2011 - slight play/clunk in steering, is it the tie rod or rack?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by koukilights, Oct 27, 2024.

  1. koukilights

    koukilights Junior Member

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    What's the common culprit in this situation? I have a 2011 Prius with 310k miles on it and when I turn the wheel slightly left to right, I hear a clunk, as if play is being taken up.

    I changed my oil last week and when the car was up I had someone wiggle the steering wheel left to right.

    I didn't feel anything on the steering rack body, but I could feel a slight clunk in the inner tie rods on both sides, but I don't know if that means both are bad, or if it's just that the clunk is felt throughout the steering system.

    What's the common culprit here that usually goes bad? Do the racks ever get worn and have excessive play in them?
     
    #1 koukilights, Oct 27, 2024
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Yes like any other rack they can take a beating usually it's the inner rack ends that developed the slob but it can be the outer or a combination of the two or one on each side there's also a plastic gear in the mix here somewhere that gets broken I do believe I don't know exactly where it is on this model but it's there and I'm not even sure if you can buy it as a direct replacement or how that all works It's been discussed here before.
     
    #2 Tombukt2, Oct 27, 2024
  3. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Excessive play in my 2010 was the result of a bad intermediate steering shaft. I don't remember hearing any clunks but there was a lot of excess play steering left or right.
     
    #3 JC91006, Oct 27, 2024
  4. koukilights

    koukilights Junior Member

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    Shoot, are those difficult to replace? I looked in there where the steering shaft meets the steering rack and there's not a lot of room in there.
     
    #4 koukilights, Oct 28, 2024
  5. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I didn't have to do the work, I called Toyota corporate and they covered the cost. I told them this is a problem that lead to a recall in the earlier generation cars. Since I own many Toyota cars, they agreed to do it at no cost.

    This may or may not be your problem. So you should find out more before blindly replacing the part.
     
    #5 JC91006, Oct 28, 2024
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