Rack & pinion replacement + ABS relay replacement

Hey all,

I have an 05 with 190k miles on it. It runs strong overall, with a healthy hybrid battery that still has 3 good years on the warranty. I recently replaced the inner and outer tie rods.

I have had the car looked at by two shops, who both told me I need the rack and pinion replaced. There is still about 2" of play in the steering wheel after replacing the tie rods, so I think they're correct that the rack & pinion need to be replaced. The part runs $200 on Rockauto. Can someone advise me if I should try replacing this myself, or if I should take it to a car shop? I'm awaiting a quote from the second shop, but the first shop quoted me at least $1,000 for the replacement. I need this car to last me at least two more years until I graduate. Should I cut my losses or should I repair the car? I'm leaning towards a repair, since honestly I would probably buy another Prius or similar economy car.

I also need the ABS relay replaced. I replaced the 12v battery a few months ago, it died after sitting for a week when Coronavirus started. I've kept the new one healthy, but I made the mistake of unplugging a box next to the battery (ABS box maybe, I just know it was related to the brakes. Since doing this, there's an ABS error on my dash. After getting an alignment from one shop, my traction control light randomly comes on when I still have traction. They said they did a lot of research into this issue, and I need to replace the ABS relay that is next to my batter in the rear of my car. I can't find this part when looking for a diagram so I'm not sure how much this runs, probably at least $100 since it's electrical. Can someone advise me on if this is simply unplugging & plugging it back in, or if this is a bigger issue than it appears right now?

Thanks in advance for the help. I'm hoping the two issues combined don't total the car, considering I bought it for $3,400. Thankfully I have a motorcycle to DD until I fix these parts, I will try to restrict my driving the car for groceries and when it's raining.

 

Thanks for that link, never seen it before. My car runs 100% other than these issues and a P0420 code. There's no recalls out for my VIN number, but I'm going to call/visit a dealership this week to see if they'll fix it. The issues described in that link sound similar to mine, which gives me hope I can convince a dealership to fix mine under the recall.

 

Once I plugged the BCPS back in, the connector got stuck somehow and I can't get it undone to unplug and plug it back in. I even visited a local auto shop and offered $10 if the guy could get it unplugged, and he couldn't do it. I don't want to just break the connector so I'm kind of at a crossroads. I haven't ever moved the car with it unplugged, and it was only unplugged until I installed the 12v, so maybe like 5 minutes. I wonder if I can yank one from a junkyard prius and try to just gently break the connector on mine, so it's still usable. Really wish I had read more, and learned I didn't need to unplug it at all.

 

There was no sparking, I was watching it closely. I believe it's simply one of the plastic clips that "locks" it in that managed to break off inside and maybe twist itself so I can't remove it. I'm familiar with working with the plugs so I can't imagine I did it wrong. I'll try a screwdriver today and see how that goes.

I scheduled a diagnostic appt to inspect the steering at a dealership for this upcoming Monday. Had to call 3 to find one that wouldn't charge me $200 just to look at the car, this dealership is free. I'm hoping they'll agree that I qualify for the recall and replace the intermediate shaft. If not, I'll likely just sell the car for parts.

 

If that is the issue then I'll get it done, recall or not. It sounds like the most likely option. I just don't want to throw money at it, but I don't think I will be at this point. After learning what the BCPS is I'm hoping I can mess around with it and get it functioning again. If unplugging and plugging it back in, I'll find a junkyard one most likely.

 

I visited a dealership and ended up paying for a full inspection of the two problems. They also said I needed a whole rack and pinion replaced, and they blamed the ABS/traction control lights on the catalytic converter (which was throwing P0420 for three years, and I completely disagree with that diagnosis). I also need to replace my rear drum brakes and whatever belt runs the power steering & water pump. $5k for all the work, $3k of which is a brand new catalytic converter.

Not worth fixing at this point, I'm selling it to a local guy for $1,500 this weekend. Salvaging all the addons I've put on it in the meantime. Anyone want an aftermarket stereo for their Prius?