About to become an owner of 2007 Avalon

AlphaOmega said:
Well, its seals are made of rubber. Eventually they'll leak. At that point, resealing or replacing a rack are the correct solutions
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You may want to see if it is possible to reseal that rack in-car. @nthach did one on a Sienna with me several years ago for the same concern. Granted, there was a TSB for this condition with a few part numbers just for this repair, but it would not surprise me if those seals are readily available.

Also, for an Avalon of this vintage, you may want to check for any timing cover leaks and the condition of the bank 1 VVT oil feed line.
 
can you send a picture of this leak? I have a 08 Lexus and the boot was leaking grease(very very thin grease) from the OEM bands not properly making a seal and as the boot was in perfect condition, removing the old band, putting in new cv axle grease and re-sealing using OEM bands usually fixes this issue, its a known issue and people replace the whole axle for it, and take it a timing cover leak when a lot of times it isn't, even though the timing cover leak is common as well.
 
AKhan87 said:
can you send a picture of this leak? I have a 08 Lexus and the boot was leaking grease(very very thin grease) from the OEM bands not properly making a seal and as the boot was in perfect condition, removing the old band, putting in new cv axle grease and re-sealing using OEM bands usually fixes this issue, its a known issue and people replace the whole axle for it, and take it a timing cover leak when a lot of times it isn't, even though the timing cover leak is common as well.
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The inner cv boots leak because the rubber gets hard and shrinks. Replacing the clamp usually does not solve the problem since the clamp’s tension cannot be adjusted. It is not difficult to remove the axle and replace the inner boot.

The timing cover usually leaks where the bank 1 head, block and timing cover intersect. I circled it in red:

1637085185791.webp


This area is hidden by the p/s pump on models with hydraulic p/s. It is semi-commonly confused with a p/s pump leak.
 
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AKhan87 said:
can you send a picture of this leak? I have a 08 Lexus and the boot was leaking grease(very very thin grease) from the OEM bands not properly making a seal and as the boot was in perfect condition, removing the old band, putting in new cv axle grease and re-sealing using OEM bands usually fixes this issue, its a known issue and people replace the whole axle for it, and take it a timing cover leak when a lot of times it isn't, even though the timing cover leak is common as well.
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In my case the suspected leak is from the steering rack into the tie rod, not the axel
 
You are over-reacting. Just replace the boot and change the power steering fluid to MaxLife ATF, it has a seal conditioner in it. Watch the power steering fluid reservoir, I'll bet that the level doesn't go down. I did this on my Sienna several years ago and all is well (it uses the same rack). I have not had to add any PS fluid since I did this. Frankly, I didn't have to add any PS fluid before I did this. There was fluid in and around the broken boot, but it couldn't have been much. A little fluid makes a big mess.
 
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wag123 said:
You are over-reacting. Just replace the boot and change the power steering fluid to MaxLife ATF, it has a seal conditioner in it. Watch the power steering fluid reservoir, I'll bet that the level doesn't go down. I did this on my Sienna several years ago and all is well (it uses the same rack). I have not had to add any PS fluid since I did this. Frankly, I didn't have to add any PS fluid before I did this. There was fluid in and around the broken boot, but it couldn't have been much. A little fluid makes a big mess.
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Agreed. If you don't have measurable fluid loss, just motor on. I had a 97' Camry with a leaky rack. The tie rod boots were full of oil. Didn't make any difference, no topping off needed.
 
AlphaOmega said:
it's quite amazing that Toyota warranties this issue so many years later. Deadline is December 31st, 2021
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Toyota also had a long warranty extension on the dash pad for cracking. I think that it is now expired. To my knowledge, no other auto manufacturer has ever done this.
 
AlphaOmega said:
I called a dealer. The recall the VVTi oil line was performed by original owner back in 2011. There are no other outstanding recalls too, so I'm all good. Thanks for pointing it out though!
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That wasn’t my point. Even the revised ones can fail. Check the condition of it and address if-needed.
 
The Critic said:
The inner cv boots leak because the rubber gets hard and shrinks. Replacing the clamp usually does not solve the problem since the clamp’s tension cannot be adjusted. It is not difficult to remove the axle and replace the inner boot.

The timing cover usually leaks where the bank 1 head, block and timing cover intersect. I circled it in red:

View attachment 78058

This area is hidden by the p/s pump on models with hydraulic p/s. It is semi-commonly confused with a p/s pump leak.
Click to expand...
I didn’t know then mine is probably still leaking, as I just repaired the clamps on someone else’s suggestion, as this fixed the issue for him.

From a DIY online, axle removal seems like a PITA
 
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