Steering feels a little loose

[Mighty~Mart]

had this car since Jan '03 and never replaces any steering components or fluids.

There were a few occasions where i may have turned too hard going left or right in full rotation causing the steering wheel to "slam" against whatever it is.

Also, when i gently rock the steering wheel right to left, i swear i feel something loose.

Any ideas guys? Thanks in advance for your help!

[Rebmo]

It could be a defective intermediate Steering shaft. There is a TSB on it and they replaced mine in my 05 with 27k on it under warranty. Search steering clunk TSB and you will find a posting on it along with the TSB which describes the replacemnt procedure. Since you are out of warranty, you could try to persuade Toyota to fix it, but if you lose that argument, replacing it yourself would not be too difficult if you follow the TSB procedure and are somewhat mechanically inclined. The TSB gives the Vehicle serial numbers affected. The dealer said it is not a safety issue, but it sure is annoying in mine. The dealer said the new intermediate steering shaft is an improved version that will not have this problem,

Good Luck,

Reb