[KK2001]

Originally Posted by slyspree

Hello! So I just had my 2015 City's steering rack repaired a few days back as it had developed some play causing a slight clunking noise and my mechanic suggested to get it repaired.

It cost me about 4k for the repair which involved opening up the rack and changing out the bush kit which had developed play for a new one and regreasing it to pack it up again.

When I got my car back, the sound was gone but I immediately noticed the steering was much tighter than before. Another thing that stood out was the stickiness of the steering wheel, in the sense that if I turn it slightly to the left or the right the wheel just stays in that position and doesn't seem to center itself like it used to.

It does however center itself when I take U-turns and give it some gas which gives me some relief but I definitely think the stickiness of the steering is cause for concern. I had notified my mechanic about this the same day I got my car back and he assured me saying as the bush kit has been replaced inside the rack there will be some friction and tightness initially which will free up as you use and drive the car. I don't know how true this is and wanted your opinions if anyone has gotten their car's rack repaired before and faced similar issues.

I regret getting the rack repaired. If I had known that the steering feel would get affected in this manner then I definitely would have lived with the play/sounds coming from the rack!

Hi slyspree,
I got my 2010 fortuner's rack repaired last year from a steering rack specialist and the rack did feel tighter than it used to be for about 200-300 kms. Post that, it returned to it's normal state and now feels like how it used to be. Drive on without a worry.

Cheers
KK2001

[varunsangal]

Originally Posted by slyspree

...When I got my car back, the sound was gone but I immediately noticed the steering was much tighter than before. Another thing that stood out was the stickiness of the steering wheel, in the sense that if I turn it slightly to the left or the right the wheel just stays in that position and doesn't seem to center itself like it used to.....

My 2004 Honda City had the same issue, a service advisor at the Honda owned dealership in Ghaziabad (Prime Honda) suggested that tightening the steering nut will make the noise disappear and make the steering tighter on the flip side. His view was that there is no downside to this approach other than the steering tightness. And indeed the car ran like that for 80k kms more. The noise kept returning every few '000 kms and got the nut tightened in the subsequent service.

Most likely, the mechanic just tightened the same nut on the steering mechanism in your car and charged you a hefty sum for it.

The alternate remains to replace the rack (costly) or repair the rack (error prone).

Overall, if you want to keep the car, suggest you follow the same approach or tightening the nut. The extreme tightness you are experiencing now will lessen in the coming days without the noise making an appearance.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by slyspree

Man this makes me really upset! I thought it would be a quick and easy job as I had seen various posts of how people have got their racks repaired facing no issues.

I would have much rather preferred to just live with the play until it got real bad and replace the rack itself with a new one rather than live with this kind of feedback from the steering wheel for who knows how long until it supposedly "breaks in".

It will not 'break-in'. There is a yoke-plug and a nut over the yoke plug which presses down on the rack shaft. The nut has to be torqued to a specific value. Over tightening it causes the hardness.

Unfortunately, most modern cars have a non-repairable rack. So, there are no factory spec torque values available for this nut. And most steering rack repair shops do not have a torque wrench as well.

What I would suggest is to take loosen the nut by half a turn and see if the freeness returns. If it does, you are set. If not, you need to loosen it by another half turn- rinse, repeat. Problem is this approach needs the car on the lift or jack stands. It is a time-consuming approach. You need a patient mechanic who can help you with this trial and error

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by slyspree

Hello! So I just had my 2015 City's

..................
It cost me about 4k for the repair

Hi Slyspree,

You 2015 car is worth about 3.5Lac give or take. You spent a tankful worth (4k) to fix a potential 40-50k issue (OEM showroom bill). You may not have recovered that cost for sure.

Not sure why you did that 4K 'juggad' fix (assuming it is to avoid the bigger expense), I would say it is a job well done.

Honda's P/S is on of the smoothest I have driven, so I can understand when you feel that it has become, say, like a Indica's stiff response.

Adjust your driving style and yes, please beware of the non-auto-centering behavior which is risky if you are accustomed to the auto-centering behavior and you tend to create a gap between your Palm and the wheel in turns. Just watch out for that.

[Uqaab]

I had my Swift Dzire(petrol, 2008 make) EPS steering rack repaired a few months back. The mechanic assured me the tightness would go away by 2000/3000 Kms. Now even after 5K km, the tightness is almost the same. When I complained, he told me his work is of quality and that with this type of work, it would take a few thousand more KMs to run in.
I'm accustomed to the heaviness of the steering now. My friends avoid driving my car, I only have to drive most of the time.
Sometimes I thought if the motor is not giving adequate power to the steering. Is this possible?

[architect_santo]

I had the same issue with my 2015 Honda City Diesel, and it was really frustrating for me. My mechanic suggested replacing the entire steering column, which would cost around 25k. After doing some research online, I found that the issue could potentially be fixed by replacing the bush. When I brought this up with him, he mentioned it could be a hit or miss and that the steering might not feel the same afterward. Despite this, I decided to go ahead with the bush replacement, which cost me 5k including labour. They sent to a lathe to replace it, and it solved the problem. The steering is a marginally tighter now, but I actually like the firmer feel, and it’s not a problem at parking speeds. Overall, I’m happy with the result. The mechanic said it depends on the quality of the bush, what is available at market, it is never the same as OEM, sometimes it turns out to be much tighter.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

...you need a very special torque wrench that can measure Ncm (that is Newton centimeters, not Newton meters)...

Off-topic, but just to give readers an idea of what a torque wrench that measures in Ncm looks like...

I use this one for torquing down dental implants.

[blauvel]

It's not uncommon for the steering to feel tighter after such repairs, as new bushings can introduce some friction. Your mechanic's explanation that it may loosen up with use holds some truth, but the tightness should only be slight, not excessive. It's also important to have your wheel bearings alignment checked, as that can greatly affect the steering feel.

[wheelspinner]

Clunking noise from lock to lock turn sometimes happens due to worn out link rods. It also causes some play. OP, didn't you take a second opinion?

[MercedesFan]

The steering rack needs pre load adjustment for hardness. Racks can be repaired but only for leaks, never for worn out mechanical components.'

The preload adjustment is done by a large nut on the rack.

[Lux_Noob]

I had the same issue last year after the same repair for my 2012 Honda Jazz. The car has always been serviced at Honda centres and generally they have done a good job. When I complained about this issue, they tried to justify it saying it is somewhat expected etc, but I had none of that and asked them to fix it for free (my repair costs were much higher at ~40k as some rattling issue was there as well). They took the car back and did fix it. I did not check on what was the issue but the point is if you were not warned that post repair you steering may start to feel like that of an old truck, then the assumption is that it will be as it is supposed to be. So please push back and demand for the same to be fixed at no cost.

As an aside, other than this issue, its a shout out to Honda for this amazing vehicle which in its 13th year drives as good as new, and has given no trouble at all (just one part broken - all window rolling buttons at the driver armrest which were replaced after about 10 years), and still looks futuristic enough to not look like a vintage car on road, not to mention the amazing engineering feet of having loads of space and storage on the inside while being extremely easy to drive and park in congested cities like my current place of stay.