WHEN IM CRUISIN' IN MY RIDE I GET A CLUCKING NOISE ON THE FRONT PASSSENGER SIDE CLOSE TO THE WHEEL, THE MECHANIC SAID IT WAS A BAD BUSHING, AND MY RACK AND PINION IS LEAKING... ANY BODY WITH THE SAME PROB???

 

i had the same problem -- it also got squirrelly when i would hit a snow drift or water - more than normal not sure what he called it ---it was the piece that is behind the tire and has the rubber boot around it mine was old and comming off

 

I think by your description you are talking about the cv joint.

 

ummm no. the CV is NOT behind the tire. he's talking about the boot on the rack itself.

 

yeah...I was thinking "looking at the tire like you are going to take the wheel off" when he was talking about behind the tire sorry don't know why...brain fart I guess

 

well the topic is rack and pinon

 

yup like I said brain fart.

 

My guess on what you had replaced was the ball joint. they do fun stuff when they're worn out.

as for the rack & pinion, we'd need a much better description of the problem in order to correctly diagnose anything.. probably can't even be properly done unless you're there looking at the car.
but anyway, the steering rack isn't a common thing to go out, but has happened before. clicking is a rather weird thing to hear, but could be possible if the PS pump was going out.

 

The part with the boot is the inner tie rod. It has a knuckle under the boot so if the boot is broken can it wear and start making a clicking noise? should you replace the inner and outer tie rod at the same time because of possible wear on the outer caused by the inner being bad?

 

interesting topic....actaully my boot covering my rack is broken also, i am leaking some fluid back there but i think its probably from my bad valve cover...i tried to look around to replace the boot, but was only told i had to buy a whole new 1 (over 300 ) any consequences of having a broken boot? maybe i should rig a ghetto covering??? techsx2...opinions?