steering rack noise - solid tech advice sought.

So two years ago my steering racking started leaking pretty bad. Bad enough in fact that I ran the pump dry twice. I installed a brand new TRW rack as a fix but left the pump alone. It felt fine and occasionally I think I hear the pump moan more than it should...but the fluid stays topped up and I have no apparent issues. 25 months later I start hearing a grinding scraping sound from the right front. It seems to be worse when the car is warmed up and I only notice it occasionally when I'm in underground parking garages and things like that. It sounds like something is running up against a fender liner...a scraping/knocking/grinding noise. The noise occurs when I turn the steering wheel. So I put it up in the air this week and had a look around. There is definitely no contact between any moving part of the steering gear or the wheels/hubs, etc. But when I cycle the front end lock to lock (by gripping the brake discs and pushing manually) I hear a noise in the steering rack which sounds unusual. It's sounds like fluid running through an orifice. Like a whooshing,squishing sound. It doesn't sound like a grind or knock so much though. Now the thing is that the steering is cold not hot and it's up in the air not under any load as if it were on the ground. The question (finally) is whether this is a normal noise and I should be looking elsewhere or should my steering rack be pretty darned quite under the circumstances described. Thanks

The noise you hear when moving the front wheels as you did is normal. The fluid on either side of the rack piston has to flow in order for the wheels to turn side to side. The scraping noise from your description doesn't have to be the rack. That is not a noise that is common to rack trouble. The noise is more common to a bad strut bearing or one of the other steering/suspension joints that move when the wheels are turned. A good shop should be able to pinpoint the source of the noise. Chances are with the noise an inspection with the car in the air will spot the offending suspension/steering part. For instance a joint dust boot will be cracked, or worse, the parts will have too much or too little clearance compared to their counterparts on the other side, a good shake of the part will detect excessive play or movement in the wrong axis, etc.

Thanks for the solid advice Macster. In fact when I first heard the noise and jacked the car up I assumed it was the lower control arms that were my problem. Then I became distracted by the steering rack noise. I can't take it into a shop - it's up on jacks now and I am well and determined to do this alone. I have watched a few suspension inspections being carried out tough, and I'm certain I can figure it out. The procedure normally involve using a pry bar to stress joints while looking for excessive movement. With 203K kilometres I fully expect that one or more joints will be worn. Thanks for getting me on the right track again.

Be aware that the noise or even any play may not be present with the car lifted by its body lifting points. The suspension droops and the components assume positions that are nominally outside of their usual positions. I have watched techs check for steering/suspension issues -- often prior to the car being aligned -- and they do this with the car on the alignment rack supported by its tires/wheels and suspension. At other times it is when the car is on the lift -- again supported by its tires/wheel/suspension -- while in for other service.