Hey Guys...

Thought i would report another issue ive had and then solved after many hours of research....

Symptoms:
It happened overnight it seemed... the steering would have hard spots in it.... the power steering was working because the tires would move when the car was not in motion... but it didnt feel right... my mechanic who is cool with my internet bullshat... first said its steering pump, or the steering rack.... he checked the pump, but felt there was no indication of it failing... no noticable noise... replacement power steering pump ($720 toyota dealer. much cheaper on ebay) so he then said it was possible it was the rack... however there was no indication of a leak in the rack... although possible it was an internal leak... this seemed unlikely to me.... so i went searching.. and after hours....found a vague thread about intermediate steering shafts seizing....
We then took a look here...which connects the upper steering column to the rack i believe... and found one of the u joints was infact seized..... replacements seemed harder to find in canada... only a single replacement on ebay... $150.... i can report this does infact get rid of this issue.....

NOW WHERE I NEED HELP.

After installing the shaft i ordered on ebay... it seems my steering wheel is off a bit to the left... my mechanic said the shaft teeth didnt seem to line up properly, is this something that an alinement will fix since it does drive straight and steering is lexus butter smooth again... im just wondering if maybe when he was in there the alinement was out, and i dont know if he is able to do that maybe???

Again for the google bots.... 1999 RX 300 steering hard problems power steering issue, steering rack, power steering pump, intermediate steering shaft is the fix... maybe that will save someone the time i spent last weekend...

Cheers

 

When you remove the intermediate shaft you need to make sure that the steering wheel is locked in position and the rack/wheels don't move.. I wouldn't get an alignment.. Then you are messing with something that isn't messed up in the first place. I would just make sure the wheels are dead straight, disconnect the top of the intermediate shaft and straighten the steering wheel, then bolt everything back up. If you paid someone to do the job I would take it back to them and do it.