So basicly I took my 06 xB (71,000 miles) into the dealership today for some new break pads. I've got a good relationship with my dealership, it's where all the work has been done previously. I told them of a problem where I would hear a decently loud "clunk" when cornering, I figured it could be anything from shocks/struts to the CV joints and was expecting a few hundred repair. They called back and told me that the entire rack and pinion steering system needs to be replaced at a cost of over $1500!

WTF is this?! At just over 71k miles is this something that should be failing?! The dealership mechanic told me "there's no real way to know why it failed until we tear into it and replace it." Is this a common problem with xB's? Has this happened to anyone else? How the hell can something like this happen in such a short time? Any suggestions or similar stories? I'm seriously bummed, I can't imagine what is going to go wrong in the future if it's starting so soon with such an expensive repair.

 

personally ive never seen a rack and pinion make that type of noise, mostly seen sway bar end links, strut mounts or control arm bushings weak making noise. I'd get another opinion.

 

The mechanic said everything under there looked alright! Said the bars were all okay, everything tightened, hell, the alignment isn't even off!

 

im going thru these issues on my stock 07 civic, they changed rack and pinion, control arms, brakes, rotors, balance and rotate tires, allign twice, tire pressure and end link kit. cars still thumps and has harmonic sound like a copter. still has not been resolved, so i'd double check a second opinion. honduh is a piece of shhhhhh

 

Civics are great cars. Maybe you found a lemon.


To original poster, do you have an aftermarket exhaust on your xB?

I noticed mine thumps against the bottom of my car when cornering sometimes. It's a very odd noise.
I wrapped some rubber around the part that comes close and now the sound is gone.

 

Stock suspension, stock exhaust, stock everything (other than some cosmetic interior stuff).

I bit the bullet and talked with my dealership, they're actually being really good about this. They agreed to take 10% off my total bill (every little bit counts) and they're going to use an aftermarket steering rack which should save me another $300+ over the Toyota one. A steering rack isn't one of those wear items so I'm hoping that the aftermarket one will be just fine, they seem to think it will be and well, they're the mechanics and I suppose I trust them.

I guess I was just furstrated/angry at the repair cost, but I suppose with car's that's just kinda the way it goes sometimes. I just hope that my car is going to be as reliable as I hope it will be in the long run, I really do love my box...

 

i have this problem with my tc, it does the same thing i turn the wheel and it repeats the noise "clunk clunk clunk" until i stop turning the wheel its like the power steering went out but when i have high rpms the clunk goes away? and its easy to steer wth is up with that

 

Naters your problem sounds more like yours springs are bouncing in the strut when turning your wheel, are you lowered?

 

OP let us know how the car is when there done, for your sake i hope its gone but from my pass experience it wont be.

 

^^Mine do that clunk crunch noise too. I hope coilovers never make that sound when I get those in.

 

Well the dealership is working with me on the repair. They're giving me 10% off the total repair as kind of a "sorry this happened to you" discount and they're putting in a reman rack instead of a new Toyota, since it isn't a regular wear part (and both have the same 1 year warranty) I'll save a few hundred bucks.

 

Good luck.

Ask them to show you the part so you can see the wear yourself.

 

Please elaborate as to how you're seeing noises.

 

sound like its the joint on the column that connects to the rack to me...