Hi Chas
I was considering having mine done while it is off the car, but also found no useful information in the manuals, so phoned a couple of companies that recondition racks. Both wanted sizable amounts of money! One however was quite helpful and said that if you pull back the boots and there is no power steering fluid in the tube, then the seals are OK. You can also inspect the teeth on the rack for excessive ware. I would have thought if you grip the pinion with locking pliers, you should be able to feel if there is any play in the system.
Mine was good, so greased the rack, replaced the boots and cleaned the outside up. The pipes and the exposed end of the tube (passenger side) were looking worse for wear so I rubbed them down and painted with silver cad paint (from Frost) - not original but looks better than it was! I'll post a picture later.
Hope thats of some help.
Steve
