Sunroof Rattle, Window Alignment, Tie Rods

[element51]

I figured i'd place a few questions in one post:

1. I finally figured out that the rattling in my car is coming from the sunroof. If im not mistaken, there was a write-up on how to fix it, but i cant find that thread. can anyone send me a link?

2. Ahh, the dreaded window alignment. I know that i've asked this before, but i took your advice and looked in the FSM's for a window alignment procedure. I couldnt find ANY information regarding window alignments in the FSMs. Maybe i'm not looking in the right place. Again, if someone can point me in the right direction, i would be very grateful.

3. One last thing: My alignment is out of wack and my mechanic tells me that i need new inner and outer tie rods. Any place to get these things CHEAP? any diy methods to solve this problem?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys

[ArmyofOne]

I figured i'd place a few questions in one post:

1. I finally figured out that the rattling in my car is coming from the sunroof. If im not mistaken, there was a write-up on how to fix it, but i cant find that thread. can anyone send me a link?

2. Ahh, the dreaded window alignment. I know that i've asked this before, but i took your advice and looked in the FSM's for a window alignment procedure. I couldnt find ANY information regarding window alignments in the FSMs. Maybe i'm not looking in the right place. Again, if someone can point me in the right direction, i would be very grateful.

3. One last thing: My alignment is out of wack and my mechanic tells me that i need new inner and outer tie rods. Any place to get these things CHEAP? any diy methods to solve this problem?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys

inner and outer tie rods shouldnt be bad on a car wiht decent mileage/age. how many miles on your car?

the R&P on my ES250 went out with 137K on the clock, but it was 15 years old.

[element51]

inner and outer tie rods shouldnt be bad on a car wiht decent mileage/age. how many miles on your car?

the R&P on my ES250 went out with 137K on the clock, but it was 15 years old.

Thats what i thought, too. but i saw the guy heat the things up and try as hard as he can to get them turning. He quoted me about $60 each for inner and ~$80 each for outer(incl. labor), or vise versa.

my car has 125k miles and is a 96. Any ideas with that sunroof rattle?

thanks again

Edited January 20, 2006 by element51

[ArmyofOne]

inner and outer tie rods shouldnt be bad on a car wiht decent mileage/age. how many miles on your car?

the R&P on my ES250 went out with 137K on the clock, but it was 15 years old.

Thats what i thought, too. but i saw the guy heat the things up and try as hard as he can to get them turning. He quoted me about $60 each for inner and ~$80 each for outer(incl. labor), or vise versa.

my car has 125k miles and is a 96. Any ideas with that sunroof rattle?

thanks again

ant 125K, the ITR's should still be good. if you turn left and your steering wheel is off center to the left, then you turn right and your wheel is off centered to the right, with play in the center, then your Rack and Pinion/Inner tie rods are bad. the outers are likely to be gone on a car with that mileage, their average life is about the same as the ball joints...60-80K miles.

[element51]

ok, so i guess ill just live with bad alignment. that seems like more $$ than i would be willing to spend. I guess i'll just change the drivers side tire a little more often because thats the only one with VERY uneven wear. After all, $40 once a year makes more sense to me than the $300 + alignment right now

[ArmyofOne]

ok, so i guess ill just live with bad alignment. that seems like more $$ than i would be willing to spend. I guess i'll just change the drivers side tire a little more often because thats the only one with VERY uneven wear. After all, $40 once a year makes more sense to me than the $300 + alignment right now

change the tie rods yourself, get a ball joint separator from autozone ($10)and then count the threads on the old tie rod ends and set the new ones to match. this is a "roughly accurate" way of telling you th setting.

then drive it to your local shop to have an alignment done, $100. check your ball joints too, if they are crakced/dryrotted or leaking any grease, they are bad too, but they clunk when they go out. the bolts on the ball joints should be 9/16's and the nut on the outer tie rods dhould be 7/8's.