Anyone ever have a busted rack n pinion that goes CLUNK!

tbirdboy

Registered User
Thought It was the mounts but now I'm seriously thinking that the rack is either bad or loose or cracked at the mounting points.

Maybe not bad, not loosing any fluid or lacking in steering or any thing, only when turn a sharp corner slowly or in a parking lot trying to back up and reverse while steering will it result in a clunk. On the freeway nothing while rowing through the gears which is usually the case for motor mounts to clunk. Anyone have this happen.

Thanks for the time.
 
inner/outer rack joints, maybe a loose steering shaft. Park the car on a level surface without it running, jiggle the wheel back and fourth a few inches quickly past the neutral point and see if it does it(clunk is probably from the steering shaft). You can tighten the rack, there is an adjustment, but usually only high mileage cars will a rack wear out
 
Just a shot in the dark, but may be of some help too. You may have some worn bushings too. I don' t know if that would cause a cluck, but it's possible. Mine doesn't clunk, but I have other steering related issues that need to be resolved, (bushings, ball joints).
 
Bushings were checked out some time ago. Looked good from my point of view but that was before the oil leak so maybe I'd better check the rack and bushings. Where would this adjuster be and what does it do? Thanks again.
 
when it clunks do you feel it in the steering wheel only, or do you feel it in your feet as well?

It is common, in general, for the rubber bushings to eventually fail in the front end and thus control arms and such become loose and slap around inside their mounts under the car. That type of noise in particular makes me think of a problem I have. The pick below shows the control arm and the circled area shows where my rubber bushing is shot.

i'll be replacing all the front bushings this winter/spring.

frontsuspensiontensionstrut.jpg
 
I need to replace my bushing right there some time soon, could some one please give me a list of the tools needed, and a step by step to do this, i will have to do in by myself, so any help would be great.



matt
 
It is your strut rod bushings!!!!!!

Look under your car and you will see two bars that extend from the center engine cradle to the front end chasis. These are bolted with rubber on both ends. These support the front of the car and the steering. When turning, the strut rod bushings go CLUNK!!!!!!!!!!

You will hear this especially around slow speeds and tight turns. Otherwise drives like a dream right????


So, they are easy to replace.


Good Luck.


Don
 
I need to replace my bushing right there some time soon, could some one please give me a list of the tools needed, and a step by step to do this, i will have to do in by myself, so any help would be great.
 
thunderbird89sc

I ordered my kit from supercoupeperformance and included in the kit (poly bushings) were the step-by-step instructions on the install. It sounds easy enough, but then again, I haven't started yet. I think that those instructions might have been included in a CT issue and may be part of the tech articles on one of the other t-bird/mn12 sites. Can someone help out here who is more familiar with some of the other sites, as I am not. I'm sure it is out there though
 
something else to try, my sc was making a popping or clunking noise when i made slow speed turns, and it was due to a loose front subframe, apparantly the idiots who did my motor mounts and water pump didnt tighten the subframe properly and each bolt was 1/2 to 1 turn loose, they were tigtened and hte pop went away and its been about 9 months since that time and they havent worked loose yet.
 
clunk

tbirdboy said:
Thought It was the mounts but now I'm seriously thinking that the rack is either bad or loose or cracked at the mounting points.

Maybe not bad, not loosing any fluid or lacking in steering or any thing, only when turn a sharp corner slowly or in a parking lot trying to back up and reverse while steering will it result in a clunk. On the freeway nothing while rowing through the gears which is usually the case for motor mounts to clunk. Anyone have this happen.

Thanks for the time.

might be lower ball joints or sway bar end links my car used to clunk i replaced the lower ball joints and sway bar end links and no more clunking good luck
 
on my sc i chased a cluck that it did when turning slowly. after replacing the rack, other swaybar endlinks, and some other parts it ended up being the bearing hub assembly was bad. its something to look at. just remember the nut on the end is a only use once type. well at least thats what every book says.
 
I had the same problem as pdennis93 -a clunk when I made slow speed turns, but also during hard cornering at high speed.
Found that some of the subframe bolts were loose by 1/2 a turn or so. Tightened the bolts and problem solved. But before you tighten the bolts -check the subframe's position relative to the chassis on both sides... I had to bring mine forward a bit on the LH side. :eek:
 
I replaced that entire arm with a Ford OE part and found the nut on the end of the rod bottomed before the bushing was fully seated. I solved the problem by sticking a 3/4" washer between the nut and the bushing washer.
 
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