I was told that the Left front tie rod end boot is leaking from the crappiest dealership on the planet. I am wondering if anyone knows how I can check it out for myself as I am new to the automotive world. Also if anyone knows about how much it costs to fix that would be helpful too. They told me it would cost $90.

 

Depending on how old your car is and how you maintained the rubber (aka it dried out), this is a typical wear item.

The boot is about $15 and I would say they put in 1hr work to change it, sounds perfectly fair to me. You can go on for years without changing this but it will make a mess under your car as grease will keep oozing out. You also risk further internal damage to the power steering unit.

#14

 

Do you mean the boot on the ball joint? http://www.eskimo.com/~mikeg/S2000/tie_rod_boot/

Or do you mean the boot on the rack end of the tie rod?

 

The tie rod end is #15 in the Boofster's diagram. The boot would be #16. I've known mechanics looking to make a buck say things like this when they see the boot wetted with a little grease.

If it were my car, I'd ignore it. It is unlikely that a little grease seepage from your tie rod end will result in deterioration. In time, your tie rod end will need to be replaced anyway, and they come with the boot attached.

Tie rod ends will go bad eventually, but they're not that expensive. Several decades ago cars had grease fittings on them (remember chassis lubes advertised?), but all tie rod ends now come sealed and lubed for life. If it got damaged somehow, the seal could have been compromised causing the wetting. But replacing it doesn't guarantee anything, since any contamination probably already occurred. You could replace the seal and end up replacing the entire tie rod end next year.

Just leave it.

 

FWIW, I replaced my boot several years ago (as described in the link I provided), and the tie rod end is still on the car.

Replacing it yourself does require a few tools that you may not already have.