I am on this forum for a few hours a day and I have yet to find my answer.
Ok, So I have a SC300 and my steering has alot of play. I know my power steering pump
is whining but i have a new one to replace(know this isnt the issue). When i turn the wheel while stationed, you would hear these screeching noises (similar to a whistle). I was told it was the balljoints (so does numerous threads on here say also). The play in the steering wheel just started happening recently. A mechanic put it on a lift and said the steering rack bushings looked fine because that what we thought was causing the play. I dont know what to do, Anyone have any ideas??

 

it can be your ball joint , streering rack why dont you jack up one side at a time and see you got any play?

 

A lot of threads will tell you it could be a mix of everything. You always have to consider the age and mileage of these vehicles.

PS Pump - when there's air in the system it will cause it to whine. If there's air and you didn't bleed the system at any point more likely there's a leak somewhere that causes it to loose fluid.

PS Hose - can also be a major contributor to loosing or leaking fluid.

Rack And Pinion - only way to find out if there's leak in the system is to move the boot from the inner tie rod side to the side, to see inside if there's fluid leaking. If its wet, then the seals are shot.

Steering Rack Bushings - this can cause a lot of play and/or delay in steering. There's no way to see if its completely **** the way it's positioned in there. But if your SC have a few hundred thousand miles, everyone who has replaced this can bet that that is your problem right there, including me. Replace it, it's cheap and now easy to get your hands to.

Ball Joints - balljoints don't squeak or squeal or whine. Balljoints make a popping sound. To find out if its busted, you're gonna need to disconnect each ball joint from the hub and rotate it left to right, clockwise and counterclockwise to see if its "catching" somewhere. The way it rotates should be as smoothe as butter, meaning it doesn't get stuck anywhere. And also make sure the boots don't have rips and has plenty of grease inside it. There's a thread somewhere here on how to replace the boots for $10 or less.

 

good info. I have no leaks in power steering. I check it every few days.
However, as for the noise I am hearing i dont know what it is now that you
said it cant be the joints(I never hear popping noises). As I turn the wheel on the ground left to right,
it makes like a squeeling/whistling noise only. Any info on what that might be??
I only have 128k miles on mine.

 

I would strongly recommend changing the steering rack bushings. I've heard a lot of people say, "it looks good" up until they actually remove it and see the rubber is almost gone. Even me, it looked a lot like the rubber was still intact, but once I removed the old bushing, that when I see that the rubber was almost gone.

As for the "squealing/whistling" noise, keep observing where it is coming from, it sounds a lot like there's air in the system. Check the PS fluid level, check if the fluid is also dirty, I would recommend a complete flush for that. There's another thread here that details how to clean the filter for the steering rack, do that as well. Then update us once everything is said and done.

 

I second the steering rack bushings. Cheap and is not hard at all. Fixed 90% of my steering problrms. Got my whiteline's on ebay for $31. Its a good place to start. I dont think they would squeek but they will give you the play.

 

I got my poly bushings from MVP Motorsports, haven't installed them yet though.