I believe I have a bad rack and pinion leak, the car whines makes noises while steering and is tough to turn often, I add power steering but it leaks out from right front bottom next to or behind front wheel. Can anyone tell me what or how should I go about diagnosing or fixing the source of my problem. And do I have to replace transmission??

 

You really need to see exactly where the fluid is coming from. Jack the front of the car up and remove the passenger side front wheel. With the car running, have someone else turn the wheel back and forth while you inspect that area until you see where the fluid is coming from. If your lucky it might just be a steering fluid line. No need to replace the transmission for a steering fluid leak.

 

I 100% agree with Plumbob. Your whine and steering issues are a result of low fluid and air in the lines. You need to find the source of the leak and fix that first. Probably good odds it will be a steering line that is leaking.

Once you find and fix the leak, then fill the fluid and bleed the system, odds are all steering problems and noises will go away.

 

2 mechanic opinions. Ik I have a racking pan leak. What do I do

 

If you know for sure it's the rack and pinion itself leaking you'll need to remove the rack to repair or replace it. Removal requires disconnecting steering fluid lines,tie rods and the intermediate half shaft, then it can be unbolted from the sub- frame and pulled out after lowering the rearward side of the sub-frame. With the rack out you can either replace inner seals included in a kit or replace it with a rebuilt rack. Reverse process to reinstall. Replace steering fluid and perform a bleed process to eliminate air. You'll need a front end alignment when done.