In the last two days I've noticed that my steering wheel would suddenly have intermittent episodes of being hard to turn for a second or so. It has gotten progressively worse over the last 24 hours or so where when trying to make a right turn the steering wheel feels noticeably "heavy" during the turn. And in some cases after I make a turn onto a side street I let go of the steering wheel for it to straighten itself out so I can continue straight down the street I just turned on but the steering wheel doesn't straighten itself out quickly enough like it used to and I have to physically turn it back myself otherwise I'd start making a u-turn motion and careen into a parked car. Weird.

I can only conclude that there's something wrong with my power steering rack.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Any recommendations on next steps before taking it to my dealership?

FYI, I have a 2009 460 SWB AWD with about 78k miles on it.

Thanks for any advice in advance.

 

I believe there is a recall for the electric power steering for some years. I would try to see if the recall was performed.

 

I equally had that problem. have 2008 LS 460L and after driving through a flooded road, the steering became very hard. took it for a check and was told to replace the steering rack. I just got the steering rack and had it replaced but still not okay. the part number of the old rack have been replaced with a new one which is not compatible with the car. any solution? the part I actually need is part number 44200-50221.

 

As an update I brought my car to the dealer and they confirmed the power steering rack needs replacement. I have a 3rd party warranty so they are getting the claim approved while I drive a loaner IS250. They said over the phone that the cost should be somewhere around $4k but I haven't seen the official invoice yet. Hopefully the claim gets approved.

In addition they also found one of my air struts needs replacing but that's another story.

I will post a follow-up once I get the exact costs and all repairs are completed if anyone is interested.

 

Hey Wayman, thanks for posting that. I don't recall reading that problem here before.

 

As a follow up my repair claim was approved by my warranty company and Lexus completed the repair. I got my car back today and all symptoms are gone. There is no more hesitation when turning the steering wheel and there was a low pitch grinding noise from the steering wheel which is gone now. I am happy.

The cost for the power steering rack replacement were $3,349.92 for parts and $525 for labor.

 

My car needs the same steering rack replaced Lexus. I'm started to get scared these cars are problematic.