For a Mustang owner, it’s torture by rack-and-pinion system
Alan Mulally, who became Ford Motor Co. chief executive six months ago, says the company’s products are the best in its history.
Mulally is probably right, given how much the quality of Ford products has improved over the years. But that doesn’t mean every Ford product is flawless or even adequate.
Take the case of Belinda Bullock, whose 2002 Ford Mustang GT has only 33,000 miles on the odometer but has needed its rack-and-pinion steering system replaced three times. The first one failed at 8,000, the second at 19,000 and the third at 32,000, she said in a letter to Your Wheels.
“I’m thoroughly frustrated dealing with Ford,” Bullock wrote.
When Mulally was a guest at The Times last week, I had the chance to ask him about Bullock’s problem.
Mulally acknowledged that at one time frustrated customers coined the term “Fix Or Repair Daily,” as if “Ford” was a street acronym for the company’s lousy quality. But that was more than 10 years ago, when its Taurus engines were notorious for blowing head gaskets and dropping transmissions.
Back then, you’d have had a hard time getting anybody at Ford to acknowledge what was happening out in the real world, where cars off warranty were falling apart. Mulally, who was head of the commercial airplane business at Boeing before going to Ford, said what has happened to Bullock absolutely is unacceptable.
“No one should have an experience like that,” he said. Mulally pledged to personally look into the problem.
What really worries Bullock, who is also a Ford stockholder, is what will happen when her extended warranty expires and she has to pay for the next rack-and-pinion repair. She’s right to be concerned.
The cost of a new rack-and-pinion replacement with labor used to run $1,000 to $2,000 or more for higher-end European luxury cars. In recent years, low-cost remanufactured units have come onto the market, dropping the replacement price, but they still run $500 to $800, said Rich Diegle, product manager at the automotive repair publication company Alldata Inc.
Almost all new cars have rack-and-pinion steering systems, and they often last more than 100,000 miles, sometimes for the life of the car. In her letter, Bullock notes that her Ford Thunderbird’s rack and pinion lasted 100,000 miles. We’re talking about a loyal Ford customer here.
Bullock said Ford replaced the first rack-and-pinion system after it started making a loud clanking noise. The other two times, it was replaced after leaks.
Ford service managers claimed that the repeated failures were because of “defective replacement parts.” I couldn’t determine exactly what replacement parts Ford was using, but it is not uncommon for repair shops to use rebuilt rack-and-pinion systems.
Diegle, a master technician, said he suspects contamination in the hydraulic lines or in the power steering pump could be repeatedly fouling Bullock’s rack-and-pinion assembly. But he added that any metal particles contaminating the first system should have been flushed out after the second or third replacement.
Frank Perria, a Ford service dealership advisor, said he is unaware of any recurring problems with the Mustang rack and pinion. Indeed, I checked technical service bulletins issued by Ford for the 2002 Mustang and couldn’t find any on the system.
Perria, along with others, said that motorists generally don’t have to replace a rack and pinion at the first sign of a modest leak, though some mechanics erroneously recommend costly repairs when they see trace amounts of steering fluid.
“We have to see a drip or some good evidence of a leak,” he said.
A rack and pinion converts the circular motion of the steering wheel and steering shaft to a side-to-side motion that turns the wheels, as well as providing a power assist to the driver.
At the end of the steering shaft, a pinion gear engages the gear teeth of the long rack that connects on either side to the steering system’s tie rod ends. Since most cars have power steering, the rack and pinion usually also has pistons and valves that use hydraulic fluid to provide a power assist.
The fluid operates at a fairly high pressure, ranging from under 100 to over 300 pounds per square inch. This is many times the pressure that is common in household plumbing. When the car is turning left or right, a rotary valve diverts the fluid to the proper side of the rack and pinion to provide assistance. The valve also increases or decreases the amount of power assist depending on the driving situation.
Most rack and pinions fail when they start to leak fluid, usually out of the seals where shafts connect to tie rod ends. The seals are protected by rubber bellows that sometimes fill with fluid when leaks are particularly bad.
Moderate leaks by themselves are usually not a problem, but car owners often fail to monitor the power steering fluid level in the pump reservoir. A dry pump will fail promptly. Then the owner may have to replace not only the rack and pinion, but the pump also. Pumps are another wallet-emptying item.
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