Jeep - Liberty :: 2002 - Rack And Pinion Failure / Steering Sensitive
Aug 2, 2015
My 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.
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I 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.
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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.....
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Last 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?
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Is that unusual?
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My radiator fan is not turning on in my 2002 Jeep Liberty. The belts look fine and it turns by hand. My radiator overheated last summer but since has been fixed now my fan doesn't work, but hasn't overheated. No parts of the the radiator or fan were removed. We fixed a part in the water pump this past sunday and when we had the engine running for about 15 minutes, the fan did not turn on or even act like it was going to try. What the issue could be?
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i have a 2002 jeep liberty.the cv shaft is popping.do i have to replace anything besides shaft.to fix jeep.
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Our Jeep has 120k miles and it has the towing package with heavy duty cooling system. In Sept we were returning from a very mild summer in WA when we hit hot weather and mountains in south OR the jeep overheated and we had it towed to a gas station. They replaced the thermostat and checked the fan relay and topped off the coolant (with the wrong type). The Jeep continued overheating when stressed the rest of the way home, another 600 mi. We took it to the Chrysler/Jeep dealer and they flushed the system of the coolant mixture, replaced hoses, fan clutch and the thermostat ($900). The Jeep ran ok a short while before overheating again.
Returned to the dealer and they did all their tests and everything OK. A while later again overheating and returned to the dealer. Their tests again showed no problem, but the mechanic noticed the aux. the fan did not come on when AC turned on. He ran his own tests and decided either the switch or the relay for the fan was faulty, with the switch more likely. They ordered a new switch; the switch didn't?t fit. Called the supplier and requested the correct switch and again the switch didn't?t fit. The mechanic said he could file the prongs to make it fit and did so.
The jeep ran excellent for a few months. In Feb. had to overheat again, this time the dealer found sludge from the old mix of correct/incorrect coolant and flushed system twice. Jeep ran OK for a couple months then again overheating. This time it made it over the mountains fine but driving along flat I-5 south of Redding it overheated. We stopped and after the reservoir stopped boiling (10 min) the temp gauge was fine. We drove for 1-2 hrs. and heats up again. This keeps up till we get home, 400 mi. later. The dealer does his tests and everything fine. I tell them the aux. the fan seems to be randomly shutting off on its own but it does not act up for them so there is no problem. Could the replacement coolant temperature switch for the aux fan not be compatible with the 2002 Jeep?
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I am the proud owner (almost paid for) of a 2002 jeep liberty limited 4wd. It has been in the family (2 years with me and three with my mom) for 5 years now. It has 102,000 miles and about 7,000 of those miles are city (I only drive 6 miles a day to work and back) and the rest highway. My mom bought it from the original owner with 60,000 miles. It has been a low maintenance vehicle until recently. There are a couple of major issues and then three or four minor ones. I'll start with the most pressing. About 8 months ago I replaced a flat tire with a mismatched size spare on the drive axle and drove for close to 6 weeks before I realized the tires were different sizes. I noticed the problem when driving in 4wd I started to notice a thunking sound and called a mechanic who told me to check the size of the tires.
The spare was the original factory spare (235/70r16) and the rest of the tires were purchased used by my mother (245/65r16) I immediately replaced the spare and have continued to drive the car to work.Since then there have been no real mechanical problems but the jeep is making funny noises. At first it seemed like my right front tie rod end was going out because of vibration at around 40 mph. I took it to a mechanic to have he tie rod end replaced and he said that the rear end is "going out". Seems kinda high to me and I am wondering if I replace the rear end now, how long till I have to replace the front end and 4wd system? Will the rear end go out again if the front end goes out? Should I just start with new parts and rebuild he whole drivetrain now to save money later?
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I had a line blow on my steering rack, and I was taking it to the garage well I decided to add some power steering fluid but instead I added it to my brake system , (yes I know it was bonehead move on my part when I do know the difference). Any ways I drove my 2008 jeep liberty about 5 miles to the garage, they are changing my rack and pinion because the initial problem, but my question is do I bite the bullet and change the master cylinder, brake lines and calipers??? I do a lot of driving on highways , and I am been getting mixed answers yes change it all and no just flush it out.
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I have a 2002 jeep liberty 3.7... It auto trans 4wheel drive. All at once it makes rattling noise and shake like crazy. I was thinking oh no another u joint but checked them none broke or cracked. So I got back in drove it on home and it had stopped. So then I thought front cv axle. So I put in 4x4 and drove it and nothing?
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At startup, my 2002 Jeep A/C cools normally for about 10 minutes and then stops cooling. It won't cool again until much later, usually not until the next day, and then repeats cooling for about another 10 minutes . Might this be overcharged? I topped it off with gauge last fall.
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It has 197k and change.It's not throwing any codes whatsoever. I can drive it all day and it wont overheat as long as I keep it under 2000 rpm.If I take it over 2000 rpm, it slowly heats up, but I can cool it down by slowing down. I can do like 50 mph max without it threatening to overheat. I've never let it get above 3/4 without pulling over and letting it cool off (I know how heads like to warp and crack).
Rubbery sludge in coolant reservoir (almost positive it's oil) but absolutely NO coolant in the oil, there never has been. I do all the oil changes myself and check it quite often. I've been keeping the reservoir full but it loses coolant daily (no leaks on ground anywhere, ever. I've already removed the reservoir and cleaned it out several times, but since it has more than one chamber it's almost impossible to fully clean without replacing. The hose that runs from the top chamber to the bottom blows off from time to time (I finally put hose clamps on it). I've flushed the cooling system several times but still the sludge comes back. I've removed and cleaned the thermostat (still good) and housing (had very little sludge). I flushed out the heater core but the heat is still weak.
Makes a loud whistling noise at idle, the noise literally stops every time I give it gas. (this is where I was thinking Intake Manifold Gasket, maybe vacuum leak) You gotta love these plastic manifolds. BUT it's idling low (650 rpm once fully warmed up) not bogging or sputtering whatsoever. Fans are working completely fine. It loses oil but again, no leaks on the ground whatsoever. I thought at first it was burning it (high mileage, worn piston rings) until I noticed the coolant reservoir was gunked (wasn't very long and I know I didn't mix different kinds. I check everything (more than regularly) and it loses quite a bit of oil.
Before everyone says head gasket, it isn't losing much power (if any at all), no white exhaust, and as mentioned before there's no coolant in the oil.Whatever it is, I can repair it myself but before I tear this thing a new one replacing gaskets and seals I'd like to be completely sure.
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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?
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I have a Jeep Liberty 2002 Sports. When it is cold and the car has been sitting for a while, when I start the car, the steering wheel is locked or hard to move. I have not tried to force it. But it will move if I rev the engine to a certain point. Once I rev the engine I can move the steering wheel again. I have left the car to warm up before revving the engine, but this does not work with the steering, I have to rev the engine in order to "unlocked" the wheel.
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I have an interlock installed in my 2002 Jeep Liberty Sport. I've been having electrical problems in it ever since it was installed. Prior to it being installed the jeep wasn't mine, it was my grandfathers, and he says it really wasn't driven for a while consistently but it didn't have any electrical problems before the interlock was put in. I'm not sure if this is accurate or not because I'd never driven it prior to the installation. Either way, now I believe I have a short in the electrical somewhere in the system. I'm not sure how to proceed, other then to check the fuses. The battery IS currently dead, but it wasn't.
I was able to start the car and get it down the road, hoping the alternator would charge the battery (the lights were out, none came back on) After a little bit of driving down the road I drove back into my driveway because I was scared to drive without headlights, and shut the car off. It hasn't started back up and now none of the lights or anything are working at all. We've tried jump starting the car, thinking maybe the battery was dead or the alternator went out, but the cables just started smoking and getting really hot. I really need to know how to proceed to find this short, will I have to look at all the wires in the car? Or is it possible to just use the fuse box? My knowledge of electric in a car is very limited, though I do know the basic mechanics.
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I was driving home from a backpacking trip when I noticed a knocking coming from my engine. It got worse as I drove up a large hill and suddenly became very loud, and I lost the ability to accelerate, power steering and brakes.
I managed to pull off the road and checked all my fluids, everything was good. No smoke from the engine and it was not over heating. I was unable to start the car, it wouldn't even make a noise, just dead.
Check engine light is broken and remains on. No other warning lights came on while I was driving.
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My jeep liberty 2002 has been sitting for two weeks. Noticed rear door latch opening and closing. So I unhooked battery. I figured battery was dead tried to hook charge to it but it keep discharging kicking off charger. Whats going on? Tried jumping but it was still discharging?
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How do I replace the rack and pinion in my 2005 Dodge Caravan? Looking for a step by step. Id much rather do it myself.
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I'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.
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We 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.
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