I got my oil changed and they said the boots/seals near my wheels may be leaking fluid and to change them would be 200 dollars in parts and 400 labor. I figured they have a 2x markup on parts and I could do the work myself. They also mentioned some other seal wearing/leaking connected to steering (900 buck quote). I this the right section to post a question about this in more detail? Basically I want to do this work myself because dealerships almost always mess up on my car... (98Z) They also gave me the scare tactic that my car may not pass inspection even though nothing is leaking severally.

 

Exactly what seals are leaking? You description is very vague....

 

the first one sounds like your rear axle seals. those arent that bad, you could probably handle them on your own with a hayne's manual and a little bit of patience.

 

"Boots and seals" sounds like something you'd see on a front wheel drive car, for the CV joints. Only thing on the front end of a 4th Gen F-body that involves "boots" would be the boots on the ends of the steering rack, and the boots on the upper and lower ball joints.

The only possible place the steering could be leaking would be the seal on the power steering pump, or again, the steering rack.

I would definitely get the car looked at for a second opinion, since it sounds like the typical "scare" tactics many shops use to generate high profit, unecessary work.

 

It's basically tied to steering and according to the mechanic the car may start making sounds in warmer weather when I turn the wheels. All the stuff he described seems to be tied to steering. He mentions a seal needs to be changed in the steering column and ones on the 'tie-rod'. Excuse my butchering of the terminology... I'll try to find a picture, but my guess is that there's a couple seals on the tie rod that it slids through that may be leaking a bit... I'll try to get a pic...

Also I changed my water-pump a couple months back and made a big mess so they may be seeing the aftermath of that...

 

I really need to get around to changing this rack. Any good websites to get a decent steering rack for a 98Z or would Autozone do?

 

and the rack is changed...