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Tie rod sheared off!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by BIG Ne, Sep 10, 2021.

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  1. BIG Ne

    BIG Ne Junior Member

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    Hello all, long time reader first time posting. Sorry if this specific issue has been covered already but I would appreciate any & all advice. My prius gen 3 has done about 123k miles. The inner tie rod end has sheared off on my way to work. I felt a rumble in the steering wheel & heard a clunk as I took a left turn at about 20 mph. A minute later as I tried to reverse into a parking space, I turned the steering wheel (fulllock) to the left but car wouldn't move. Got out & saw front wheels both pointing in! Called breakdown (Greenflag) who came out & told me it couldn't be fixed on the road (carpark) so options were to have it towed to their depot/workshop or to a garage of my choice. I was quoted over £1,300 for parts ( have to buy whole kit/set from Toyota) & labour (3-4 hours).

    11 months ago, I had a knocking sound coming from the car when I steered it at low speed. 'excessive free play in steering' was flagged up in MOT as advisory. Local mechanic diagnosed issue with inner tie rod, unfortunately Toyota don't sell the part individually so had the buy the whole set/kit for almost £500, the Toyota dealer quoted me close £1,000! In the end Parts & labour cost me £650 (including wheel alignment). This was done October 2020.

    Ive spoken with my local garage, told them the issue, they are saying it will cost me similar money to have the part replaced, I asked if the part they brought & installed came with warranty & was told no. Does anyone know if this is true, at least in the UK? To spend £1,300 on the same part within 12 months is unacceptable. I consider myself a careful driver; haven't driven through pot holes at speed or mount kerbs hastely, I didn't notice any other symptoms leading up to the incident yesterday, thankfully it didn't break in the previous few days as I'd racked up about 700 miles whilst on holiday (stay-cations).

    Having the car towed/recovered to my go-to local garage as I can't any other local garage who are available or can do it cheaper.

    I've spent close to £4k fixing the car (last big job the inverter died, had to pay Toyota £2k!) since I brought it 4 years ago (only had 84k on the odometer), now I'm thinking of getting rid of it as the benefits (environmentally friendly, no road tax, lower fuel bill) has been swallowed up by repair costs!
     
    #1 BIG Ne, Sep 10, 2021
  2. bettergolf

    bettergolf Active Member

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    As someone on here once said "It costs a lot of money to save on gas!"
     
    #2 bettergolf, Sep 10, 2021
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  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i can't speak for anyone in the u/k, but here, this problem is virtually unheard of, and we have some massive road salt issues.
    have you owned it since new? seems like something else has to be going on in the suspension system.
    would the garage be willing to install a salvage unit?
     
    #3 bisco, Sep 10, 2021
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  4. BZzap!

    BZzap! Senior Member

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    A tie rod does not just snap! There has to be some other underlying factor involved. What comes to my mind is a human induced event, be it accident damage or an oversight during a maintenance (front alignment), where the adjustment clamps were inadvertently left loose.
     
    #4 BZzap!, Sep 10, 2021
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  5. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Do you have an ex that is not happy with you? Like Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl? 6EC1C406-2487-4B65-8658-0611152689C9.png
     
    #5 rjparker, Sep 10, 2021
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  6. BIG Ne

    BIG Ne Junior Member

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    Hello all, thanks for your input. I've called other local garages, used Google extensively. All saying the same thing, part not sold separately, have to buy the whole kit (steering rack with bits). Gonna speak with my local go-to mechanic about where he sourced the part from, surely if it's new then it should come with a warranty, even if it's limited, say 12 months.
     
    #6 BIG Ne, Sep 12, 2021
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  7. BIG Ne

    BIG Ne Junior Member

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    unfortunately not owned since new, I am the 3rd owner, brought it with 85,000 miles on the clock. Was serviced by the local Toyota main dealer garage for the first 2 years I owned it, then they doubled the price of the service package as the car was over 10 years old by that point, so I started having it serviced at my local garage. Never had issues with the suspensions, failed MOT in 2020 due to 'Steering wheel has excessive free play detected at the steering wheel (steering rack fitted) n/s + o/s inner rack joints? (2.3(a)(i)). That's when I had the inner tie rod for the front passenger side replaced.
     
    #7 BIG Ne, Sep 12, 2021
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  8. BZzap!

    BZzap! Senior Member

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    Inner and outer tie rods are readily available. These are serviceable parts that don’t necessitate a steering rack replacement. Find a real mechanic/ technician and he/she will fix it. You’re being hoodwinked!
     
    #8 BZzap!, Sep 12, 2021
  9. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    When I look on a US 2010 parts diagram, I don't see individual callouts for the inner tie rods.

    [​IMG]

    That's from Toyota. I wouldn't be surprised if there are aftermarket options.

    Maybe UK is different?
     
    #9 ChapmanF, Sep 12, 2021
  10. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Sounds to me like when whatever damaged the tie rod also damaged its connection to the steering arm and busted that too hence needing a new steering rack. It was a great force event. Not a repairable item.
    Ah I long for the days of the Pittman arm.

    We get hundreds of posts of whacky things people do to there cars or what the car has done to them but pretty hard to help without pictures of the carnage.

    You have the worlds best camera in your pocket use it. At the very least I would have taken really good shots for my own files.

    Post the pics here.
     
    #10 edthefox5, Sep 12, 2021
  11. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    I wonder if that figured in to why Toyota decided not to sell inner tie rods as separate parts.
     
    #11 ChapmanF, Sep 12, 2021
  12. BZzap!

    BZzap! Senior Member

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    It probably has to do with liabilities and Ferderal Safety constraints.
     
    #12 BZzap!, Sep 12, 2021
  13. BIG Ne

    BIG Ne Junior Member

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    I will try to take pics and upload on here.
     
    #13 BIG Ne, Sep 13, 2021
  14. BIG Ne

    BIG Ne Junior Member

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    Found this video clip;

     
    #14 BIG Ne, Sep 13, 2021
  15. BZzap!

    BZzap! Senior Member

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    This is just one of many sold on e-Bay.
     

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    #15 BZzap!, Sep 13, 2021
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  16. BIG Ne

    BIG Ne Junior Member

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    Sorry, I had to re-upload photos, didn't notice I uploaded the same photo 3 times.
     

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    #16 BIG Ne, Sep 13, 2021
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2021
  17. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Yup that's whats happened snapped that inner steering gear arm. The steering rack is totaled. Crazy stuff there never seen that before on a car with out some real good external trauma.

    But the MOT identified it as an issue so maybe they saw alot of slop right there and it finally gave up the ghost. You must have felt it in the steering wheel?

    I know if I failed a state inspection for a steering issue I would have been under there the next day looking at it up on a rack. That can kill you at 70 miles an hour. Your really lucky.
     
    #17 edthefox5, Sep 13, 2021
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  18. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    That's still the ball-joint end of the inner tie rod showing. You can see it in the ebay image in #15, and also in this Toyota drawing for a Gen 2 (back when they still would sell you the inner rod).

    [​IMG]

    So it really is the inner tie rod itself that snapped clean off.

    I think I'm a little unclear on what happened last October. They told you they couldn't get an inner rod separately, right? That they would have to replace the whole rack?

    Then, did they replace the whole rack? Did they buy it from Toyota? Did you keep the old one, or see it?

    This seems very odd to me.
     
    #18 ChapmanF, Sep 13, 2021
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  19. BZzap!

    BZzap! Senior Member

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    I don’t think you have a full understanding how the steering rack and tie rod assembly are related. Your picture shows that the tie rod broke off cleanly at the ball socket which is still behind that large nut that is still threaded on to the end of the rack. If you remove that nut you will find that the ball end of the tie rod is still in the socket. A new tie rod will simply thread onto the end of the rack.
     
    #19 BZzap!, Sep 13, 2021
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  20. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    #20 edthefox5, Sep 13, 2021
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