hello everyone, not to sure if im doing this thread correctly but im lost and have been searching for hours literally. Two days ago i was messing around with my car doing little things here and there and during this time i had to turn my steering wheel at full lock in both directions a couple times, at some point i turned the wheel to far and heard this pop noise really bad! i straightened wheel and thought nothing of it but later that day i drove and now my wheel is crooked to the left a bit and when im stationary or moving i get this nasty clunk noise if i move the wheel left and right. Not sure if its coming from steering column or the joint where the steering column meets rack. I unbolted the joint hoping it would be a simple adjustment to straighten everything back out but i realized it only moves up and down about an inch and even with the bolts out of the joint, it does not become loose enough on the grooves of rack and steering column to spin for any adjustments so im stuck. Can i get some opinions, am i looking at a new rack? Or hopefully bad joint? i have searched so many post but nobody seems to have this same problem that occurred by something they did, all the other post it was a random occurence but im sure that i broke something.. btw car is 00 civic ex with manual rack! thanks

 

Raise front ends on stands and carefully inspect the tie rods and ball joints.

 

Okay i will after work but with the symptoms i described you think tie rods or ball joints could be possible? It doesnt hurt to check though

 

Are you asking me to retract my suggestion?

 

no i was asking do you think with the damage that i did that i could have possibly messed up a ball joint or tie rod?

 

So you still think I should retract my suggestion? What's unclear to you about my response? If you don't like my advice, then just ignore it.

 

i didnt mean it like that thanks for the suggestion i will check after work hopefully its one of the two

 

Doesn't sound like a bad rack to me yet. Like he said, check the joints. If you can, have someone turn the wheel for you while you inspect the underneath to pinpoint wear its coming from. You might have to leave the car on the ground with this method, but you should see some abnormal movement at one of the components.

If the front is suspended, check joints and components for play, or movement, by hand. You can also use a pry bar or huge flathead screw driver to help assist with that.

 

No answer SHOULD be provided until you investigate the rack and pinion, take pics of what you see and provide that information to us.

I sure as hell don't play guessing games, more info is needed.

 

Ok guys so i got under the car yesterday and checked some stuff out while my cousin turned the wheel. First off i checked both side ball joints and tie rods..driver side has no play what so ever, passenger side has like maybe half inch of wiggle on tie rod and same with lower ball joint. Now heres the big issue! There is a clunk coming from INSIDE the rack it doesnt budge at all it has no play but when you turn the wheel you can hear clunking noise from inside of it..i thought it was where the steering column and rack meet but no its definitely from the rack. If you turn the wheel and lock it to either side you hear this nasty clunk like something inside the rack is hitting a wall. So thats what i got anybody else thinking its bad rack? Im ready to replace it with new unit im buying from my friend, just want to be sure before i spend $80 bucks. Thanks for the input

 

Also when i say wiggle from the passenger side tie rod and ball joint i dont mean like a loose bolt i shook the wheel and it had the half inch of play i mentioned..just want to be clear on that

 

How's the p/s fluid?

 

I wonder if you broke a tooth on either the rack or pinion. The rack gets pushed against the ball-bearing supported pinion by a very stiff spring and a screw-cup. This spring allows minor variances in gear machining and adjustment of the tension between the gear mesh.

You should consider rebuilding or swapping out the entire steering gearbox.

Also you need to figure out exactly which parts are causing the wobble on the passenger side. There are five main culprits on that side:
- Upper Ball joint
- Lower Ball joint
- Outer Tie Rod
- Inner Tie Rod (under the bellows boot)
- Rack End bushing (plastic sleeve inside the end of the steering rack)

There is also the possibility of loose suspension or subframe bolts as well as blown out bushings. Even a bad wheel bearing. It's all about identifying exactly where the play is coming from.

 

hahaha

 

yeah i really think that rack skipped a tooth if you seen how it happened and heard the noise you would possibly agree. and the rack im getting has new inners and fresh bushings since its new i would assume, i will replace outters on both sides and thats already three things changed so not to bad!i will go down a checklist for the rest of the stuff you listed. thanks for the info

 

BTW: When you turn the steering all the way to one end, it does "HIT A WALL". The outer tie rod bangs into the steering gearbox. This is the end stop. It's metal on metal. Here is an image of the wall it runs into:



It's the lock-washer that will bang into this surface:

 

Why does it do that because i skipped a tooth?

 

No....I was just explaining how it normally works. It's those two pieces hitting eachother that stops the steering wheel from turning.

I don't know what your wall-hitting-noise sounds like, so I don't know if it's normal or not. Replacing the entire steering gearbox should fix your problem unless it's a u-joint issue on your steering column.

 

oh okay i understand now and yeah i think so i will put a video up later today so you can hear

 

If you haven't been topping off or checking your reservoir than you deprived your rack and pinion of fluid and that could've potentially damage the rack. Thats why I ask since you said the clunking sound was coming from the rack itself. It must be hard for you think about the questions being put to you, instead you just want straight answers.

 

try reading my TITLE and my POST clearly.

 

Haha this also made me giggle here at my shop were i work haha i even showed the other tech here haha and yea man just go ahead and change out ur rack just noe u will have to drop the subframe to remove or install unless u have some grinding and welding magical skills haha i just did one last night on a power steering one at my friends garage with almost no room and its almost a pain just very tidieous

 

Also since u have a manual rack i donth think they have a c braket that gets held on the passenger side i could be wrong

 

Lol i was laughing to and ive done a rack before wasnt to bad and yeah on 6th gens u dnt have to drop subframe thank god

 

BAHHH!!!