Ford explorer Rack and Pinion

[sze kan]

hi all,
I have a Ford explorer 2012 3.5L.
I have read some symptoms regarding a faulty rack and pinion bug my car is showing none...

1)the steering comes back to it's original position after I turn

2)no popping sound when I turn the car

3) the steering is light and I can see the tire move with slightest of steering movement.

However I am getting all sorts of knocking/thumping sound when the car is moving. if I hold the outer tire rod and move it, there is some play and that is why the garage thinks that is the problem.

what concerns me is that every time they remove some part of the suspension to diagnose and fit it back again, the noise disappears but then comes back again after 1 day.. today again they removed the parts to diagnose the Rack and pinion and again all the noise is gone...

 

[sze kan]

Hi all,
Few months ago I was having problems with different errors codes and knocking sound which finally led to a complete power steering failure.
Now trying to help others, I have been told that many of them are having knocking sounds and when taken to dealer, they have diagnosed it as rack and pinion replacement. Many have even done it every once a year as their car were still under warranty and are asking xxxx amount of money for extended warranty.

I wanted to know if this is true? These people have never had issues with errors etc just knocking sound..

 

[peterk9]

I'm not sure if you've seen this thread or not; 2011 - 2015 Explorer Power Steering Issue
It has been a while since I've read it but I don't believe that the majority of failures/replacements were due to "knocking sounds".
From what I can recall, only a very few have has a 2nd failure. I also found this info in the Recall thread in the 'sticky' section; Combined Recalls for 2011+ Explorer models and subsequent post.

Peter