E30 -- Yet a third(?) steering rack question

["Jason E. Markel" <jemarkel@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

        I've been diligently reading the steering rack threads and haven't
found the exact answers I'm looking for.  My repair manual doesn't seem to
address it either (Guess I should buy Bentley's one of these days!!).  So,
here goes.
        Does the rubber boot cover the seal on the rack?  Is there supposed
to be fluid inside that boot?  Does the boot fill with fluid if the rack is
bad?  I was losing some fluid and saw that one of the boots was a little
wet.  One of the small hoses nearby seemed to be extremely wet.  I moved
that hose a little and pushed it on tighter and I don't seem to be losing
fluid anymore.  But, I also squeezed the boots and I could hear a
slushing/slurping sound.  I don't know whether it did that before I started
loosing fluid.
        One of the ball joints just went bad, so I'm thinking that if the
steering rack is bad I'll get it all done at once, and hopefully save some
labor charges and have it aligned only once.

Jason Markel
87 325  Jim C., Bilstein HD's, 112K

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