Pontiac Repair: inner tie rod, outer tie rods, inner tie rod

Question
QUESTION: Hi Todd
U helped me out greatly back n march 20 2008 with a no spark no fuel issue. i would like to think you again.i have another problem that i would appreciate your input on. i still have the 91 sunbird LE 2.0L 112,000 miles..I replaced the outer tie rods ends last April ..Replaced drivers side and passenger side. clunk thru floor board-firewall everytime i went over a bump or dip in road it clunk. grap the tie rod arms and they twisted back and fourth with ease. figure that was the problem . I tighten to specs. To go back a bit in story drivers side pop out n 1 and half minutes with a 16 oz hammer smacking the bottom of tie rod and the passenger side pop out after 5 hits while i was just sitting there taking a break barley hitting it. which i thought was great. After replaced with autozone duralast brand lifetime guarenty. check tie rod arms again ..good bearly wiggle or move them. i thought o.k. job done .A week went by and clunk came back.  snug both sides down a quarter of a turn and now good again. another week went by and same clunk came back but could tell from past sound it was drivers side. This time toke a heavy duty air impact to castle nut .. its been all nice and quite till last week .Drivers side started making noise again. check arm and had some play in it. sought it was a defected part. so i toke it back and  replaced it. it toke 30 minutes to get that one out. smacking with a 5 pound brass hammer till arm's got tired so toke floor jack and a piece of 4x4 wood post and a piece of steel on top and jack bottom of tie rod end up were car was about to raise of jack stand and started hitting steering knuckle for a minute and it finally broke loose. replace it and tight down . Not with a air gun this time since it was so hard to get out.  Well that lasted a week and yesterday  the clunk is back.sorry for the long story. just being as detailed as i can.   Anyway should i tighten castle nut with the air impact again and hope it stays good and/or hope it makes it thru winter just to darn cold to play with right now or do u think it might be the inner tie rod arm and/or inner bushings wore out.  Or do u think it might be some else and tie rod ends are just holding something tight enough for awhile to stay quite. just don't understand while driving car straight and hit or go over a hump in road it clunks . i can understand turning a corner and hearing it. but driving straight just don't understand how it make like the power steering rack and pinion clunk against firewall . While jack in air, tire does'nt move by graping top and bottom of tire but  moves very little side to side .i can even see the steering wheel move a little when doing side by side. should i go ahead and air impact down to see if it last or do you think it could be something else. and this is just  temp fixing a underlining  problem..thank you very much for reading this and any suggestion would be so much appreciated . P.S. front and back strut and shocks replaced ,i think 8 years ago and sway bar links last year.
thank you again Steve



ANSWER: Hi Steve:

well a few things aftermarket suspension parts are hit and miss! especially from the "big box" parts stores an lot of "made in china" stickers on the boxes. I think you either have an issue with the rack is loose inside the steering gear making the noise and that's not servicable you have to replace the complete assembly or the bushings that hold the rack to the fire wall are worn out. ther is a metal clamp that wraps around the sterring gear on both sides and the bishing goes between the clamp/rack/fire wall. after time they wear out and cause all kinds of noise concerns.
Good luck :)


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank u so much for your input.. i thought it might have something to do with the rack . just not sure. went out today to give the rack a shack and it does move /rotate a little . how much or any i don.t know what is normal play in it. I,ll give the outer bushing a shot first. and hope that does it. You do'nt think the inner tie rod arm bushing have anything to do with it?? thank you so much for your help. It is so greatly appreciated.. Thank You again-Steve

ANSWER: there shouldn't be mauch is any movement of the rack. have some one sit in the car and turn the steering wheel back and forth while you lookat the rack it shouldn't move back and forth while the steering wheel is turned.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank u again 4 all your help .. been meaning to write back to you to say i found the problems. I thought it was the rack &pinion bushing too. but out of sure luck ,i saw the drivers side front strut spring at bottom was sitting at about the 1 o'oclock postion instead of the 5 o'clock like the other side was and front drivers side strut is freezing up when below 32 degres.  have to sit and bounce on front fentor to get it unfroze.. everything is silent in front now. just been meaning to let you know.  plus 1 other guestion -spark plug cap 91 sunbird 2.0l hood sticker says cap at .045 which i always had but got owners manual out of glove box today to look up a bulb number and it says cap should be at .060. i was always tought to use hood sticker.what do you thank it should.  thank you again todd. your advise  has been so greatly appreciated.. steve

Answer
Hi Steve;

I Like "repeat business" I would go with the sticker spec rather then the owners manual. I think the newer model years had a wider gap if memory serves me right. S0 .045" sounds right to me. You can always check the ones you take out. as the plugs ear out the gap openes up. So if you can't stick a .060 gaperr in the plug they were gapped at .045. If the .060 is loose in there they were more then likely set at .060 to start. Also ONLY use AC Deloc plugs and put a dab of anti-seize on the threads before you put them into the car.
Good luck :)