Did i do something wrong? leakey steering rack

[pathfinderthe2]

Ok so here is what is going on

Car: 2002 Nissan Altima with the V6

Original problem; Power steering leak, diagnosed as either the rubber hose from the reservoir to the power steering pump, or the pump itself leaking past the seal on the shaft.

Fix; Replaced both the power steering pump and the hose. I bought a re-manufactured pump online. The hose i ordered was the wrong one so i headed to my local auto parts store and we found a hose that had a very similar shape and i bought it.

Put it all back together, while it was up on jack stands i filled it with fluid, turned on the car, and turned the steering wheel from lock to lock pausing at each for a few seconds.

Hear is what scares me: Once the wheel was put back on and the car is put on the ground i start it up and get ready for my test drive and the steering wheel is hard to turn. I revved up the engine to 1500 RPM's and turned the steering wheel from lock to lock again pausing and "bouncing" (back and forth) at each lock. Soon the steering wheel became easy to turn and i let the car idle back down. sounds good right?

But the minute i move the car i noticed a big power steering puddle under the drivers side of the car, it is obviously leaking from the drivers side inner tie rod end boot.

So could i have somehow installed something wrong, or could have revving up the engine while turning the wheels blown a seal inside the rack?

And for the next step; Will i have to completely remove the rack to fix this, or can i disassemble the inner tie rod end and replace that seal?

Thank you all!

[elwesso]

If the rack is leaking, you're kinda screwed and you're gonna have to take the rack off. I believe there's a place called "rack doctor" (www.rackdoctor.com) that sells rebuilt steering racks. Might check that out. I doubt you did anything wrong, sounds like what you did was correct.