I could have died! Tie rod end 1989 Accord Lxi

[Gene]

Well I’m back after some new frustration. 1989 Honda Accord Lxi, 4-dr sedan, 5-spd manual, 2.0L, Fuel Injection, 49-state. 255K miles. (original owner – I bought it new 31 Dec 1988)

Previously have posted about repairs to the front end of this car. Watched the videos and tested everything which lead to the following repairs:

• replaced the stabilizer links (one side was broken- right)
• new upper control arms (right side had excessive play)
• new struts (shock on left was leaking) reused old springs
• new tie-rod ends (left was squeaking severely)

In fact, it was a desire to get rid of “that darn squeaking sound” that got me started on the front end repairs last Spring.

The tie-rod ends (TREs) ended up being the last thing on this list to be addressed. A local guy took a syringe and injected his “special sauce” (grease & WD-40, I think) into the seal on the boot of the original TRE, on the left side. That fixed the squeak for a bit, but it came back and I decided the right fix was new TRE.

After replacing the TREs I was pleased that the squeak was gone! Hurrah! Unfortunately, in about 2-weeks time – the squeak is back. I had purchased TREs that had grease fittings, as I had been advised those might work better as I could grease them up at each oil change. So some time after the new grease fitting TREs were installed – her comes the squeak – AGAIN! Well the FIRST time I got the squeak, with the new TREs, I took the wheel off and gave the TRE another good shot of grease! Yes, pumped until grease was coming out of the boot. (YES! I had greased them when installed). That seemed to fix the problem for a while, but soon it was back. So rinse & repeat. I did the same thing and had the same re-occurrence of the squeak.

So I figured that some how I got a bad TRE – just my luck! LOL! So I bought another TRE, this one a sealed unit. Put that one on and again – problem fixed! Yippee! Unfortunately, with time the squeak was back! Jeez! Is my luck so bad that I bought TWO defective TREs?

So I had been living with the squeak for several weeks, when one day the steering seems a bit wonky. Wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but something just didn’t feel right! Now a word, while I’m no NASCAR expert, I do know the cars I drive and have pretty good insight or 6th sense when some thing is off. Well the steering issue didn’t seem to bad, and since the rack has a slow leak, figured it was related to low fluid. I think I filled the reservoir a few times. Then one day I’m driving and it seemed like the steering was really funky – when I was accelerating it seemed to pull, but when I threw out the clutch and the engine slowed, the pulling stopped and steering returned to normal. So I checked the reservoir and the fluid level was fine.

Then on NYE day, I’m driving home on the freeway and the steering seems even more wonky. I exit and turn left and the car kinda of followed the wheel but I was doing an interesting dance. It seemed funny at the time, but made 4 more turns and was home. NY Day I try backing out and get to a place where I can’t more forward or back. So I jack up the car for a look and here is the left tie rod dangling! Then it hit me!
[b][color=#ff0088]
OMG! If that had failed like that on the freeway – I could have died![/color][/b]

The TRE wasn’t broken that I could see, just no castle nut! Not sure how that happened since each time I installed TREs I have been careful to insert the cotter pins and wrap the end around the castle nut.

So on with another TRE – which lasted all of 8 days before it began to squeak!

So I am at a loss! Sick of driving a squeaky car and sure don’t want to die in a fiery crash when the steering goes out on me at 65 mph!

What is going on here? What do I do?

Topic

[Richard Kirshy]

Bad luck with tie rod ends .. possible
Have you thoroughly checked the power steering rack …

[Cameron Rodgers]

I hear ya, my 88 honda prelude that I bought about 6 months ago had some nasty surprises in it that I found when replacing a CV axle. When I went to go take off the tie rod end I was horrified to see a NORMAL bolt with absolutely no thread even sticking out of it. So I go to take the bolt off and after only 3 turns the bolt comes off, and on top of that it was cross threaded. This is a car I had driven on the freeway multiple times… I have a photo to go with this.

What you see there is my outer tie rod end as I found it. It’s almost as if the car was sold like this with the intention of it being a ticking time bomb and it was like this one both sides. No cotter pin holes and only enough thread for a few turns. Needless to say I went over every bolt under the car after that.

[Gene]

[quote=”nightflyr” post=156287]Bad luck with tie rod ends .. possible
Have you thoroughly checked the power steering rack …[/quote]

Thank you for those thoughts! Much appreciated.

I have not noticed any play in the inner tie rods when installing the TREs. The steering is tight: turning the wheel moves the whole system “right now” with zero “play” or give, nor noise.

The rack does leak at the seals of the gear box, but only enough it needs a small bit of fluid once a month. I have a new rack on order (reman) but won’t start that repair until i can locate the 3 metal hoses/lines. I replaced the main pressure hose 5+ years(???) ago. [The expensive, high pressure, line from the pump to the gear box.] But all 4 connections at the gear box are badly corroded and even with the flare nut wrenches they won’t budge, but that is another thread. (I’m planing on cutting the lines and having new ones made.) Might buy a fire extinguisher and try the “big red wrench” on those nuts, but…..

Use to be when I hit a bump I had a front end rattle, but the mentioned front end repairs fixed that. HOWEVER, when I hit a HARD bump, I still hear a clunking that sounds like play in a U-joint. I did take the cover off the U-joints at the base of the steering column and the sound is now more pronounced.

The two rubber mounts on the steering rack assembly appear to be in tact (no visible cracks) and I have pried on it and note no play. If I can find new rubbers, I’ll replace those too, with the new rack.
[color=#ffbb00]
What next? [/color]

[Gene]

[quote=”Naz” post=156288]I hear ya, my 88 honda prelude that I bought about 6 months ago had some nasty surprises in it that I found when replacing a CV axle. When I went to go take off the tie rod end I was horrified to see a NORMAL bolt with absolutely no thread even sticking out of it. So I go to take the bolt off and after only 3 turns the bolt comes off, and on top of that it was cross threaded. This is a car I had driven on the freeway multiple times… I have a photo to go with this.
What you see there is my outer tie rod end as I found it. It’s almost as if the car was sold like this with the intention of it being a ticking time bomb and it was like this one both sides. No cotter pin holes and only enough thread for a few turns. Needless to say I went over every bolt under the car after that.[/quote]

Wow! That is bad! Looks like shaft of the bolt was sheered off and they found a way to force the nut on whatever threads were still sticking out! You amigo were lucky.

But if there were errors made by the mechanic, in my case…..

Hope I can figure this out!

[Richard Kirshy]

I’m by no means a front end expert…
My only suggestion, would bring to a front end shop that specializes in Honda.
Perhaps they can pinpoint the cause.
Maybe an incorrect front end part was installed at some time … stranger things have happened.

[Gene]

[quote=”nightflyr” post=156301]
My only suggestion, would bring to a front end shop that specializes in Honda.
Perhaps they can pinpoint the cause.
[/quote]

Thank you for the replies, I appreciate it.

Sigh. I was hoping to find some insight here so I didn’t have to take it somewhere.

This site has always been good with answers.

[Author]

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