charlesb2003

Ok... A couple of days ago I was driving around and I noticed a clicking sound coming from my steering column when I turn the wheel at low speeds... I pulled into a parking lot and stopped, put it in park, and turned the wheel lock to lock. I could hear like a clicking/grinding noise coming from somewhere under the dash but I couldn't pinpoint it. I could also feel it in the wheel. Then the day before yesterday, when I pulled in my driveway after a short trip, when I put it in park and let go of the wheel, it turned itself all the way to the left! I tried to turn it back to center but it kept going back to the left, so I just turned the car off. Yesterday morning I put the front end up on jackstands and got under it and turned the wheels back and forth by hand with the car off. They would stick every now and then and I would have to shake them to get them to go back and forth. I heard a grinding/scraping noise from the power steering rack. Then I started the car and turned the wheel back and forth with it running. The wheel would turn smoothly all the way to the right, but about 3/4 of the way to the left the wheels would shake as I turned the steering wheel slowly. The clicking noise could be heard and felt in the steering column. There is no visible sign of damage to the CV boots, tie rods, or suspension. Everything looks good, no fluid anywhere, fluid level is normal. Anybody have this problem before?? I need to fix this soon because every time I try to make turns at low speeds my steering wheel fights back... it jerks around like crazy! And at high speeds I have absoultely no "on-center" feel... its just feels very loose... it's a weird feeling...

Somebody help!

 

Hotstartup

need a rack & pinion

charlesb2003

That was my guess too... but I hate to throw parts at it... could it be anything else or is it definately the rack and pinion? Did what I described happen to you?

Today I drove with the A/C off (damn near passed out in the heat...) to hear the sounds of the car better and I noticed in addition to the clicking from the steering column, every now and then I would hear a "whirring" noise on acceleration and at idle a slight rattle/squeal... I opened the hood and noticed the pulley of the power steering pump has a slight wobble to it... but the fluid levels are still fine. A Honda mechanic I know who used to have a Legend said that it could be that one of the tie rod ends dried out... he drove it but it wouldn't act up for him... and he kept the air on so the noises were muffled. Also, when I turn the wheel all the way to the right, it stops, then creaks a little, then goes ever so slightly more to the right, and creaks, and stops again. If I keep holding it all the way to the right it feels like it keeps moving ever so slightly to the right in creaky little jerks... about as fast as the minute hand on a watch moves, but noticible because before all this started happening the wheel would go to both sides and stop. No noise, no play, just stop. Every time I think I know what it could be, it does something else... and then I've noticed that she's a little hard starting, but I doubt that's related. Unless the pump's putting strain on the engine... I just want my baby to be back to normal... this is driving me crazy!

Edit: BTW hotstartup, your car's hot... prolly my favorite sedan on the board. Are those IS300 rims?

charlesb2003

bump...

stevieray

It's either the rack or the PS pump going bad. Hit up e-Bay for replacements.

__________________


"King of Kleen"

"Know this. Being able to purchase a Legend and being able to afford a Legend are two separate things. Realize nothing post-purchase is cheap." - LegendGS

charlesb2003

Thanks for the input... I'm gonna try changing the fluid before I buy any parts, but if it's got to be either the rack or the pump, if changing the fluid doesn't help I might just change both.

Is there anything else it could possibly be (suspension parts, ball joints, etc.)?

charlesb2003

Also... is there a how-to anywhere on replacing the power steering pump? I searched, but couldn't find one. The rack looks simple enough to change...

bigdad

sounds more like the pump to me.