Knock From Steering

[alicecat]

I have noticed a thud when turning the steering wheel of my 2007 XT5 2.2D. I first became aware of it when turning off my drive, so assumed it might be steering rack related, possibly due to cold power steering fluid. It is still fairly quiet and many people might not even notice.

I was a little suspicious as it has recently had a new block, head and pistons as a result of head gasket failure (extended warranty); this entailed removal of pretty well everything under the bonnet and so I wondered if they had left something loose. I think I was probably becoming aware of the knock before it went in for the head gasket failure though.

Just in case they had left something loose, I took it back to the dealer. They took a look and told me it was coming from the outer joint on the driver side driveshaft; it was not urgent and the best was to let them dismantle it at the next service and investigate properly.

The only driveshafts with which I am familiar are on old Minis, so I am wondering:

1. What might the cause be?

2. Is it likely to be a rebuild or a replacement?

3. If a replacement would that be just an outer C.V. joint or a complete driveshaft?

4. Should I have a go at it myself?

Any suggestions would be very welcome.

[Davrav]

I have noticed a thud when turning the steering wheel of my 2007 XT5 2.2D. I first became aware of it when turning off my drive, so assumed it might be steering rack related, possibly due to cold power steering fluid. It is still fairly quiet and many people might not even notice.

I was a little suspicious as it has recently had a new block, head and pistons as a result of head gasket failure (extended warranty); this entailed removal of pretty well everything under the bonnet and so I wondered if they had left something loose. I think I was probably becoming aware of the knock before it went in for the head gasket failure though.

Just in case they had left something loose, I took it back to the dealer. They took a look and told me it was coming from the outer joint on the driver side driveshaft; it was not urgent and the best was to let them dismantle it at the next service and investigate properly.

The only driveshafts with which I am familiar are on old Minis, so I am wondering:

1. What might the cause be?

2. Is it likely to be a rebuild or a replacement?

3. If a replacement would that be just an outer C.V. joint or a complete driveshaft?

4. Should I have a go at it myself?

Any suggestions would be very welcome.

There are three known 'knocking' issues with the 4.3. See attached PDFs. It may be one of those.

4.3 knocking from suspension strut1.pdf

4.3 steering knock from loose bolts1.pdf

Steering knock TSB.pdf

[bothwell_buyer]

The engine on your RAV falls out the bottom which means much of the suspension would be dropped out first. I'd suspect an incorrect re-fit, although if you say it was knocking before the work then consider those points above.

A bit suprised that the garage didn't take the car for a test drive when they would have noticed the knock.

[junebug1701]

Alice, if you feel/hear a thunking or knocking when steering at low speeds, it's probably the "steering intermediate shaft" as referenced in one of those TSB's that davrav mentioned. As for power steering fluid, you don't have any! Your RAV4 has electric power steering.

[alicecat]

Thanks for the replies; it's interesting that nobody has suggested a similar cause to that suggested by the dealer but those suggested here sound more credible. In defense of the dealer, they must have at least driven it into the workshop and one of their people examined it to come up with the C.V. joint diagnosis.

From the three pdfs above, the second one "steering knock from loose bolts" sounds likely but I am really struggling to recognise what the "familiar object viewed from an unfamiliar angle" is. The diagram seems to show a tube which tapers and is held tranversely across the body by a number of brackets; it doesn't seem to tell me what the tube is (steering rack?) or wher I need to look on the body to find it. Any ideas?

[Davrav]

Thanks for the replies; it's interesting that nobody has suggested a similar cause to that suggested by the dealer but those suggested here sound more credible. In defense of the dealer, they must have at least driven it into the workshop and one of their people examined it to come up with the C.V. joint diagnosis.

From the three pdfs above, the second one "steering knock from loose bolts" sounds likely but I am really struggling to recognise what the "familiar object viewed from an unfamiliar angle" is. The diagram seems to show a tube which tapers and is held tranversely across the body by a number of brackets; it doesn't seem to tell me what the tube is (steering rack?) or wher I need to look on the body to find it. Any ideas?

I guess the reason we haven't suggested any other cause at this stage is that the three in the PDFs are known and would expect the dealer to inspect and rule them out first.

The item in the second PDF with potentially loose bolts is the steering rack.

[alicecat]

Another day, another Toyota dealer. I was in Basingstoke yesterday and thought the knock had worsened, so I called into the local dealer and asked their opinion. Their technician did a very thorough examination (I was able to see into the workshop and watch him) and came back to tell me that the steering intermediate shaft (in my parlance, I now understand this to be "the bottom section of the steering column") seemed fine but the driver's side track rod end was very worn; he took me into the workshop and wobbled the wheel (car off the ground) whilst I held the joint and there was no doubt that it had over 1mm of play in it. He told me that until that was replaced he couldn't establish whether there were any other issues. Having felt the play though, I would be surprised if the track rod end was not the entire problem. So it's booked in in Bristol (where the original C.V. joint mis-diagnosis was made) on Monday (I am certain I will pay through the nose for a "genuine" part and dealer labour rate for a job I could do myself in 20 minutes but I have lured myself into the dealer service comfort zone; I just hope they manage to reassure me and don't fall into the smug garage mechanic mode and try to fob me off and overcharge for inexpert work.)

[barkerboy]

Any update on this. We have the same steering knock sound and feel on our steering wheel (2006 T180). Just wondered what kind of cost you are looking at?

[anchorman]

If you can feel it then almost certainly the intermediate shaft.

[ormi]

its an easy job to do yourself..its only held on with two 12mm bolts....if you do do it yourself just dont move the steering wheel when you remove the shaft...

[anchorman]

its an easy job to do yourself..its only held on with two 12mm bolts....if you do do it yourself just dont move the steering wheel when you remove the shaft...

What do they charge for the part these days Ormi?

[webleymk3]

Alice, if you feel/hear a thunking or knocking when steering at low speeds, it's probably the "steering intermediate shaft" as referenced in one of those TSB's that davrav mentioned. As for power steering fluid, you don't have any! Your RAV4 has electric power steering.

Hey Alice. Sorry to hear your having problems. My 2006 Rav had the same issue which was initially diagnosed as CV joint. A closer look revealed the intemediaye steering rack was the cause. Mr T replaced it FOC as it was a known issue.

Worth noting, I could feel the knocking through the steering wheel too.