I have 78K miles on my car. My steering is noisy at low speeds so I assume the rack and pinion is failing. I did perform a search before creating this post.

Does anyone have instructions for replacing the rack and pinion on a 2008 IS F?

Thank you in advance.

 

What do you mean by noisy? The units are not known for failures. Certainly possible, but many of us are now well over 100k miles, mine is at 217k miles, and we're not seeing failures. I'd be looking at the ball joints and bushings before I'd assume the rack and pinion is failing.

Also, your tires may be contributing to this. I recently put Figs upper control arms with solid bushings in the front and the chattering I had at low temperatures on U-turns disappeared.

 

Thank you for the response. The sound is like a whining/groaning sound that changes when I turn the steering wheel.
The sound changes when I turn the wheel. The actual feedback when I'm turning the steering wheel is not smooth, almost like it is binding or there is some resistance.

I owned an IS350 previously and the steering was very smooth in comparison. My understanding is the rack and pinion is the same part used on the IS F.

 

That might be the rack, but keep in mind, our steering rack is fully electric. There are no hydraulics in the steering system. I'd still recommend a full inspection of all the bushings. The rear bushings on the lower control arms have been known to fail, and would definitely complain when you turn the steering wheel if they were dead. These are the same bushings most of us have replaced with either polyurethane or solid ball bushings to minimize inside edge tire wear and run more aggressive toe in the front.

Replacing the rack is pretty straight forward. Unbolt the steering shaft, knock out the two tie rod ends from the lower ball joints, disconnect the electrical connectors, and remove the two very large bolts holding the rack to the front subframe. I'd recommend doing this with the car cold so you can get the steering wheel properly centered without burning yourself on the exhaust header. You'll definitely need an alignment after this as well.

 

The rear bushings on the lower control arms are not OEM and appear to be polyurethane.
I value your experience and opinion. I will definitely get a second opinion before replacing the rack. Would I need to drop the subframe to replace the rack if necessary?

 

No need to drop the subframe at all. The rack attaches to the front of the subframe with two large bolts in large rubber bushings.

 

Digging deeper I think the noise is actually inside the car and seems to be sourced from the steering column.

Could it be the power steering motor? I found that if I turn the wheel and stop at a certain point the noise is present and will stay indefinitely until I move the steering wheel to a different position.

 

Do you have aftermarket headers?