My steering rack is going out. However, it's mechanically tight - there is zero play between the steering wheel and the rack itself.

Yesterday I was inspecting the front end and I purposely turned the wheels until it engaged the lock. Then I pushed the wheel harder to see if I could find any play in the linkage. I didn't find anything loose, but I noticed that the whole Macpherson and knuckle had some flexibility that allowed me to twist the wheels further. The rack wasn't moving.

Is this normal?

 

So.... Why do you think the rack is failing?

Where was the play in the knuckle? Surely you should be able to see what's moving and what's not. Was the car running and somebody holding the steering at the lock when you were able to "twist" that assembly more?
Did you check inner and outter tie rod ends? Was it only one side that you saw play on?

More info please...

 

The rack is failing because it's leaking fluid. It also has very little resistance when you move the wheel which makes it drive a little bit "floaty". However it has no play, so if you hold the steering wheel dead still it will track well.

The movement I saw was the entire knuckle and strut rotating/moving as I applied force to the tire. Since a macpherson relies on rotation of the strut and knuckle to do steering, this may be normal. But it might not, and if there is something loose I'd like to find it now before my tires are chewed up and before I take the car in for inspection.

Dave