As long as it's full on fluid you should be fine. I drove mine for way longer on a bad rack. The only downside was that once it went, I could barely turn left at all (like pull with both arms as hard as I could to make the turn and not wreck it).
Easy to check for the leak yourself. Grab some degreaser and spray all the lines and rack down, and hose it off. Fire it up and let the leak occur again and take a peek under the car and spot the leak. Probably either a seal on the inner tie-rod, or one of the lines at the pump leaking. Could be the pump itself too.
