told yesterday my car needs steering rack replaced. Its been hard to turn last few days.

1999 MERCURY SABLE
83,000 MILES
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STEVE B
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Station wagon was gift from Dad and is from Michigan and I live in Ca. Mechanic told me car needs steering rack replaced and some rust on bottom/ car may cause additional problems when replacing steering rack. What is going on?
Sep 27, 2011 at 3:02 PM
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DAN_K
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In this case, the rear of the engine cradle needs to be lowered to replace the power steering rack. There are long bolts that pass through the engine cradle into the uni-body structure itself - these areas are prone to rust and corrosion and can lead to difficulty replacing the steering rack and pinion assembly. The power steering rack is a common issue on these vehicles.
Sep 27, 2011 at 3:40 PM
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WRENCHTECH
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You might want to get a second opinion on that. It's also very common to have binding strut plates that hit the tower housing.
Sep 27, 2011 at 3:55 PM
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DAN_K
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I completely concur about the binding strut plates. There were several SSMs (special service messages) regarding strut plates on these vehicles. I made my comment assuming that the original diagnosis was a good one.
Sep 27, 2011 at 6:17 PM
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