Power steering woes

So I bought this car with the knowledge that the power steering rack has a small leak. 2005 Legacy GT LTD with 89k miles.

 

Here are my symptoms:

 

Fluid leeks from somewhere on the rack, the reservoir goes down to about 1/2 and then stays there. There is a little belt squeelage when the car starts, but it goes away. The power steering goes in and out when doing slow speed turns - through idle and a hint of throttle. If I rev the engine a bit, it works fine.

 

QUESTIONS:

 

1. What is involved in swapping out the power steering rack? Can I use racks from any other models besides legacy's 05+?

 

2. Is the belt squeelage a sign that I need to do my belts as well?

 

3. Would the power steering pump be going out also?

 

 

Much appreciated! Searches haven't answered so anything you have to add would be great!

Bump for some guidance

I have the same car... and possibly a similar problem... bump

yikes... it's a trend... I have an LGT with 72K miles.

 

I found this other thread indicating that the power steering rack failing is a possibility..

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104725&highlight=power+steering

 

On my car the reservoir is overfull, and there is evidence that it has leaked from the hose clamp area onto the passenger side fender. It looks like the reservoir could be getting pressurized? I am not sure if my issue is the pump or the rack. I definitely have a sound when turning so it appears that the pump is not getting fluid or has failed.

 

Update... turned the car on ... a lot of fluid disappeared from the reservoir... surprising it would empty out like that. turned the wheel a couple of times.. checked and now the reservoir was overfull, above all four of the marks on it for min and max. Turned the car off and the fluid overflowed out of the top of the reservoir slightly. inside, clearly all the fluid was pressurized with air as there are a lot of bubbles in the fluid.

 

 

 

-----edit..

 

Looks like my issue is NOT the rack... so.. no help to the people that had questions, but if one has leaking from the reservoir.. this is the first step... it worked for me..

 

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1799692

I've been having the same issue. I flushed the system last week and added new fluid and the problem still exsits. After fully inspecting the whole system, I found the power steering pump is leaking fluid from the main shaft connected to the pulley.

 

Looks like I'm ordering a new pump now.

Ordering a pump soon myself, having similar issues

Just replaced the pump and everything is back to normal. When I turned the shaft on the old pump you can hear some of the bearings grind. It was making a loud whining noise before I replaced it.

where did you source the pump and how much was it? I don't need one yet but may soon...

The pump I bought is the A1 Cardone, part #21-5196.

 

Here is where I got it - http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/search/?searchType=global&N=0&Ntt=21-5196