Greetings folks,

Formerly I had been hunting down a 'clunk' in the suspension, noticed particularly whenever the body of the car swayed. I was looking for bad bushings - in vain. All front-end bushings, engine & transmission mounts look practically new and offered no play when the wheels were up.

I just lifted the front of the car again today and found a good deal of play in the steering rack when I applied front-rear pressure on the wheels. With VERY little effort applied front-rear on either wheel, the steering wheel moved back and forth then stopped with a "clunk". I could also see the axle out to the steering column rotating.

Now, the issue is - what inside the rack is loose, and is it a DIY rebuild or am I in for a whole new rebuilt rack? When I turn the wheels a bit by applying F-R force, the steering wheel turns back and forth very promptly; it doesn't seem like worn gears. It's just too EASY; it shouldn't be moving this freely. The "clunk" noise that stops the movement in each direction comes from inside the rack and is exactly the clunking sound I was hunting for in the front suspension.

I have to admit, I'm at least relieved that I've localized that clunk. I was about to go on a lengthy, time-consuming and expensive witch hunt looking for bad rubber in the front suspension that wasn't really bad...

Thanks anyone who has some advice what this might be!

Cheers

Andy

Quick follow-up for the sake of posterity: tightening the steering rack has corrected this issue. There was just kind of a loose metallic 'clunk-clunk' in the steering when turning & running over a bump, or doing anything that would cause the car to sway laterally (not lean). The steering was also extremely loose, creating a lot of play when applying front-rear force to the wheels with the front of the car raised.

Tightening the rack cured it. And, just to note, it's a subtle job. I would say I probably tightened it about 30 degrees. Not much. Not like you need to screw it in by two turns.

Also - I fashioned a tool to do this with a bolt and some nuts from Home Depot. The head of the bolt has to be 24mm. A M16x2.0 bolt fit absolutely perfectly into the adjustment screw on the rack.

Thanks all -

Thanks for the follow up. I don't want to sound like a newbie but I got some questions on this one. What adjustment screw are you talking about, and where? What exactly does it tighten up? Is it on a 1st gen steering rack? If this is a common thing, sorry if I sound stupid. lol My steering feels a little free and I do have some "clunks" in the front. Maybe I'll try playing around with the steering a bit.

It's a 2nd-gen car but I don't know if they revised the steering rack. Basically it's an inverted 24mm hex screw, that faces down and rearward, perpendicular to the direction of the steering column.

All you have to do is loosen a collar nut, which is a thin ring around the threaded screw, with four flats on each side. I used locking clamps to get it off; I didn't have an adjustable crescent wrench large enough to grab on to it (~38mm or 40mm).

You basically just 'back' the head of the bolt in to that screw and tighten it up. You need to put the car in neutral to be able to turn the steering wheel from lock to lock and feel for any "pinch" points.

There are how-tos on google for tightening a steering rack. One I found to be very useful and straightforward was on the Valvoline site actually.

You have to do it somewhat carefully so as not to over-tighten and cause excessive strain on the PS pump or premature wear on the rack. The steering before this was finger-light, now it's a bit firmer but still very smooth and even, and no weird clunking feedback coming through the steering wheel any more.

Thanks Andy for that description. I'll have to check it out one of these days in the near future.

Do you notice the "clunk" noise when you step hard on the brakes?

Don't know who you're asking but I don't. My "clunk" is when I'm turning and hit the tiniest bump. If I'm going straight and hit a bump it's fine, except in the back, but that's a totally different problem I need to work on.

I assume that you've also inspected the strut rod bushings. They wear out quickly on the 2nd gen.