Originally Posted by Ochdx
Well, I went to the mechanic today to have them check the car out, and it turned out my rack and pinion was leaking. They replaced rack and pinion but couldnt do the alignment b/c im driving on a spare (tire i need are not in stock anywhere). It was way out of my budget to replace the axels, plus they are not making much noise yet, so i think that can wait. the boots actually were not ripped, so i think the axels might last a bit more. everything else was inspected and is seemingly ok. when i finally get my tire and go for alignment, ill see what happens
by the way, what exactly is the steering knuckle, where is it located?
On some cars with power steering, there's arm on the power steering gear that connects to a relay rod. The relay rod connects to, and moves the front wheels. It's basically like a ball joint... If that ball joint wears out or gets damaged, it can develop play that will end up in your steering wheel. Eventually it can separate leaving your car unable to steer. Toyotas do it. Usually, it's the 2wd trucks.
I don't know if the power steering gear on a Honda is inside or outside the rack. My car doesn't have power steering so I haven't had to work around it, and I haven't had to fix a Honda rack yet and havent paid attention to that on other people's Hondas. But if it's inside the rack, and you have to replace it because it's leaking anyway, then don't worry about it. Your problem will be solved. I could look it up in AllData to see how it's set up.
I'm glad you got it checked out. At least now you know. You can just keep adding fluid as it leaks and be fine to get by for a while, but it makes a mess. As long as you don't let the pump run dry or develop any places in the turning radius that hang up, it will last a while like that.