350z power steering issues
 

Hello All,

I am a new owner of an '06 350z, which is (was) currently serving as my daily. In order to avoid an accident, I had to run over some stump/branch or some unknown item hoping that it wouldn't hit anything important to the car, but it seems to have :mad: I am currently working on getting the car on jack stands to take a closer look at the damage, but I was curious if some of you 350z gurus could point me in the right direction as to what is wrong.

Currently the power steering is uneven across the rack, and when the power steering cuts out, theres a small hissing noise that I am currently working on pinpointing. There was some damage to the A frame reinforcement (the metal piece that connects to the front cross member at the center of it), however I have not noticed any issues with that piece flexing as it is. The alignment is currently off, but not majorly. I have yet to inspect the tie rods and the detailed condition of the rack itself, and that will be added in a later post. If you have any input or suggestions, feel free to let me know.

Attached are photos of the observed damage

Ouch...
btw you can just continue this thread you fine with me

I took another look underneath the car and I think I have a hypothesis as to what happened, getting a better look underneath the car I believe that the issue is the cross member reinforcement (Control arms mount to it i believe) has also bent farther back, resulting in either bending or pressing up against the steering rack. I have a picture, but I have to upload it to my computer, Ill edit this post when I get it. My guess is combined with the bent mounting point, The passenger side part of the piece can flex and press up against the steering rack, making it behave oddly.

No need for guessing: jack the car up, support it on jackstands on a level smooth surface and go to work. That was a LARGE stump/branch/stick you ran over and surprised there isn't more damage to your Z.

To be honest I believe that the majority of it cleared, I am guessing it may have had a nail or something sticking out of it, because it only damaged that part. The car used to be a stance car (not anymore, If only i raised it an extra half inch or so), so I may be missing something. However, I did look over the entirety of the underbody in detail before (from buying) and after, and that is the only noticeable damage.

I wouldn't think that the compression rod mounting point would have been effected, but if thats what happened your in for a really bad time.