I had the power steering pump, serpentine belt, rack, and pinion inner and outer tie rods changed and I am having issues with my steering. The steering is not as smooth as it once was, and then I get noise when I am turning and I feel something may have gone wrong. I also changed the wheel bearings and cv axels less than 2 years ago. I have included some video links to see what is the issue here. I’ve taken this car to Firestone a couple of times for alignment and they are telling me that there are issues that will cause my car to lose alignment.
I want to figure this out so I can have a working car. I spent almost $2000 at this point to get the steering working again and now this. I am aware my steering may never be smooth as it once was but that noise is really bothering me. I hope to find an answer here.
Almost certainly there is still air in the system. You may be able to clear it by going lock to lock on the steering quite a few times. Depending on how well it was bled to begin with, it may take a LOT of back and forth. If you can jack up the front end so the tires are off the pavement, it may be easier on you and the tires. If the fluid in the reservoir is frothing up or has bubbles, most certainly it is not fully purged.
You replaced most everything associated with steering. One thing TBs are notorious for is worn lower ball joints. I’ve had three of these trucks and replaced quite a few lower ball joints. If it has never been done, they are highly suspect…
Firestone told me that there are issues with my tie rod ends. I told him that I just bought the rack and pinion new that came with lower ends and then I replaced the upper ones on sunday. I have another appointment with them on friday.
My mechanic claimed he “burped” it but for him to do it again he is charging me so I have to do it when I get the chance. The ball joints upper and lower were changed less than 2 years ago. I did notice the upper left has a tear in the rubber boot. I was also thinking if it may be cv axle even though they are less than 2 years old but this is such a frustrating situation I am in
What is the issue they are saying??? I have seen a new AZ inner tie rod end separate in one day, just because you replaced it yesterday or 2 years ago doesn’t mean it is not bad now,… You could have a defective/loose new part… SO back to what Firestone said??? What did they say is wrong with it… Details are everything…
BTW you have inner and outer tie rod ends, a new rack-n-pinion normally comes with the inners and you have to swap or replace the outer tie rod ends…
Start your vehicle and turn the wheel to full lock (left or right) and turn the vehicle off while holding the steering wheel, then leave it alone for about 20 minutes then do the same but to the other way… you may have to do it a few times… That should finish bleeding the rest of the air out…
EDIT Firestone should have giving you an alignment sheet, please post it if you can…
Ask Firestone to tell you what those issues are, one by one. You are welcome to post thelist here for more idea. Once properly aligned, the front end should remain aligned as long as the components don’t get bent, tire tread remains good, and the amount of play in the wheel bearings, steering, and suspension linkages is within spec.
You are correct to be concerned about noises when turning the steering wheel. That could be an indication of something unsafe, and needs to be looked at by a qualified shop asap. Could be a worn out ball joint, on the verge of breaking.
When I went to pick up my car, Firestone told me that there was an issue with your tie rod ends either inner or outer. I told him that a new rack was installed a couple of weeks ago. He noted that I should have my mechanic check that out. He noted there was no damage but there was some play. So I made another appointment for this Friday. I then told my mechanic about the outer rods and we replace those on Sunday. It did alleviate an issue I had but it wasn’t the overall solution hence why I recorded those videos. This is apparent when I turn every time. I also did not get a sheet. But I will make a note to tell the guy on Friday to tell me exactly what they think is wrong. Matter of fact, I will stay in the lobby this time since I didn’t do that last time. I will also try your suggestion for wheel lock in a bit and see if that does anything.
It does concern me. I purchased this truck in 2020 for $2100. The first thing that got changed that time is the rack and new lines and pump were installed. This was at 169k miles. Right now the truck is at 180k miles and so far, 6 power steering pumps have been installed. I purchased a couple from Napa, 1 from ebay, 1 from advance and 1 from the junkyard. 4 out of the 5 didn’t work off the bat. The one from the junkyard died end of may. I bought a brand new pump and it worked. I also put a new serpentine belt. I still was having issues with steering resistance so I purchased a rack and pinion from autozone for $600 and my mechanic put it in. I then assume the issue was done but I wasn’t happy with the steering as it wasn’t smooth. Then it lead me to the alignment at firestone since I have a lifetime pass there for it and here I am with all these other issues. So to summarize, 6 pumps, 2 racks, new set of lines that are less than 2 years old and 2 serpentine belts have been installed and that is not compared to what I had to change in the car as well.
I’m guessing part of your problem is your relationship with your service providers. If a shop is providing the labor, then let the shop supply the parts, b/c then they are responsible for the entire job. If you want to supply the parts, do the labor yourself too. As far as the alignments, I think you’d get better quality service from a well-recommended local inde shop than a chain.
I chose to supply parts because shops around here are very expensive. Ex; Pep Boys wanted to charge me $3400 to replace rack and pinion, lines, pump and to burp air out. That’s before tax. Not only that, the amount of problems I found out about this car overtime was very stressful. I honestly regret getting this truck but I also tried to make the best of it. I do plan to get another car in the future but for now, I have to have this at least working enough to get me to A and B
Sounds like something is loose and shifting when turning the steering wheel back and forth… You need to have someone look under the vehicle while you do that or have someone move the steering wheel for you while you look, or have your mechanic do it… But so far I am not impressed by your mechanic if he reinstalled loose/worn out outer tie rod ends back on and then expected a shop to align it up… and going to charge you to bleed the air out of the power steering system that should have been done in the 1st place…
I will check under the car this weekend. I will wait to see what Firestone says on friday. Also, I seen him install the new outer rods. I was not there though for when he installed the rack and pinion. So I did not pay attention to see if he somehow used the same inner rods or the ones that came the rack. He does swear he used the rods that came with the rack. I will have to wait until then to get some clarity and I am also on my own in terms of checking the car as my mechanic wants $100 just to see what is wrong. I am not going to do that. So I will try to see if I can find a solution. I will also see if Firestone can give me better results and a breakdown on friday so I can list down.
The inners should have came with the new rack… But you may have missed the part where I said I have seen a new out of the box AZ inner tie rod end separate and have to be towed in the very next day… I have seen way too many AZ parts fail in a very short period of time… So don’t be surprised if a new oart somes back as needing replacement… The good part is Firestone will be glad to take you out to your vehicle and show you what is wrong… Just ask…
I will ask them friday. And yeah, I re-read what you said. I mean, I feel I may not have good luck when it comes to parts too. I mean for me to have get so many bad parts and then replace some of these parts in a very short amount of time, it’s like I am not meant to have a car.
So all the issues with the previous pumps that made me return them was that there was no pumping going on. You would initially see bubbles and that wasn’t the case with the pumps. My luck with the draw. No leaks. After the first couple of times, I saw the mechanic install the pump, I did it myself. As he was charging me money every time to install a new pump and I felt for something I knew what to do, there was no point in losing money.
If so, you learned something almost everyone has to learn- certain parts should always be replaced with a new part. These pumps are no exception.
I try to save money on parts whenever I can. However, one thing I always do is to consider the pain and suffering involved when changing the part. A little more money to do the job once may be money well spent. Secondly, anything pumping fluids I won’t buy refurbished
Too bad, I have a brand new P/S pump for an '08 (fits multiple years) sitting in my garage. I bought it in case the problem I had was the pump. It was making a noise almost exactly like a P/S pump on the way out. Turned out to be a weird exhaust leak. So now I have a spare pump gathering dust…
If you can do it yourself, you might want to jack up the front end. Chock the rear wheels, jackstands under each front cause you’re gonna be under there. First rotate the steering wheel side to side feeling for any binding. Then do it with the engine running. If you can feel binding, I would just take off the outer tie rods from both sides so the entire wheel assembly is free from the rack. It is super easy to separate the tie rods. Then move each wheel assembly back and forth by hand. Note any slop or binding. Then run the steering back and forth (making sure rods don’t hit something) and see if it is smooth. This way you may be able to isolate the problem and rule out some stuff…
