1st - I took my skidplate off so I can do a little cleaner oil change and change my front diff fluid. Man I hate that smell. Well I took the skib plate off and these two bolts fell out.

Any idea what they are out of?





2nd - I have an intermitant leak from my power steering. I finally figured out where it is coming from. It's not regular thing though. I'm sure it was cause by it taking a hit while I was doing some trails a few years ago. The edge of the skid plate is bent up right there. What should I do to fix that? The end of the boot is somewhat torn. Should I/Could I just replace that and fix it?



3rd - Kind of related. How do I drain and flush the rack? I think my ex was using regular power steering fluid while I was deployed. Where do I get rid of the old fluid?

 

Question 4 - Is there a way to loosen up the spark plug boots and get them off the plug? Some of mine are really stuck and I don't want replace the wires right now.

 

#1- Bolt on the left, looks like a mounting bolt. alternator? etc... Bolt on the right, correct me if i'm wrong, is your oil pan drain plug.

#2- there should be ZERO fluid coming out of the boot. my understanding is if there's fluid getting past the seals in the rack, the rack is shot. big $$ to replace.

#3- like above, there should be no seen fluid. to drain it, turkey baster in the reservoir? or maybe the lines can be disconnected to drain?

#4- i don't know. i'll be tackling this service for the first time this summer.

good luck bro! i hope your rack isn't buh-bye!

 

I thought the bolt on the right looks like a drain plug out of something but I don't know what it would be out of.

PS works fine. Just sometimes it leaks and I just have to top it up. You here the pump start making some noise and you know it's time. I keep a quart in the truck.

 

I just did a PS flush on my BMW. Basicly you get out as much as you can with the turkey baster.

Then prepare for a mess as you remove the return line from the reservoir. Let the return line drain off into a bucket as you fill up the reservoir to the top with fresh ATF.

Next have someone start the engine for a very short time to flush the old stuff out of the pump and lines while you hold the return line in a direction you want the ATF to shoot out. Did I mention this would be messy? Don't let the reservoir run dry during that step, the pump can drain the reservoir very quickly.

Next fill up the reservoir again and with the engine OFF , turn the wheels from lock to lock. It helps if the wheels are off the ground for that step.

On mine the fluid coming out was very clean and new looking at that point, if not you might have to repeat one or more of the last steps.

When the ATF coming out looks new, reconnect the return line to the reservoir and start the bleeding process.

Bleeding the air out takes a little time because the pump will whip the air into the ATF. Start out again with the reservoir full and start the engine just for a few seconds and shut down and check the ATF level, refill if you need to. Next with the engine OFF turn the wheel lock to lock again and recheck ATF level. By now you should be getting lots of bubbles in the ATF so I let it sit overnight and work on it the next day.

Then when the level starts staying fairly constant, start the engine and turn the wheels lock to lock and recheck the level.

Keep an eye on the level as you drive for a few days, I needed to top it off a few times after that. Don't go passed the max mark on the reservoir when you start driving as the ATF heats up and needs room to expand.

 

#4 there is a tool that you can get I'm sure most auto places have them as well. I don't have one my self yet. I did how ever pull 2 new wires apart when I redid my head. Fortunately I was able to them back together. Check this out... http://www.google.com/products?hl=en...num=1&ct=title

 

#1 First bolt looks too small for the alternator. I have seen that bolt used for mounting components usually seen along the fender well mounting misc items to the fender well area on either side of the engine compartment.

#2 is either an old oil drain plug or transmission drain plug? Looks to have a flange and gasket so I would check those locations to see what is installed in those locations.

#3 appears that you have a leaking seal for the power steering rack, flushing the system will not fix this issue ... they are not cheap to fix. If you are concerned that the wrong fluid was being put in the power steering reservoir then its a safe bet the seals have been and are leaking. Normally you almost never have to add power steering flluid unless there is a problem with seals. There is not a cheap fix for this issue no matter how you look at it. I would check replacement parts cost with the dealer (including installation/labor) check with a good wrecking yard you trust and will give you a good price, and if you can do the repair yourself, check it for any leaks or damage and pull it/replace it.

If you plan on keeping this rig for quite awhile, and don't wish to do this job on your own, or don't have the time or ability, then bite the bullet and have the dealer install a new one. Very good luck

 

I thought it looked like a drain plug but everything is in place so I have no idea. Esp nothing that would be wind up in the skid plate. Unless when my ex got the oil changed while I was gone, they somehow dropped the drain plug and just replaced it.

Well I'm def not going to have the dealer install an new one. A new rack is about $900 from Toyota. A reman rack from autozone is $450 I think. I can get a replacement boot from autozone and it's like $29. Do that and a flush might help. Or at least it's worth a try.

 

Yeah I guess its worth a try but when you take it apart and inspect the seals, you are throwing good money after bad if all you do is flush and replace the boot. Look at those seals like the seals in the rear axle, once the seals start leaking, you can flush the fluid all you want, its not going to make the seals leak any less. Save the $29 + your time to removed tear down and reassemble just to have a nice new boot with fluid leaking into it. Just my thoughts on it. also another thought, when you start flushing new fresh fluid through a system, you are bound to loosen up some of the crud that was helping to hold back to torrent, it could very well begin to leak even worse then it is.

 

Have you had any work done on the truck in shops? Those are what we call Cussing Bolts. Guy workin on your truck dropped them down in there... first bolt looks like it mounts something on the inside engine compartment on the body or intake somewhere. Second does look like a drain plug of some kind a def leans more toward an oil pan one. Prob once upon a time a guy was chaing the oil in that truck and layed that bolt in the skidplate, later to screw it back in when it was done draining... well come time to put plug in he forgot where he put it... thus you prolly have a new bolt in your pan.... to your power steering... this is and issue... should def not be leaking right there at all... i've tried alot of P/S stopleaks and i've used one that works very good. LUCAS P/S fluid and stop leak and wine. This stuff worked on alot of my trucks i've had try it it may work but if not then think about investing in a new rack.... spark plug wires are easy to get off unless they are as hard as you say you know to grab them about as low as you can and pull and twist at the sametime if that fails get some pliers or Sparkplugwire pliers... or oil filter pliers work good too.

 

Thanks guys. I think I'll probably just wind up dealing with the power steering until something dies. It need to be filled once avery few months and i don't want to risk messing up a new rack until I build new skids. It's just a class 2 leak so no deadline right now.

I guess I can understand the drain plug. I should go see if it's magnetic cause I put one in at one time. I think the oil change while I was gone was the only time someone other than me has touched my truck in 3 years. Doesn't mean the skinner bolt wasn't from something I did.