My son has a 2007 Ford Truck F150 1/2 ton P/U 4WD 5.4L , when he turns the steering wheel left and right you can hear a clunky sound on the rack and pinion right where the steering shaft connects.
View 2 RepliesLast week I took my 2004 Honda Odyssey in to Firestone for a rear brake job and they ended up selling me an oil change, two new tires, alignment, an alternator drive belt, and two front engine mounts as well. When I picked up the vehicle late Friday afternoon, I noticed the power steering was making a whining noise and the steering seemed a little stiff. I took it back to Firestone Saturday morning, and they looked under the hood and said my power steering fluid was low, so they topped it off. That fixed the whining, but the steering still had a bit of a kink in it. They said it might be an air bubble in the line that would work itself out. Monday morning on my way to work, the whining was back and the steering very stiff and getting noticibly worse by the minute, so I took it directly back to Firestone.
It turns out the rack and pinion is leaking, and Firestone denies that it could have happened while they had the vehicle. The manager I spoke to said "all we did was replace a couple of belts -- didn't even get near the rack and pinion." Well, that's not all they did, but if anything they did could have caused the current issue. I know there were no suspension or power steering issues before I took it in, and after I picked it up suddenly it's leaking fluid like crazy. What can I do or say to press my case?
I just finished replacing the rack and pinion on a 98 Explorer 5.0 V8 AWD 4dr Eddie Bauer edition. My question is...Should the steering gear lower shaft set flush when it is connected to the Rack and pinion knuckle? I have some wiggle room but I think I have it as far down as I can get it. It is about 1/2" from setting flush on top of the knuckle. Once I tighten the bolt, it should hold, right?
It looks just like the picture on the right.....
I took my 2010 Camry LE for its 70K service to the mechanic to find out there is a leak in the rack and pinion. The tech said that this might happen due the wear and tear as the seal might get eroded or so. He showed me the leaking part and interestingly I never found any oil leak on the garage floor until the day. Anyways I just got the basic powertrain warranty on my camera so will have to take the repair costs on my own. They suggested replacing the rack and pinion with a quote of $1.4K (out the door which includes tax, labor and wheel alignment etc). Not sure if its a rip off being a novice in the auto field. Now my question is, is there a way to get this leak sealed or should i go for the replacement of rack and pinion? Also is it dangerous to drive around in the car which has this leak?
View 4 RepliesHow do I replace the rack and pinion in my 2005 Dodge Caravan? Looking for a step by step. Id much rather do it myself.
View 1 RepliesI just finished my first MK4 steering rack replacement (don't work on too many VWs), and when I placed the steering shaft from the column onto the shaft from the rack and bolted it down, there was still some clearance (see photo). I was able to get the bolt tightened down ok, but the clearance is bothering me.
View 2 RepliesI've been getting a lot of noise out of my rack and pinion in my 03 Eclipse. What would cause this noise? It happens when I'm sitting still, driving straight, or turning. It has gotten worse as the weather has gotten warmer. All fluid levels are good.
View 6 RepliesWe had our Timing belt& water pump replaced 5 months ago, due to maintenance book suggestion for our 2006 Toyota Sienna LE, 119,000 miles on her. Now there is a leak in the R & P.
View 2 RepliesI just had my oil changed and was told that my rack and pinion was leaking also my valve cover leaked I had the gasket change about a year ago an the leak is so slight it wont even show up in my dip stick, is it possible the valve cover leak is getting on the rack boot. Also can I change just the boot car has 15000mi in great shape an well maintained.....
View 7 RepliesMy rack and pinion began to fail and my Liberty developed sensitive steering (lane to lane and while towing trailers). I had it replaced locally and aligned but when I got it back it was more sensitive than before and borders on "unsafe to drive". I can imagine what it would do if I put a trailer behind it. In my mind something is binding which is fighting the steering input.
When you turn the steering wheel stays where-ever you steer to (does not return to center). My next repair is a known bad ball joint, but I don't think that is causing this. My question is at 106K could my power steering pump be producing less than full power? Is there a dampener in this system that could have frozen up? I'm ruling out the alignment for now. This is the V-6, 4WD Limited.
I truly intend to repair it forever, but if I can't get past this it goes to the junkyard.
I have a Lexus RX 350 and about a month and a half ago I got the rack and pinion replaced. Pretty shortly after, as I was driving highways speeds somewhere in the 60-70 range, it started to feel a little rough, as if I was driving over rough pavement, but it was brand new blacktop. I put the brakes on and the vehicle started to vibrate, not the steering wheel though. After I braked, the rough sound and vibration didn't come back until a week or two ago, it's been happening intermittently and very seldom, maybe has happened a total of 5 or 6 times, but I'm concerned because it never did this before the rack and pinion. I got it all done on a Saturday, alignment was involved too, so I wonder if maybe someone hurried themselves and didn't do something to protocol.
View 2 RepliesFirst it was the whole spark plug debacle. Now it's the "fuel pump module". Story starts a several months back. On a moist day I was headed out and the truck ran very rough, "clunky", like it wasn't getting gas. After 15 miles and a stop truck ran fine. Didn't think much of it and truck ran fine for month or so. I was then away for a couple days and came home to find my truck wouldn't run (started briefly then died). Local mechanic thought it might be a fuel pump issue but then got truck running thinking it might have been a delayed inertia switch in front panel (I had hit a deer a week or 2 prior). Again, not thinking much of it continued to drive truck with no issues for awhile. Then one rainy morning on my way to work the truck was running very rough and "clunky" again. It died several times and finally for good.
After getting it towed to the mechanics, he figured the fuel pump was finally shot. The end to my long story is it was the fuel pump module (luckily a lot cheaper fix than the fuel pump) - half of the housing was gone (corroded away) adn moisture was shorting the pump electronics. Why, if this module is half encased in plastic do the engineers feel the need to encase the other half in metal (appeared to be cast aluminum)??!!????!! Of course it makes sense to have an electrical unit that is mounted underneath the truck where it can collect all the moisture, snow, salt from the road encased in a corrodable metal housing. No no, don't put it all in plastic, just half of the unit. MAKES PERFECT SENSE!! I thought to be and engineer took some sort of brains and common sense. Must be not at Ford. I can't be the only one with this issue and wondering WHY!!! - it must be widespread??
Just took my 2007 GX-470 with 133,000 miles in for an oil change and the tech told me that my rack assembly is leaking and needs to be replaced to the tune of a little over $1000.
Is this something fairly common? I haven't been able to find a whole lot of information on this forum pointing to problem with GXs..
I have a bit of a question about my 2007 Ford F-150 w/ the 5.4 3V. I don't know how long it's been doing this, I just happened to notice it not long ago. Whenever I rev the truck (doesn't matter if it's in Park or Drive) in between 800-1,000 RPMs it makes a "rattle" type sound - like a "rat-tat-tat-tat" I guess is one way of putting it. It only does it when the engine is hot, it won't do it when it cools down some. The truck has 63,000 miles and I've always ran the recommended 5W-20 weight oil. Engine runs good, no power-loss or anything like that. I have posted a video on YouTube of the sound. If you want to skip my talking in the video to get to the sound, then skip to 1 minute and 40 seconds of the video.
2007 Ford F-150 Lariat 5.4L Triton V8 Rattling/Ticking VCT Phaser Noise?
I have a 2007 F150 King Ranch Super Crew 5.4 3v and it makes a ticking sound. I have read about the VCT solenoids and the phasers. My issue is that the ticking noise can be heard at Highway speeds. At it seems to be quicker as the engine speed increase. Not sure what to think. No rough idle. What could this be.
View 3 RepliesI've got this clunky sound I am narrowing down to the drivers side body mount. The stock one has lasted 11 years. But I'm reading thread after thread about stock replacements lasting a year or so before crapping out again. I've found a few people mention the energy suspension lot, or another one that has Kevlar (daystar iirc). I googled them and found a handful of super duty owners who used the poly mounts complaining about harshness and vibration transmitted to the cab.
My truck is my dd and with my new highway tires and stock exhaust it's as quiet as it ever has been and that makes me and the family happy on long trips. I don't want to do anything to ruin that.
The front driver's side wheel of my 2007 Ext. Cab makes a speed-related "ticking" sound. It's usually audible but not always there. I look for rocks in the tread of my BFG All-Terrains and sometimes I find some, sometimes not. The noise seems to be independent although some of the rocks really get up in there. Sometimes its really loud and it sounds like a rock. Bearing? 4WD CV or U-Joints or whatever?
View 6 RepliesMy Mazda 626 is making a really weird noise somewhere around the back left corner of the car (from the driver's seat). I just noticed it a couple of days ago, ironically enough, shortly after I picked it up from the mechanic for something totally unrelated!
I really only notice it when I'm going under 20mph. It's a dragging/clunky sound like something is loose. My husband checked it out briefly but didn't seem to notice anything different. I know I need to call my mechanic again, but after spending over $1,000 on repairs for both of our cars, my husband and I aren't thrilled about having to take this car back so quickly!
MY '07 SuperCab just started making a strange rhythmic sound as I drive. It is coming from the drivers side front wheel area. It is like a short creaking sound. It stays the same if I am turning the tires. Seems to go away if I put the brakes on hard, but I slow down so much I am not sure. Front CV Joint?
View 1 RepliesOk, so in M mode shifts can be a little rough from 2nd to 3rd unless I give it enough gas. It's no big deal and my car has always been like that (owned it since 9/2013). But as of yesterday, shifts have completely changed from 1st to 2nd. It is clunky, extremely quick and lurches forward every time in M mode. It has NEVER done this before and it kinda sucks.
I've read all of the threads regarding tranny fluid, belt squeak, etc. and haven't specifically found anything like this. I haven't done anything to the car except the ELF recall and an oil change about a month ago.
Been having this problem for about a month now, and it seems like it keeps getting worse. The shocks feel like they are handling bumps ok....I feel no difference in how the car handles really.....but at lower speeds, going over bumps or pavement variations, I have a thuddy/clunky/floppy (I don't know the best way to describe it) sound coming from the suspension. I think it's from the front. I remember we had something similar to this before but it was in the rear, and I think the culprit ended up being something with the sway bar maybe? This front problem sounds much worse than the rear did though.
2005 Camry XLE 4 cyl