Okay, I was under my car installing my new y-pipe, and I saw something that concerned me.

There are 2 tore boots of some sort that have some loose parts inside them. There is one on each side of the car. It is not the CV boot that I am looking at. The ones I am refering to are behind (toward the back) of the CV boots and are smaller than them. What are these, and how difficult are they to repair?

Also, there is another boot that is at the lower rear of the engine. It is torn too. It covers a connecting rod that is connected to a long rod that goes toward the rear of the car.

Any assistance on what these things are would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

I believe you might be talking about your Rack and Pinion Boots. I just replaced mine. I have 100K miles on my car and the original boots were still up there. So, I went to an Auto Parts store and bought some boots. ($15 for both). Then, I replaced them.

It's not that hard of an install, if you know what you're doing. If you look in your repair manual, it will tell you how to take off your tie rod ends. After you take these off, you slide the old boot off and slide the new one on. And then go get your car aligned since you removed the tie rod ends. Sounds easy, but it's pretty time consuming. If this is your first time doing a job like this, it will probably take you a little more than 4 hours to complete it. You'll have fun if you like working on your car. If you have any questions about the Rack & Pinion boot replacement, I'll be happy to help you.

 

The other boot on the lower rear of the engine could be for your transmission shifter. This one runs lengthwise (front-back), while the CV and power steering boots go left-right.