so my car was making these nasty rattling/creaking/clunking sounds when I rocked my steering wheel back and forth. I figured something inside the steering rack was worn out, which a mechanic friend confirmed. I had already been underneath the car and everything I could get my hands on was tight, including tie rods, all ball joints, etc.

So last Saturday I swapped out my old rack with 250K miles on it with a newly rebuilt rack. My mechanic friend ordered it for me from APSCO (www.apscoonline.com) through his shop, for "personal use", which he said meant they would take a rack with lower miles on it and put in all new Honda seals and inner tie rods, etc. He assures me that they do very high quality rebuilds. So I get it on last weekend, get it aligned Monday morning, and everything seems fine.

Well this evening I noticed that it is now making the SAME rattling/clunking noises, quite loudly, when I rock the steering wheel back and forth.

Details:
- It only makes the noise when I rock the wheel when stopped. If the car is rolling, no noise.
- It only makes the noise when the car is on the ground. If the front end is up in the air with the wheels off the ground, no noise.
- It seems to only make noise after everything has warmed up. When everything is cold in the morning, I don't notice any noises.

Cliff notes: when stopped, wheels on ground, everything warmed up - it makes noises.

My mechanic friend told me that some teflon seal or bushing or something inside the rack had worn out on my old one. Could I have received a bad one here as well?

I checked the U-joints on the steering column under the dash, thinking one of them might be loose or binding, but it does not appear so, and the sound definitely seems to be coming from the engine bay, down low near the rack.

If anybody has ANY ideas I would greatly appreciate it.

 

My old 95 LS made the same noise as you are describing, only at the times you are describing.

None of the end links of mine were bad, and the rack made no noise. I think it was some bearing in the steering column, but I have no idea.

 

update, turns out it's the passenger side upper ball joint on the upper control arm that's making the noise when the steering wheel is turned. It's crazy how the sound/feel is transmitted all the way up to the steering wheel.

This was a control arm I bought in a pair off eBay for $80 shipped so I guess it's a POS.