dendiggity

Victory! It was the o-ring on the 17 mm return hose fitting. Sprayed brake cleaner and burnt my arm on the exhaust to confirm where the leak was. Sacrificed my 17 mm wrench and bent it into a modified box wrench after getting it red with heat. I cut a hole in wrench just enough to fit it around the steel line. Getting the o-ring on was quite the headache. Old o-ring fell right off when the fitting came out. Never saw it until I found it in my drain pan, all brittle and shredded. Big thanks to xrayspecs for the great info! A rather hellacious job, but I didn't have to drop the rack, exhaust, etc.

xrayspecs THANK YOU!! great info here. time to get to work. here's to hoping it's just an o-ring. still have to confirm where it's leaking but i'm about 90% sure it's from the 17 mm fitting. i'll keep you posted.

I mean the latter! Where the hard lines connect to the rack & pinion... Tried to take a pic, but couldn't get anything clear.

Hey folks, A safety inspector failed our OEM rack, so I pulled it out and swapped it, and that's the biggest mistake I've ever made. The OEM rack actually didn't have a leak. The pump did, and leaked onto the rack. I'm on rack #3 now. #2 was an AC Delco and leaked. #3 also leaks. The good news (maybe?) is that the rack seems to be leaking from the largest fitting on the hard line where it threads into the rack. Not under the boots like the last one. Question - It's such a tight space - about impossible to get a tool in there without dropping the exhaust. Before I do that, do any of you Subaru experts have any advice? Any idea if the size of the largest fitting (on the end of the steel line) is 15 mm or 16 mm? Is there an o-ring on the end of the fitting? I dream that all I need to do is tighten it, but I'm willing to bet that's too easy... Help appreciated!