rack and pinion or P/S pump?

[rajaijah]

I am new to the forum. this is the first time i had a problem with my ford taurus. I have a strange noise for abt 2 days and then the steering became stiff. it was really hard to turn and i took it to ford authorized dealer and he estimated about $920 for changing rack and pinion. i was worried spending so much so i took to meineke and they called me after couple of hours and said the problem was power steering pump and estimated $240 for it. i asked them to fix it.

I am worrying whether it was really a rack and pinion problem. what i am wondering is if the guys fix the pump and deliver the vehicle will that solve the problem temporarily and later after few months rack and pinion problem wil come again or the will changing the pump wont do any good and they will say that the rack system should also be replaced.
here is the vehicle info

1999 taurus SE
75,486 miles

i bought it used a year ago and did transmission flush and fill but didnt do any PS flush fill job so far.


any help would be really appreciated.
thanks
raaj

[drdisque]

how is the Power steering fluid level? Is it leaking anything?

From my experience with these cars, the problem is probably the pump, the pump is a major peice of shit.

[Gravesubject]

rajaijah,
Keep in mind that the steering feel and effort on Tauri are strongly affected by tire pressure, and the problem sets in rather quickly.


drdisque,
I had a mechanic once (and only once, since I never went back to that shop) try to convince me (rather smuggly) that the power steering pump on my '95 was bad, despite me telling him that the squealing noise was the idler bearing. So, he replaced the power steering pump... only to discover that the squeal was caused by the idler bearing after all. I let him off of the hook since the car had ~160,000 miles anyway and a new power steering pump wasn't unreasonable at that mileage, but I made sure that he didn't charge me for the labor to install it.

[yotermanic]

Both mechanics are probably half right. While the power steering pump is probably what caused the high steering effort, I wouldn't doubt if the rack and pinion is leaking, causing the pump to go out. That style rack is bad about leaking out the end seals and we've done several of them.