Darkmann
Date registered: Dec 1899
Location:
Vehicle(s):
| Oh Boy!!! Now I need a new Rack.
Posted this on BW but I know you folks here are more knowledgeable. SUMMARY: I have been having poor heating lately the problem was diagnosed to a faulty temp. sensor located in the furthest end of the dash. I declined the dash removal option I was presented. They pulled out several codes and replaced several items, including the stering angle sensor and the steering shaft. Yesterday I got the truck back and the rest of the post follows...!!!! I just went from a insufficient heat problem to a steering rack replacement. Yep, I go the car back yesterday after the steering rod was replaced. Just didn't feel right - I could feel a slight notch on anything other than a slow take off and towards the tail end of braking maneouvers, on certain bumps, there was a very loose feeling on the driver's side wheel area, all these were magnified when I went over speed bumps. So, the truck was back in today after a discussion with my SA last night. I test drove with the master tech and he felt same things I felt. Other going through the steering shaft work over again, he didn't have any real solution for me. After a couple hours of dwelling over it, I concluded that something went wrong during the post steering rod installment 4-wheel alignment. So I asked my SA to please look at this option. She agreed and except for the fron right camber which is off by 0.1 degree, everything else is in spec - why would the toe be off if the darn thing was just aligned yesterday??? In any case, for some reason, the conclusion is that I need a new steering rack.
Oh, BTW, I replaced the rack on my 02 320, my 01 430 (both on same day), my 01 430 again needs a new rack and now my 05 500!!!!! Well, I don't think the rack on the 05 is bad but that's the quickest way to resolve the problem.
If you steering folks have any idea, shoot it my way - basically steering shaft was replaced due to a ateering angle sensor fault code, then the steering wheel felt notchy on bumps and take offs and braking and now I need a rack. The annoying part is that I have my B'Stein shocks and H&R springs set to go but I can't do any of that now until they resolve this problem. My master tech is one of the best but I have to reinstall the OEM rims so there are no excuses. To make matters even more exciting, the alignment tool they used caused visible scrapes on my new rims, even after I warned them - becasue same happened with my 02 320 and they picked up the repair tab. My SA has promised they will pick up the refinishing tab for or whatever they do to get the rims back to normal!!!.
Edited by Darkmann 1/15/2007 8:52 PM
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cmitch
Expert
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Ala-Tenn
Vehicle(s): 2002 ML320, 2005 S430 4Matic, 2010 F150 Super Crew
Posts: 3412
| RE: Oh Boy!!! Now I need a new Rack.
You're scaring me! Now, what does a rack and pinion cost for these bad boys? I have no steering play BUT I have some slight 'wander' when stopping. I thought it was ball joints but they check out okay. The first time it happened, I thought it was ruts in the road but I've began to notice it more and it does feel like it's in the steering. 
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Darkmann
Date registered: Dec 1899
Location:
Vehicle(s):
| RE: Oh Boy!!! Now I need a new Rack.
cmitch - 1/15/2007 9:40 PM
You're scaring me! Now, what does a rack and pinion cost for these bad boys? I have no steering play BUT I have some slight 'wander' when stopping. I thought it was ball joints but they check out okay. The first time it happened, I thought it was ruts in the road but I've began to notice it more and it does feel like it's in the steering.
Don't worry, your problem is not likely to be with the racks. The symptoms ou have, I have experienced before with other cars and it's always been traced to tires. It's especially worse with Lo profile tires as they tend to track poorly on anything but near perfect flat surfaces. Try different inflation pressures, gage response, then rotate tires and gage response. I bet you'll be surprised at the results.
As for the steering rack, they are expensive. In my case everything was done under warranty. But I believe the rack itself would be in the $2K range (remanufactured) and then add another 5-8hrs labor at near $80/hr.
Edited by Darkmann 1/16/2007 9:16 PM
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rudeney
Date registered: Dec 1899
Location:
Vehicle(s):
| Re: Oh Boy!!! Now I need a new Rack.
I had some problems with mine. My first replacement was new Bilstein front shocks, and that helped, but was not a complete fix. I found the outer passenger’s side tie rod end to have a broken grease cup and it felt dry, so I replaced all of the, I ended up also finding that the inner driver’s side tie rod end was bad. I did DYI with aftermarket parts for about $200, got an alignment, and the ML drove like brand new. |
