So, after having my car for sale for several months, I only had one person look at it that was genuinely serious. Unfortunately, he was unable to secure inexpensive long term storage, so he had to pass on it. Since it appears that it's not going anywhere any time soon, I elected to continue doing mechanical work to it. it now has new struts, new shocks, a basically new driveshaft and a partially new power steering system (pump and hoses). The rack, unfortunately, has given me problems. After a lot of searching, I secured a replacement rack (remanufactured) from NPD. My car has a TRW steering rack which, of course, is much harder to find than the Ford rack. I got it installed and tried to bleed it, but it leaked. The rebuilder didn't get a couple of the fittings tight. I didn't notice this right away and wound up overfilling it. I really had a huge mess to clean up! I removed the rack, resealed all the fittings, dumped the excess fluid out of the bellows, got it all cleaned up and, thinking the problem was resolved, reinstalled the rack and tried to bleed it again. Still leaked. Fluid is coming out of the bellows on both sides. Everyone I asked about this said overfilling it shouldn't have hurt it, so I can only surmise that the seals are defective. I removed it, have it boxed up and awaiting pickup from UPS. NPD is exchanging it for me, so I really hope the next one won't have any issues. I may be on here asking questions before I try to bleed the new rack. I had the car at a friend's house and he has a lift, so it was much easier to work on there. It had been out there over two weeks and I didn't want to tie up his space any longer, so now it's in the garage on jack stands. Getting the old rack out wasn't bad at all, but I think that getting the new rack installed may get tricky when I try to get the steering linkage hooked up. Time and patience... Just hope the bleeding process goes off without a hitch. If the next rack leaks, I'm not sure what I'll do. I still have the original rack and I won't give it up for a core until I'm 150% sure I'm in the clear. It leaks too, but not nearly as bad as the new one did, so I could still use it if I had to. Let's hope I'm due for some good luck.
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