Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Suspension Steering pinion gear stripped replacement help?

Got in a bit of a twist about a month ago and slid of the road. took the car to my mechanic(it was towed) and he said the steering pinion gear had thrown some teeth.(this bites poor car) anyway he says i have to replace the whole rack ($750) i just had it replaced in august for a leaking problem but that made me curious to. is there any way to locate the parts to fix these problems and how much of a hassle would it be? My mech. said it would be a greater cost to fix it rather than get a new(well...refurbished)one. Sorry but for how big that piece of machinery is how can it be more expensive to simply get a new pinion gear and maybe seels, oil/grease(whatever) and install those? am i getting the run around or can someone explain it to me please? Do it yourselfer? maybe? i think i might have the equipment and definetly got the time. Help! Please!

I do NOT know, but PERHAPS it's possible to yank your steering rack without completely removing your front subframe, maybe you can get by dropping only one side.

Meanwhile, a lead for looking for parts instead of an entire new rack might be through www.meridianautoparts.com if you've got time to ask that outfit. Poor quality rebuilds and contaminated fluids sometimes lead to repeated rack failures, so any course you take could still lead to another problem later. If you end up needing a new rack, ask Meridian if anyone makes one with a warranty.

Thread hijack alert: Has anyone ever had problems from their steering rack (or its connections) developing leaks from being cooked by a hot exhaust running underneath the rack? I'm soon to put in another rack (or at least tighten the connections) in the near future. The rack now in the car is its second one.

as i mentioned before i had that same problem don't know if it was necessarily the exhaust but im on the second rack and now may need a third not sure what to do.