I was replacing my inner tie rods when i noticed behind the tie rod and behind the lock-plate on _both_ sides of the car there appears to be two seals of some kind sitting flush against the lockplates. I presume these are not supposed to be there... I kind of shimmied the passenger side one down the rack rod against it's End Cover Assembly and it doesn't seem like the seal is capable of fitting through the gap so I don't think they wiggled themselves loose from inside the rack and out past the end cover. Any idea on what these are, how they got here, and what to do about this situation? i think they've been this way for a long time (maybe 10+ years).

Edit - is that how the Driver's side view of the rack is supposed to look? I thought maybe it was missing the end cover assembly but now that I look at the diagram I dont see one indicated for the drivers side.

 

Why do you think they're not supposed to be there? There's a decent chance you're the first person to replace the inner tie rods on your car since it was new, and I can't imagine why someone would put those things in there for fun. If the inner tie rods tighten up properly I would probably just put them back in as they were and forget about it. Parts diagrams aren't 100% accurate, so it's possible there was a revision to the rack that wasn't captured in the diagram.

 

Well, mostly because it appears to be a seal of some kind and in that location its not sealing anything

 

I think it's 48636-16A06, or an aftermarket version if it's remanufactured. I think you should just buy and bolt up another reman, they aren't that expensive.

 

Ah, looks like it might be some kind of spacer for a steering rack limiter. Well I'll enjoy my extra turning radius without them. Their absence doesn't seem to cause any clearance issues.