Some update about my Big Boy aka Toyota Prado 90.
Recently, I found that my Prado has not been responding well in regards to the steering system. Firstly, when I go over a bump, the steering wheel vibrates. After 17 years of its life, there's no question about things starting to fail but it feels so annoyed whenever I have to drive through unpaved roads and if anyone of you know what the problem could be, please do advice? I thank you in advance.
For your information, I have already fixed two parts of the steering system. The first one was the steering rack which costed a bomb for me (RM2,800 or about USD933).
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The steering rack being replaced
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I first noticed the failure of the rack when i saw traces of leaking steering pump oil on the rack which eventually turned out the rack has failed. I replaced it, unfortunately, with a reconded one due to OEM stock not available at the service centre. After the replacement, the steering system worked fine for a few months until i noticed "thud" sounds whenever i steer and this happens particularly in the early morning. I was so annoyed than i went and replaced the power steering pump (thought it couldn't be the rack because i had just changed it, even though it's a reconded one). The steering pump costed RM1,200 or about USD400.
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Steering pump being replaced
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Disappointed, the "thud" sound still happening but it was not so obvious and happened less frequently. Now, after done some research, i'm turning to that particular reconded steering rack which i think is the culprit of this "thud" sound. I suspect the reconded steering rack has a worn gear internally which is not visible from the outside so whenever i turned, the gear skipped which produced the "thud" sound. I really hope the vibrating issue is also caused by the steering rack because if i changed for a new one, everything will be solved.
Another issue is the clutch issue. Whenever I put my foot on the clutch pedal, it will depress slowly no matter the engine is running or not. While driving, I try not to rest my foot on the clutch pedal nowadays (used to be my habit) afraid the clutch may need to be released in order to engage the clutch and it's quite annoying. There were also occasions whereby the clutch failed whenever I do balancing on a steep slope. I suspect it is the clutch pump problem and want to get this one fixed by using only Toyota OEM parts this time!
Going to update about this once I have my Prado issued fixed.
p/s: reconded > re-conditioned
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