First post - Hello all!

2003 Acura TL base model w/ 120k on it.

1. So I let my cousin borrow my car - he hit a divider or something and cracked open my rack and pinion
2. I had the rack and pinion replaced for $449 labor
3. it was good for maybe a day or 2 but then I realized power steering was leaking and thus steering was stiffening up and I was getting that horrible sound
4. When I went back to the shop, they said a hose had become brittle so they cut off the end of it and made it reach to wherever it had to go and re-clamped it at a charge of $60 for labor. Shop owner told me that should do the trick, but keep and eye on it and if it's still leaking - we'll have to replace the hose and he'll credit that $60 towards the hose replacement.
5. By the next day, I noticed it was leaking still, just slower than before.

So, this hose leaking wasn't caused by whatever my cousin hit I'm assuming. Is the shop messing with me milking me for more money? Did they tamper with something or make a mistake somewhere while replacing the rack & pinon causing it to leak? OR is the shop owner's justification correct - he's saying when you put the new rack & pinion, it's creating a lot of new pressure causing the old lines to break.

I forgot the name of the hose but he said it's around $46 and he's charging me a total of $230 for parts and labor minus the $60 from the previous attempted fix.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

Are ya sure that the leak is originating from the hose or a fitting to the rack assembly ?

If the damaged rack and pinion was banged up from the accident, it's possible that a hose or connector also was damaged at the time.

IMO, the shop should've checked the hoses, connectors, o-rings...etc. before it ever left the shop. It appears as though you have little choice in the matter except to tell him that you want the $60 back for the failed attempt and then buy the hose and install it yourself.

Ya don't want to run the PS pump low on fluid, otherwise ya risk damaging it.

 

thanks..unfortunately, im super strapped for time so i cant even attempt to do it myself ...it's even difficult finding time to make it to the shop..

for now, im just making sure to keep an eye on the fluid and topping it off to prevent further damage

and yes, thank you! i feel like they shoulda checked everything out before i left instead of making me go back for a THIRD time now

do you buy his reasoning for the hose giving from new pressure provided by the new rack and pinion?

 

Personally, I'd tend to think that the hose and fitting for the rack may have been compromised at the time of the accident or during the replacement procedure. Make sure that's where it's leaking from.

 

ill tell them to take a look at that, but hes saying its in a hard to reach area

 

If they found a brittle hose and decided that cutting and clamping it was a good idea, you need to find a better shop.

WTF kind of repair is that for $60? Dealership quoted me $600 for replacing PS rack, and they don't do some shoddy fixes.

 

Do ya know which hose or fitting is leaking ?
Is it down near the rack or coming from the PS pump ?

The shop should have realized that clamping an old hose wouldn't hold up, IMO.

 

UPDATE:

so it turns out the hose fix is good but its leaking from the rack and pinion that i purchased from autozone..he said it has a bad seal. I asked "wasnt it inspected, etc before installation"...he said its something you can tell until after its installed?
so basically now a giant hassle in that i have to get a new rack and pinion, try to get my money back for the core that i gave to them already, AND try to make a labor claim at autozone since i have to re-do labor costs! anyone have success with one of these labor claims? seems like a fat chance

well i paid $450 for the rack & pinion replacement, but the hose supposedly happened after...im done with this shop after this, but i already have shit tied up with them so have to stick it out with them for this repair...im new to the las vegas area and took a recommendation from someone..mistake i guess

 

The return hose should have been taken care of when the rack was done, possibly with a slight upcharge. As far as I'm concerned, your rack, your warranty. However, some state laws put the ultimate responsibility on the installer, if you want to research it and play that card. Personally, I think Autozone and some other parts stores that cater to the diy crowd are a poor choice for reman parts. Unless there was a glaring problem with the rack, it's not up to the installer to test a new part before installing it. May be you can get him to give you a break on the labor second time around. If you can get your money back, I'd try Napa, or Carquest for a better quality reman. Or if you can wait, mail order one from Jorgen Automotive. If not, the odds are you won't get two bad ones in a row. If you do happen to get another bad one, I'd demand that Autozone cover all your expenses, even if you had to get a lawyer to do it.

 

Obviously you can get your money back for the price of the rack parts, but labor is gone. Maybe you can try to get the shop to install a new one for much cheaper because of the circumstance, but they generally don't cover parts that customers bring in.

 

Stopped reading in the Red Section. They are totally milking you.. Replacing the rack is stupid darn easy and takes about 2 hours TOPS (200 bucks labor if 100xHour) on our cars, Or they went FULL RETARD on that change or they are scamming you for more money... Either way I would not change the defective part with them anymore or expect the car to return with "A new issue"..

 

Who determined that the replacement rack was bad and causing the leak ?
Apparently after ya had the original leaking issue, your repair shop did'nt catch that. But, they did say that if the hose repair didn't hold up that they would fix the leak for the price of $230 less the $60 prior charge.....equaling $170.

Obviously, the shop can't be held responsible for inferior reman parts which the customer brings in. Now, had they installed a part which they chose to replace the old rack with.....then things would work better for you, IMO. However, as of now....maybe the shop will cut ya a deal if ya go that route. Perhaps $170 ???

 

Maybe Skirmish wants to do it for $200

Professional shops use a labor estimating guide such as Mitchell to estimate labor times. The book time on this job is 4.5 hours. So $449 for a shop to do this job when you brought your own part is fair in Las Vegas.

The fact that you supplied your own part puts you in a bind, now that it is defective... Not the shops fault you bought a bad part from AutoZone.

Since you brought your own part, I would think that the shop did not do any inspection on your vehicle, just cooked the 'steak' you asked them to cook.

If you had asked them to inspect, they may have suggested things like hoses to complete the job as your car has 120k and 11 years old in the Vegas Heat. It stands to reason that other components may be weak and when disturbed by the installation may show thier age