Steering column assembly clunk from dash area

[Impureclient]

I didn't make a video of it happening but just wanted to put this up in case somebody was running into the same sound.
I'm at only 27.5k miles and around 27k I started hearing a clunk coming from the drivers side dash. If I went over a speed bump or really rough road it would make
what sounded like something from the suspension rattling. Then I later realized if I whipped the steering wheel back and forth it at a stop, it would barely do it also.
The dealer replaced the sway bar bushings, under warranty and since they said they were loose, and that didn't fix it. Then they replaced
the whole steering column assembly and it went away.
So if you are going over bumps and it's pretty loud like somethings loose and can also lightly recreate the sound by whipping the wheel back and forth
when the car isn't moving, there's your problem. Seems premature at 27k miles but there it is.

[NoHaveMSG]

This is a known issue, there is a DIY for those of us without/out of warranty.

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133606

[Impureclient]

With it happening so often and with such low miles on the cars, not sure why this isn't a recall or dealer paid TSB fix?

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Impureclient

With it happening so often and with such low miles on the cars, not sure why this isn't a recall or dealer paid TSB fix?

Dunno Seems it is just as simple as them updating with the solid one piece EPS coupler. It is kind of a pain in the ass to do though.

[ermax]

Originally Posted by Impureclient

I didn't make a video of it happening but just wanted to put this up in case somebody was running into the same sound.
I'm at only 27.5k miles and around 27k I started hearing a clunk coming from the drivers side dash. If I went over a speed bump or really rough road it would make
what sounded like something from the suspension rattling. Then I later realized if I whipped the steering wheel back and forth it at a stop, it would barely do it also.
The dealer replaced the sway bar bushings, under warranty and since they said they were loose, and that didn't fix it. Then they replaced
the whole steering column assembly and it went away.
So if you are going over bumps and it's pretty loud like somethings loose and can also lightly recreate the sound by whipping the wheel back and forth
when the car isn't moving, there's your problem. Seems premature at 27k miles but there it is.

When they replaced the column did they also replace the EPS? If so then it was probably just the rubber coupler that was bad. It’s crazy they are doing such an expensive repair to replace a $5 rubber bushing. They don’t sell this part individually for our car but several other Toyota’s have the same EPS and they do sell the part individually for those. You would think Toyota would link this part to the 86 and release a TSB for this. Most threads about suspension noise lead to people saying to check the end links when most of these people really just need new couplers.

27k seems low to have this issue though. Do you drive on dirt roads often or maybe have a dirt driveway. It seems most of the people with this issue are in counties with low quality roads where it is constantly pounding on this bushing.

[Impureclient]

Not sure if the EPS coupler was replaced. Paperwork just says replace steering column.
Roads are very good here and I've never been on a dirt road ever.

[JesseG]

I’m on the fence about replacing that gear in the EPS unit. I hear a noticeable clunk sound from the front of my car, I think towards the drivers side. And it’s been getting louder. My car is only a little over 30k miles.
My biggest hesitation is do I use the Toyota replacement part, or the Hyundai/Kia part? Wouldn’t other Toyota’s that use this part also have failure issues?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shadzilla]

I replaced my EPS gear a few weeks ago with the single rubber version (From Kia?) because I had very very similar symptoms. What a pig of a job. Turned out that my original gear was absolutely fine, but I swapped it anyway as a precaution.


Next on my list is the front suspension top mounts on the basis of this service bulletin - https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...40502-9999.pdf


I've also definitely got some rattles coming from somewhere around the steering column area so I need to investigate that as well.


A bit disapointing on a MY2016 car delivered September '15, with only 25k miles.

[ermax]

Originally Posted by JesseG

I’m on the fence about replacing that gear in the EPS unit. I hear a noticeable clunk sound from the front of my car, I think towards the drivers side. And it’s been getting louder. My car is only a little over 30k miles.
My biggest hesitation is do I use the Toyota replacement part, or the Hyundai/Kia part? Wouldn’t other Toyota’s that use this part also have failure issues?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The part fails on all the Toyota’s but there isn’t much talk about it unless you search on Russian car forums and use Google to translate. My car started making the sound after my first autox with it at around 70k miles. I assumed it was suspension for a long time and never could find a fix. To me it always sounded like it was coming from the passenger footwell. It wasn’t until my son one day said he felt like it was coming from the gauge cluster that I started focusing on the steering column.

It’s really hard to say which would last longer. Hyundai had a lot of issues with the coupler crumbling so they released a new part and a TSB for it. Who knows if the revised Hyundai part will last longer than the Toyota part though. I put the Hyundai part in mine at 99,100 miles and now I’m at 130k and it’s still good and I’ve done a handful of autoxes with it on the new part.