What To Do? Break Or Repair?

[carinajay]

Yesterday was a bad day for me...... More so for me carina im thinking..........since i bought it it has always had the misfire on one of the injectors and it hasnt really bothered me........but now i have a leaky steering rack......the gaitor has split and its leaking from there....i understand that the carinas have this problem due to "premature wearing of the oil seals".........so people what do i do?????? repair it or break it???? Apart from these two problems i dont have an issue with the car........its a carina e gs 1.6 on a 96 n plate........blue one.......it says 55,500 miles but who can be sure????? It drives beautifully and when its not misfiring it pulls like a train.....any advice or even personal advice on the car would be helpful even nice.....thanks for reading and remember................if you cant be good.......be EXTRA naughty.........********new info************* spoke to mr toyota and got told that if my steereing rack is the KF german model then NO seals are available for that but however if its of the KOYO japanese variety then the internal seal is available for the price of £6.... plus money for a gaitor and clips...ETC...now to determine which it is????????does anyone out there have info on which is which and how to tell the difference apart?????????yet again a massive thanks for all of the advice given keep spreading the word.......

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Hi mate and welcome to TOC.

I would repair it. It depends who you go to really. A garage or Toyota specialist will charge ££££ in labour and Toyota will kill you with part prices.

If you can do it yourself and with a reasonable level of confidence then give it a go. If you can afford the garage prices and you think they are reasonable then by all means get it done by them. :) I doubt it'll be too hard to do a gaiter yourself though. ;)

Is the injector "sticky"? If so I'm sure it wouldn't cost you too much to sort it out. Go to a jewellers with an ultrasonic bath, that'll clean it out no problem.

Be careful of advertising your Carina for sale mate, you haven't subscribed to be a Trader here or a supporter. I'd edit your post for fear of this thread being removed. ;)

[carinajay]

a thanks for your welcome and a massive thanks for your advice.......im quite savvy with a spanner but i just wasnt sure if the gaitor was the 'all end' of it or wether the gaitor was just a cover and the internal seals to the rack would be needed......this would have arisen the problem of if the seals werent available (or easily changed) then it would have a new rack and from what i can understand its ££££££ from toyota.......thanks for the advice on the injector as well come to think of it it might be 'sticky' as when cold it doesnt do it and even when hot there are times where it runs ok......ill check that out ;) any advice from anyone out there would be appreciatedthanks again kparris-jones

[KPARRIS-JONES]

No problem mate, here to help.

The gaiter will just be a cover, the seals will be internal, but what is leaking out? PAS fluid or grease? If it's just grease then you can replace the gaiter and repack it with grease. That's what I had to do with my CV joints.

I wouldn't be able to tell you how hard it is to replace the internal seals though. I have a feeling it would be a medium to tough job to complete.

Good luck with getting it all sorted though mate. No point in scrapping a car that has only one or two minor faults. :D Take mine for example...