kilo400

Drifter - You are right, it for sure is not an oil leak. A bunch of oil hits that hose when taking off the filter, but as I said before, the oil leaks were evident from the hoses before I changed the filter and the old filter was not leaking; not to mention I am now topping off power steering a couple times a week.

The Bosch and Toyota OEM are comparable in price to the Fram High Mileage filter I bought - think I will go with the Bosch since I can buy it from a local store.

Can anyone tell me which way the nut on the solenoid goes to loosen? I understand it is left to loosen, but which way would left be? Would it be turning from the passenger side -> front of car -> drivers side -> rear of car (see attached image, turning following the arrows)? I guess what I am asking is, is it to the left when you are laying on your back looking up at it or to the left when you are standing up looking down at it?

Thanks

P.S. Sorry for the crude graphic, not one of my strengths.

kilo400

Maybe I should try this method for removing the nut!

They taught us in shop class: Use the right tool

Harky

The solenoid threads into the bottom of teh rack body...therefore, to get it off, it should turn counterclockwise when looking at the connection end.
From your photo, it looks like you might be tightening it!

kilo400

Thanks Harky - I will give it a go!