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Okay I raised the hood while my 2012 g37x 7a was running and noticed my power steering fluid was bubbling/boiling. Everywhere I have looked this doesn’t seem to be normal at all. Quick background I purchased my car back in May and have had no issues with it yet. It had 75k miles on it and full power train warranty through dealership for two years/125k miles. Sold as a certified preowned. The dealer inspected it top to bottom then I went and got two separate pre purchase inspections done as well. I was being very careful. I have just been taking it easy averaging about 24mpg so I definitely don’t drive hard. I haven’t flushed the fluids yet but it is on my to do list very soon. Could this just be old fluids? I have read it could be fluid breaking down. a bad belt, all the way up to my power steering pump on its last legs. Pic attached is my power steering fluid at the right level and the video attached shows the bubbling or boiling after idling no more that 3-5 minutes. Please help. I want to get ahead of this before it becomes something serious. Also in both inspections they said I have a leak where the Rack and pinion connect to the tie rod end. Pic is attached for that as well. The boot isn’t squishy and my mechanic said both of his G’s leak in that exact spot. It does drip or isn’t soaked it just seems to be wet. Thank you for the help ahead of time!
The report I got from inspection that details the leak. Fluid level in power steering reservoir. The leak at the rack and pinion.
Why don't you just get the power steering rack replaced under warranty? It's still covered under powertrain. You can also get the exhaust leak repaired under warranty.
Last edited by mathnerd88; Jun 21, 2018 at 12:02 AM.
Why don't you just get the power steering rack replaced under warranty? It's still covered under powertrain. You can also get the exhaust leak repaired under warranty.
........ the power steering rack does not fall into the powertrain warranty. Neither does the exhaust.
Do you know what a powertrain is? The powertrain of a vehicle generally consists of the engine and transmission.
OP regarding your concern of the fluid "boiling ", this is completely normal behavior however it's not actually boiling.
the fluid is just recirculating. The pump is causing the fluid to move around in the reservoir. It's normal to see it moving in a vortex like flow.
I work for toyota and some of our vehicles do the same. Some more than others. I noticed in my G it's definitely recirculating at a much higher flow rate than other cars.
I have 84k on my 2011 g37 and my boots don't have signs of oil.
Honestly your rack boots aren't leaking badly enough right now to worry about. Just keep an eye out on your power steering fluid level. If it ever gets low than you know the leak has gotten worse. Also keep an eye out for new oil stains where you normally park at work or home.
it's very possible that the leak is very small and you can make it to 150,000 with no issues.
or it will get worse and ultimately require a new rack which will easily run 4-5 hours labor @ $150/hr at a infiniti dealership + the price of parts + tax + equipment/disposal fees
Last edited by qmantran; Jun 21, 2018 at 12:42 AM.
Okay I raised the hood while my 2012 g37x 7a was running and noticed my power steering fluid was bubbling/boiling. Everywhere I have looked this doesn’t seem to be normal at all. Quick background I purchased my car back in May and have had no issues with it yet. It had 75k miles on it and full power train warranty through dealership for two years/125k miles. Sold as a certified preowned. The dealer inspected it top to bottom then I went and got two separate pre purchase inspections done as well. I was being very careful. I have just been taking it easy averaging about 24mpg so I definitely don’t drive hard. I haven’t flushed the fluids yet but it is on my to do list very soon. Could this just be old fluids? I have read it could be fluid breaking down. a bad belt, all the way up to my power steering pump on its last legs. Pic attached is my power steering fluid at the right level and the video attached shows the bubbling or boiling after idling no more that 3-5 minutes. Please help. I want to get ahead of this before it becomes something serious. Also in both inspections they said I have a leak where the Rack and pinion connect to the tie rod end. Pic is attached for that as well. The boot isn’t squishy and my mechanic said both of his G’s leak in that exact spot. It does drip or isn’t soaked it just seems to be wet. Thank you for the help ahead of time!
The report I got from inspection that details the leak. Fluid level in power steering reservoir. The leak at the rack and pinion.
Are you sure your power steering fluid is boiling/bubbling? The fluid does get cycled and it may be the returning fluid coming back into the reservoir.
I am going to try and keep this short and simple. I had the same problem with my 2012 G37x. I bought the car in 2014 with 33k miles only have 50k on it now, after reviewing the maintenance record the previous owner was told that the rack, power steering pump was bad and need replacing even though there was no leaks, just the pump steering pump reservoir boiling at a high rate and sometime after long highway drives would make whining noise when turning. After during further research on my own, I noticed that there is a pressure valve in bottom the reservoir that releases pressure after build up so I took it my on to replacing the reservoir. It was cheaper to do this process of elimination then having the above parts replaced as the dealer quoted the previous owner. All this to say there is no more bubbling and no more some times whining after long drives when turning. Again, I replaced the reservoir and problem solved. I normally check site everyday and sometimes twice a day but don't comment much at all. I had to in this case I hope that this helps. If you need additional information please advise..
There's a TSB for an updated reservoir. I don't recall the tsb number, but there should be threads on it here. It fixes the whining noise when turning.
That is correct. There is an TSB or something on the reservoir not sure where I say it but I have all information in my files which is not available at the present time. It solved my boiling/bubbling as well.
I don’t see a leak. Mine was weeping and the dealership replaced it under extended warranty. They said it would have been ~$3k without the warranty, in which case I probably would have just left it as is.
I don’t see a leak. Mine was weeping and the dealership replaced it under extended warranty. They said it would have been ~$3k without the warranty, in which case I probably would have just left it as is.
That's crazy for them to replace it because of that seep. That's 100% completely normal for it to seep from that spot.
Depending on your mileage now, I'm willing to bet the new rack is starting to seep just like your old one. If it's still low mileage it'll eventually get there
Last edited by qmantran; Jun 21, 2018 at 12:10 PM.
What's the typical mileage when that starts to seep/leak like that? ~31K here and no leaking/seepage.
As for warranty, why not. Technically the part is failing because a seal is passing fluid. My old camaro leaked from every gasket. It was still driveable.
I don’t see a leak. Mine was weeping and the dealership replaced it under extended warranty. They said it would have been ~$3k without the warranty, in which case I probably would have just left it as is.
I've got that same weeping in my PS, at the same spot.
Over the years, I've been keeping an eye on the PS fluid level, and it hasn't budged. So IDK what's going on... but weepage aside, as long as the fluid levels are fine, and the rack works without making noise, I'm good with it.
That said, if I had brought it up to the dealership as a warranty issue, and they were willing to replace it... heck yeah. Why not?
Here's my pic from a few years ago. Looks pretty awful close up like this, LOL.
I've got that same weeping in my PS, at the same spot.
Over the years, I've been keeping an eye on the PS fluid level, and it hasn't budged. So IDK what's going on... but weepage aside, as long as the fluid levels are fine, and the rack works without making noise, I'm good with it.
That said, if I had brought it up to the dealership as a warranty issue, and they were willing to replace it... heck yeah. Why not?
Same, I never lost fluid.
I definitely wouldn't have paid out of pocket for it, so $0 deductible extended warranty FTW. Even like mine was, I never saw accumulation on the garage floor
I cleaned mine off with brake cleaner at 75k miles and looked at it 5000 miles later when I was doing a oil change and it started to barely seep again. When I say barely I mean you gotta look at it very closely. It's not a leak I would be concerned about. If it was free to replace than I can see why you opted for it.
Don't bother trying to tighten that nut. If you think it'll fix the seeping issue you're wrong. It will only stiffen your steering feel and the steering wheel will have a harder time returning to center when coming out of turns.
