98 camry power steering rack leaking

I'd guess that it would be a worn (dried-out?) hose. Had the same problem on my wife's '96 Grand Caravan. Heard horrible noises when turning the wheel, checked fluid level and reservoir was dry. Filled it and saw it leaking from the hose fittings. Replaced the hoses and everything is fine.

My 97 leaked at 112,000 miles last year. The internal seals went out, had to replace rack and pinion unit with rebuilt unit. Cost about $700 at the dealer including alignment.

John

============== You probably mean what would I need to do to fix this, but the cause if often running the original power steering fluid and never changing it. As the fluid ages and degrades and picks up tiny wear particles and contaminants, the fluid seals tend to live shorter lives. Conversely, keeping the fluid fresh seems to definitely prolong the life of the units. Remember they're handling pressures over 1,000 pounds per square inch, so it doesn't take much of an imperfection in the seal to cause problems. Actually, the steering rack has multiple, redundant teflon seals, but with old fluid they can also leak over time. The automatic transmission is like that too. Fresher fluid helps them last longer.