2001 Subaru Legacy both inner tie rods are loose.

ANONYMOUS

MEMBER
2001 SUBARU LEGACY
90,000 MILES

2001 subaru legacy both inner tie rods are loose and had some fluid leaking, replace the cv boot also has a little shake in the drive but not bad. Also when you turn the wheel has a noise almost like the wheel is rubbing the tire flaps. Some say there could be a service hose that cause this to happen and needs to be replaced. I say the rack and pin is going bad. Can anyone give me a better answer to my conclusion on this one please. We took it to two diffrent service places and they couldnt figure it out. Any ideas would help

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,753 POSTS

If you see any power steering fluid leaking from either one of the accordion boots over an inner tie rod end, one of the end seals is leaking in the rack and pinion assembly, and you are right, it needs to be replaced. Most of the time new racks come with new inner tie rod ends already installed so you'll be handling all the problems at the same time.

One potential cause of a shaking steering wheel while accelerating at lower speeds is a worn spot inside an inner cv joint housing. That can be real hard to identify, and a belt in a tire starting to break can give the same symptom. You might try switching the two right side tires front-to-rear and see if the shaking goes away. If not, switch the two left tires and try it again.