue, power steering rack, tie rod ends

Question
Dennis,

I have recently purchased a 2004 Taurus SE with 64k.The car sat for some time prior to me buying it. I had a tire that kept going flat. So I jacked up the left side of the car to inspect the tire. With one tire off the ground and the car not running I grabbed the tire and turned it to the left to inspect for nail or a screw. So basically I didn't turn the wheels with the steering wheel. I finished inspecting the tire and let the car down and from that moment on the steering became very hard and the pump was noisy. I have work on cars a lot and never had an issue like this from just turning the wheels manually. So I add some fluid as the level in the pump was now low, found it was just filling up the bellows the cover the inner tie rod ends. I removed the outer clamps and drained out about a quart from both sides. Any ideas?


Answer
Sounds like a seal is blown in the power steering rack, this is the only thing that would allow fluid into the bellows. I have not seen turning the wheel manually do this, however leaving one wheel on the ground may have stressed the seal to the limit.

One curious thing about Fords is whenever the front wheels are turned without the engine running, they will blow fluid out of the vent in the pump cap. Never have understood why or found anyone that knew the answer.

As far as repair, you can try to find a shop that will do just the seals, however as far as I know most will recommend replacing the steering gear with a remanufactured part. If a seal blows out or started leaking, there may be a problem inside the gear causing such a leak.