Steering rack slipped, grinded gearing?

[IwantMKIII]

Went out for a late night stroll around 5am. Tried to pull out of my paralleled spot in the lot, turned the wheel and GRIIIIIIIIIIND. I stopped and tried to figure out what had happened. Realized the wheel had actually slipped teeth/gearing in the rack, and a significant amount, about 180*.

I thought maybe a loose nut on the wheel itself but then realized no way, it wouldve fallen off by now. Where should I be looking to prevent any future issues as i've never heard of this happening before, nor has my Toyota master mechanic I know.

BTW, it steers fine now, only slipped that one time. I have no power steering currently if that influences things.

 

[ilikebigbutts]

No p/s? is there fluid in the rack?

 

[IwantMKIII]

should be some, pump leaks ever since the fire, probably burned the front seal

 

[ilikebigbutts]

well the gearing isn't designed to power the wheels to turn, hence power steering(hydraulic assist), and if the rack ran dry and moisture got in the system it sure as hell aint gonna help anything.

Edit:

is teh pump belt still on?

 

[Poodles]

Rack didn't slip, one of the joints did...

Don't drive it until you find it...

 

[AbsoluteSpeed]

is teh pump belt still on?

Im curious as to why this would make a difference.
I blew a p/s line last winter I did cut the belt as I was told it is bad for the pump to run dry, is there another other reason to?

 

[IJ.]

"grinded" not actually a word

"ground" would be correct.

Check the pinch bolts on the steering shaft there's one at the rack and another up near the firewall.

 

[IwantMKIII]

^you can sieze the pump absolute.


Poodles, any common joint a failure point for our steering columns?

 

[IwantMKIII]

Is the joint at the 330 bolt considered a pinch joint/bolt?

 

[IJ.]

Yep there's a pinch bolt at both joints

 

[IwantMKIII]

safe to drive in the mean time or no? i do have to get to class somehow

 

[Poodles]

Yep, that's what I was talking about.

 

[IJ.]

NO 100% NOT safe to drive...... I'm surprised you have to ask..:nono:

 

[Poodles]

Yeah, not safe at all

You might be able to look and fix it tonight as it's not too hard to find the joints...

 

[IwantMKIII]

Yeah, not safe at all

You might be able to look and fix it tonight as it's not too hard to find the joints...

not w/o some type of garage and light to work with

 

[IwantMKIII]

NO 100% NOT safe to drive...... I'm surprised you have to ask..:nono:

well, i wasn't sure if there was some type of safety system in place to prevent excessive rotation and teh slip joint is mostly for adjustment, i don't know, never really looked at it.

 

[Poodles]

You don't own a flashlight?

I'd have to go outside and look, but from memory they're pretty easy to spot...

 

[IwantMKIII]

everything appears to be ok at least on the engine bay splines, nothing appears to be broken

 

[IJ.]

Has the rack moved in the rubber mounts?

 

[fixitman04]

you need to have somebody rock the wheel side to side while you look at the joints. and the mounts. you should be able to see where you have a loose joint or mount. should be pretty easy to spot. that will undoubtedly be where it slipped. take that point apart, inspect it for damage and reset the wheels and steering wheel to straight.

if you have an airbag, pull the fuse, wait 20 min, then secure it straight so it does not spin freely when you dissconnect the joint. if it spins more than 1.5 times you will damage your clockspring causing the airbag to not work anymore.

then take it to the shop to have it aligned properly