Hello community i just had a couple of question in regards to rack and pinion and the outcome. I have a sc300 and recently replaced the rack and pinion by a shop because they were charging me a desent price, well come to find out that when its to good to be true then it usually is, when i got it replaced everything was fine but then i started to notice sounds coming from behind what i think is the steering wheel , i found out by a very informative club lexus member that my spiral cable which is behind my steering is snapped , i found out about this because he mentioned it to me by what i am describing to him. Basically my question is should i be concerned about this or move on , my horn does not work and was before the repair, my blinkers were flashing before on my gauge cluster and now they are not , but i can still hear them inside the cabin bliking and my lights work fine outside the car, basically what kind of problems can i run down the road if i choose to leave it like it like that, also is this fixable meaninig do i take the steering wheel off and attach the cables back together or do i need a new steering whheel or what can i do to correct this problem , do i buy another steering wheel . Please help thank you .

 

The spiral cable is not really a cable. It is a contact plate that allows all of your steering wheel controls to work when you turn the steering wheel. The spiral cable or "clock spring" as they are called sometimes will cost you about $200 (part only) and must be zeroed or centered when the wheels are straight ahead. They will only turn 2 1/2 turns in either direction so if it wasn't centered when the steering wheel went back on, it broke off the end on a turn or while parking. You should definitely replace it.

 

If I wanted to buy this part at the dealership, do I ask for a clock spring?

 

No it is called a spiral cable. If you are not handy with cars I wouldn't do it yourself. You would have to take the negative lead off your battery. Wait at least 2-3 minutes to take power off the air bag system. Take the plugs out of both sides of the steering wheel. Remove the steering wheel airbag (Torx) and then take the nut off the steering wheel and use a steering wheel puller to remove the steering wheel, AND there it is. They are usually about 3-4 inches in diameter and mounted in black plastic. The new one has a plastic pin in it to keep it from turning. Straighten your wheels and break off the tab and replace all the parts you took off. There are some plugs and a grounding lug but they are pretty straight forward. Like I said, I wouldn't attempt it yourself unless you are pretty good with car repairs. Good Luck!

 

Sounds to me like the shop broke it by not having the wheel in the proper position when they attached the rack. I'd complain to them.

 

Sounds like that to mee too, I would bring it back to the shop first and see what they are going to do about it..then repair it! Like you said all those things were working before they did the work, GL!

 

i have the clock spring, 45 shipped to your door.

 

Hmmm....I just got my rack and pinion replaced as well...But my question is, Why did they have to remove the steering wheel? The shop I went to didn't even touch the steering wheel on my car.

 

It's not that they had to remove it but they didn't keep it straight while bolting the rack back up.

 

I just wanted to give out information about getting the rack and pinion replaced.

If you start driving out of the shop and the steering is really really tough to steer then its the Sensor for the rack and pinion.

I had to drive my SC for like 2 weeks with the steering being really hard to steer. It was so dreadful to use both arms to turn and my damn SC is a 5-speed.

 

After my rack and pinion were replaced, I had to bleed out my rack and pinion assembly to get all those air bubbles out, because everytime I steered left or right, it would make a horrible noise that sounded rather annoying...So at the same time, I pretty much got a power steering fluid flush afterwards.