I took my 2011 M37X to the Infiniti Dealer today for the annual state inspection and was told that the steering rack boot is leaking and the entire steering rack assembly must be replaced or I'm looking at a "catastrophic steering failure, very dangerous situation." (quoting service advisor). I've had to add steering fluid (small amount) three months ago. Previous to that, I added some last Fall. I've noticed no difficulties with the steering. The dealership quoted me a repair cost of $2,400!!! I've never had to replace a steering rack in any of my cars. How much time do I have before I crash through the guard rails and plummet to my death?! Oh yeah, the service advisor presented me with a total advisory of maintenance that totaled over $6,400 including items that were just performed a couple of weeks ago at the very same dealership (oil change, tire rotation, side marker light replacement, which, I view this evening, is just fine, etc., etc.)

Forget them , never go back there . Next time ask them to describe EXACTLY "catastrophic steering failure "scenario , see if it's " like man you know you'll end up into the wall maaaaaaan "

You should be able to goto say an independent shop - easy job it is to flush/fill ps fluid and install a rack boot by simply popping the outer tie rod end then sliding R & R putting the "new" on. Probably That's all FOLKS.
Should really try this way first , you tell a shop specific work (not bend me over a barrel and take me! ). TELL them flush - "how much ?" then ask "replace boot ,per side how much? " . Your showing them what you want is LIMITED TO WHAT YOU WANT , not what they want to TRY to sell you
You tell them like Johnny Rotten - WE MEAN IT MAAAAAAAaaaaNNNN .

Thanks Macgiver! It's just as I thought. I've got a good mechanic who's done work for me on my other cars and I'm sure he'll be capable of handling the job. I'm very sure I have the time to get it fixed.

Yeah , I was trying to find the stopleak that worked well , for many people , I believe it'a blue - blue devil Prestone is also legit , when thry address the rack too. For just about the only stopleaks that make sense or even likely to work , are not motor , or transmission (too many moving parts/seals) , A/C . POWER STEERING is a simple hydraulic in both the pump AND the rack , and bar any " no sha$%T leaks" in hoses ,a stopleak is really gonna help/ virtually eliminate the typical drip/drop a week from 100kmi+ vehicles.

Here's what you do - AFTER (if) you get new boot w/flush ,you introduce a good stopleak yourself. NO-NEED to tell ANY shop goofus this - what your trying - that's how they use that idea against you - take more & more $$$$$$$$$$$$$.
Get a big turkey baster (try nearest fertility clinic ) , buy bottle of stopleak , your gonna use only half , cause you won't be able to suck out the full bottles volume out of rsvr. Topoff with stopleak. Want a little more "treatment" ?? Do this again 1-2 months later with the remaining 1/2 bottle ! Taking out only enough for approximately what's left to Topoff , then sit down & relax with some POPOV !

Some bad info here. The boot on the rack is simply a dust boot. Meant to help keep the seal clean from grit, salt, etc. The seal under the boot is a high pressure seal. When this seal leaks, it allows fluid to make into the boot and then you can see it. THE BOOT DOES NOT SEAL FLUID ON A STEERING RACK! Stop leaks cause the seals to swell and this helps stop a leak. However since it is swelling rubber, the rubber is no longer as dense as it was and can result in more or worse leaks down the road. Stop leak is a band-aid.

That's true satown210 stopleak a bandaid - sometimes better bandaid than $$6400 for an 11 year old vehicle , yes sir we all know there's a boot and behind it is rack seals Much Respect ? Again ,it's shown to be better,effective,longest lasting of all the "stopleak " genre of bandaids , giving ps systems several years of rack seal , and conditioning with no further attention for the rest of practical ownership,remember too ,the FULL FLUSH is gonna rid all the fine metallic particles - the major contributor . Of course it's up to genes if he's gonna spend $$ 2400 on rack , get jacked to $$$$ 6400 total , OR do the so called bandaid thing satown210 your definitely correct critique with respect to the Popov

Thanks all, good food for thought. It seems to me to be bad engineering on Infiniti's part (Nissan). I've NEVER experienced such in any of my previous vehicles. This is not my first Infiniti. I owned a 2008 M. Prior to that car, I had a 2001 Toyota Avalon, bought new, that I traded on the 2008 M. The Toyota had 298,000 miles on it and never gave me a bit of grief.

These biggest factors , how much drip/drop you got , DIFFICULTY of that particular rack (some require frame or engine manipulation $$$$$ ) , projected future ownership , Cost , confidence of mechanic/shop , your own pocketbook , whatever I left out - in approximately that order , take a spin at the wheel now .

Pull the boot carefully trying to save it and dump the excess of fluid leaked that may have taken a year to gather and then put boot back on and you may be done.

I used to sell PS stopleak as well as all other types and 50/50 chance of fixing anything, often it makes things worse when used on pressurized systems, it softens seal up and they then lose enough body to easily blow out then. I myself fix the leak rather than use stopleak.

If people would simply change PS fluid like they do their oil then you never fail a seal ever, it is the metal wear particles left in for years that make the seals leak. I change fluid roughly every 50-60K miles depending on how dirty it is.

macgiver wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 24, 2019 11:39 pm

the FULL FLUSH is gonna rid all the fine metallic particles - the major contributor

How best to do a full flush on M56x? FSM doesn't say. Perhaps disconnect (1 or 2) PSF oil cooling hose(s) and refill as it drains? Does engine need to run while flushing? Perhaps need to crank steering wheel? Do you use special Nissan PSF or just Dexron IV oil?

macgiver wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 24, 2019 11:39 pm

the FULL FLUSH is gonna rid all the fine metallic particles - the major contributor

How best to do a full flush on M56x? FSM doesn't say. Perhaps disconnect (1 or 2) PSF oil cooling hose(s) and refill as it drains? Does engine need to run while flushing? Perhaps need to crank steering wheel? Do you use special Nissan PSF or just Dexron IV oil?

I don't know M56 , here goes : See if your manual recommendation "subs" to Mob 1 ATF , I use that in J30.
Front wheels jacked clear of ground , makes turning wheel easy & NO tire scrubs off. Take those wide mouth funnels (that fit in 1" oil fill hole ) they fit / butt right to the open ps pump (cap removed) , and use duct tape to get a leakproof seal/connection , 2nd wrap with electrical tape to be leakproof for sure. Remove , preferably f/pump , ECM , Injector fuses , cause your gonna "crank only w/no start" . Now you locate (you really have figured this part FIRST) the "return" to pump -" lo pressure " side hose and quickly disconnect ,cap the return nipple at the pump .Now attach that diconnected "return" using a Union fitting to another length of 5' ps hose layed into drain pan .Have 2 ,3,maybe 4 quarts of ps fluid open & ready (your first ps flush will be extremely dirty, needs big flush) .
Procedure is w/someone in car , unlock steering and turn wheel full Rt (tape @ 12oclock for full L & full R helps visually not to "hard bump" spindles) - this is starting position. Now you are ready holding quart of fluid while buddy cranks motor and turning wheel completely L ,immediately turn completely R to starting position - all the while you are trying to keep the rsvr. filled to the brim (if you taped funnel well,you can have fluid higher into funnel - you don't want air to go down into pump) .You direct buddy, buddy can stop @ each "full left" or "full right" positions ,as needed to let you catch up - but you direct the operation .Watch as seriously dirty black fluid will come out and eventually after 2 or 3 quarts or more will be clean and red ! It never looks that dirty on the little "dipstick"
And so you reverse the steps, reconnect , tighten , clean- wipe , drop car ,check level , drive figure 8's if any air bubbles cause growling noise . Sometimes if air/foam is slow to "purge" keep turning lock to lock for up to 10 minutes of fig 8's , and shutting car down + letting sit for 2+ hours or just "repeat driving" gets it better.
The noise WILL go away if persistant like my J30 and has never left any problems , don't be scared.
Like 5% of the cars maybe finniky to purge any air THAT YOU LET in THERE My Olds "straightens out " in 5 min.of any air trapped !

Tell that stealership that stand up comedy isn't for a couple more days.

btw, if you lose all your ps fluid then you'll just be sweating balls while turning from a dead stop.

Move over rover let Yoda take over ! Ha , w/ NO fliud left that's accurate - your car will just make you think you've just pulled your "Semi" into the Roadrunner Truck Stop circa 1959 - "put some elbow grease, man".

Gosh macgiver, that's a very complicated flush procedure. 2 ppl? Hmm. Can't we just disconnect the 2 oil cooler hoses & drape them into a 2 qt pail of PSF? Just keep hoses submerged while cranking the steering wheel? Yes? No?

just a thought... maybe it's just your outer tie rods?

Sounds possible , many ways to do things , you got your car in front of you but I can't OK what I can't see - I think from my waaaaaay details you got my drift , your a smart guy , I do it the way mentioned and others have their own preferences . Your right about a cooler connection is a plausible spot to tap and work from , my cars don't lend themselves to that approach - got the simple "squigley fluid lines" for a cooler and way underneath , very "contra-indicated" to work from. You got it , you know what-chya gotta do .