Hi folks,
I have a 1998 MK2 with a knock coming from the steering.
If you rock the steering wheel from side to side the knocking noise is quite pronounced.
A local garage have taken a look and they say the rack needs replacing. The car has only done 40,000 miles so it seems strange that it would have worn out already.
All teh tie rods, track rod ends, sub frames etc have already been checked.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks in advance
Apologies for dragging up an old thread, but it sounds exactly like the problem I have.
Also a 98 mk2, it has been happening for some time but has recently got worse. Assumed it was suspension related at first, but I’ve been underneath and everything feels tight and the bushes look fine.
When driving I only hear the knocking sound when the drivers side front wheel goes over a bump. But I can reproduce it when the car is standing still by rocking the steering wheel side to side. It sounds like it’s coming from the steering rack and if I grab hold of the track rod while someone else rocks the steering wheel I can feel the vibration.
Does anyone know if there is a replacable part? Or is a whole new rack required? I notice MX5 parts are doing a special offer on the rack at the moment, so if I do need one I guess I’d better bit the bullet and order.
http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/1390
Cheers, Tim.
Hi, make sure your 17mm nuts on the top-mounts of your shock absorbers are tight- mine came loose a few weeks after the shocks were changed due to the nylock not gripping properly, in the end I re-tightened them both up with a 1/2" drive cordless nut-runner and fitted a couple of spare metric fine nuts to act as positive locking on top of the nylocks, noise and rattle gone and hasnt returned in 15,000mls.
Just a thought…
Dr. Eunos
Hey, another 1998 Japanese 1.8RS mark 2 with 40K miles on the clock has exactly the same thing. Any ideas of how to fix it and what the problem is?
just had all new coilovers fitted, all new wishbones, drop links, alignment bolts was making the knocking noise with steering before and exactly the same after.
Sorry I don’t have a fix, but since replying to this thread back in January I’ve still not been able to find out what is making the noise. The car passed its MOT, the knocking sound hasn’t got any worse so I’ve just decided to live with it as it’s not causing me any problems other than the noise.
I’m fairly sure it’s coming from play inside the power steering rack, but as it’s still working fine and feels tight I’m not going to have it replaced just to find out 
Currently at 125k, so if it did have to be replaced it hasn’t done too badly.
If you do manage to find out what’s making the noise I’d be very interested to know.