Jump to content
  •  
Advertise here

Recommended Posts

Calling all experts

An year ago, futtaim diagnosed that my steering rack is faulty. I took it to my local garage and he seconded futtaim's opinion. So how it started? One chilling morning of 2015, I feel a bit of vibration in the accelerator pedal after much notice I realised that it is only when I turn steering at a specific point (let's say from middle to 30 degree right). This was ignored then the vibration became humming noise and then a squeak but only at a specific point. Journey from vibration to hum to squeak was over 3 months or so. Later I got the steering rack replaced as suggested by the futtaim even though my mechanic was saying that local lathe (khirad) / machining would to the job.

Same stuff is happening again just after 12 months of replacing the whole steering rack (OEM). It only hums now when cold after 10 kms it is fine I dont feel anything. Any suggestions what is causing it as I feel that may be we did not address the right problem?

My car: Toyota Prado 2010 4.0L TXL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very sorry to hear this @waqaszohair. Toyota was built to last and I never heard any of them, specially the Prado suffer with any problems at all. If you don't mind bringing the car to Sharjah I know a couple of good auto balancing guys who are in the business for over 40 years and can pin point any problems with the steering and alignment. They are not cheap, but than they are not ripping people off like Al Futtaim and their work is good enough to get praise from everyone.

In the meantime looking for the expert comments of our more technical people, however I believe they can only let you know what is wrong when they see it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like @Rahimdad says, we need to see it. There could be any number of causes.

Toyotas are usually pretty reliable. Racks can leak but they rarely fail. If you have had a failure twice in a row, it might be bad luck with bad parts but you should investigate further before throwing another rack at it. Are the steering UJs (universal joints) good? Has the vehicle ever been in an accident? Are the chassis and sub frames straight? Was it properly aligned after fitment? And by properly aligned I mean on an alignment table using lasers, not using the string method. 

Your mechanic is right about getting it repaired at a local machine shop. Those guys will rebush and reseal it. It might even be stronger than an original rack. When my customers ask me, I always recommend repairing over buying second hand. When you buy second hand you might be buying someone else's problem. When you repair you know for sure what you have. Assuming the repairer is competent. 

If it was my car, I would email Toyota directly in Japan and explain the issue and see if a manufacturing fault is a possibility. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you guys for the comment. I can imagine the real culprit would be caught when she visits the garage. 

Some of your questions that I can answer is as follows: 

The car is accident free and the alignment has been  checked over by two different garages I believe they would have done the laser one. While driving I never felt alignment issues. 

As for the rack I bought a new OEM one and got it fixed. On universal joints and chasis I cannot comment

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the vehicle has never been in an accident, 99.9% it's not a chassis problem. 

The UJs are easily tested. Move the steering from left to right without turning the wheels, just feel the play in it and have an assistant watch to see if they're loose. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of use