Rack & Pinions 34110FG190 vs 34110FG032

Joined
Oct 24, 2024
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
This is my first post here. I generally shy away from online social media, but I have been looking for the differences in these parts without success. I tried using the search feature here, with the part numbers, but did not have any results. I know it's lengthy, but I have seen people get mad if there is not enough information available. If you could help me, I greatly appreciate your time:

Please note: I live at minimum 65 miles one way from any dealership.

TL;DR Question: What are the physical differences between these two Rack & Pinion parts: 34110FG190 vs 34110FG032?

Issue: Non-Turbo 2008 Subaru Impreza 2.5i Rack & Pinion leaked oil.
Went to a local mechanic to have the leak fixed, and he purchased the assembly (autozone I believe) and swapped the new one for the old one.
During the work, the part did not fit. The hydraulic line on the part had a hump that was too large to fit, so the old unit's hydraulic line was scavenged onto the new part. Car was taken to another location to get a wheel alignment as part of the work and I picked up the car with the hired mechanic from the wheel alignment location, those guys seemed upset about something, I was assured it had nothing to do with me, so I got my car and left.

Shortly after receiving the car, the check engine light came on. I figured it would go away but didn't. Went back to the mechanic and his scan showed a Steering Assembly Sensor code. Was told those things go bad, and that replacing it would likely fix the issue.

Due to my gut feelings, I went to the wheel alignment location and was told the following:
- When the car was brought to them for the wheel alignment, the rack and pinion was too far left, and the reason they were mad was because they had to correct that in order to perform the wheel alignment. Since the cost was already agreed upon by the two shops, they ate the cost and labor of the extra work.
- They said after correcting the rack and pinion (centering the tie rods?) there was little play on the threads for the alignment, but they did what they could with what was there.
- I had them perform a visual inspection, and we found that the installed Rack & Pinion has also failed. Too much play before engaging for turns, and a slight clanking sound when doing so.
- I asked if that could be related to the part not fitting, and explained that the hydraulic line from my original part had been scavenged to have the new part 'fit'. To which I was told that there are two different rack and pinions for my model car, and that my current issues (including the Steering Assembly Sensor code) are likely due to those parts being different.

Original mechanic has no issue with 'warranty' work and correcting the problems. Except that there is the one problem that: No parts place knows there are different Rack & Pinions for my model car, and the only one they say is meant for my car, we already know has problems being installed, as the hydraulic line taught us. Soo...

I went to the Subaru website, and looked up the part for my car and found that no descriptions of the Rack & Pinion are available. Called their customer support, and they don't know any details about the part. Was told to call a dealership's Parts Department, and although they are all very nice and helpful, none of their available information gives any specs on the parts.

Does anyone here know the physical specs and differences between the two part numbers?

If you are wondering why I am going through all this: I'm not rich, and what I get per month, unless the mechanic warranties his work and fixes the additional Steering Assembly Sensor problem, I'll be up a creek. I'm just really hoping for some paddles to ease the pain.
 
Have you tried Subaru or Rockauto? Autozone and their ilk usually know almost nothing about vehicles.
 
Have you tried Subaru or Rockauto? Autozone and their ilk usually know almost nothing about vehicles.
Yes,
igounfazed said:
I went to the Subaru website, and looked up the part for my car and found that no descriptions of the Rack & Pinion are available. Called their customer support, and they don't know any details about the part. Was told to call a dealership's Parts Department, and although they are all very nice and helpful, none of their available information gives any specs on the parts.
 
Dealers know very little about the parts in their cars. Perhaps call a Subaru specialist? They're are many of them.
 
Dealers know very little about the parts in their cars. Perhaps call a Subaru specialist? They're are many of them.
What is a 'Subaru Specialist'? I decided to try a Subaru forum thinking there would be more actual experience available in a forum.
 
A non-dealer which specializes in Subarus. Google is your friend. A quick search should give you endless options to contact.
 
A non-dealer which specializes in Subarus. Google is your friend. A quick search should give you endless options to contact.
You mean something like 'subarupartsdeal.com' ?
I have contacted them, but they only got around to my question today, saying they need to contact a parts specialist. Their parts don't include any descriptions either.
 
Google something like "shops that specialize in subarus" and call or write to a few. They've likely done work on the rack & pinion and will be able to tell you what you need to do. Maybe one will even be close to you and do it for you. :)
 
So... I want to update this with a 'resolution' of sorts.

tl;dr: never found the specs for the two parts - car is currently working with the second autoZone replacement part.

1. No one I contacted was able to provide specific details for the parts themselves, ie. length, width, height, etc.
2. The Subaru company, or any dealership parts department, does not have access to any specs for the parts.
3. I tried subarupartsdeal, autoZone, Oriely's, and a couple other local parts stores and none had information on the parts.
3a. subarupartsdeal, after conferring with their 'specialist' provided lengths for the parts the entire width of the car at the wheels. I understood this to mean: Their specialist does not know what they are talking about, since the rack and pinion with inner tie rods can't be as long as rim to rim dimensions.

After all that, I got in contact with Subaru Customer Support again. Told them the issue, but then asked to be connected to a Subaru Dealership's Parts Department any where in the country that had BOTH parts on hand so that they could visually inspect the parts (they usually put you in contact with the closest to your zip code).

I then begged the Parts guy at that dealership multiple states away to visually inspect both parts. After telling him what the issue is, and him not being able to find ANY specs on the company / business computer, he agreed.

He called back a couple hours later and said that both parts looked identical to him. So he asked his site mechanic if he knew why there were two part numbers for two things that look completely identical to each other. According to his site mechanic, the difference is in the amount of 'turns' each part does.

- - 34110FG190: 3.2 turns
- - 34110FG032: 2.2 turns

Not being able to waste any more of my local mechanic's time, as he still needs to return a 'core' rack and pinion within a 'reasonable time' himself, I had the work done today.

Before starting, the hydraulic line was measured to see if it would cause an install problem. We found that the line was actually smaller in shape than the original line, thus providing way more install space.

The other things we measured (at guesstimate / approximation tape readings) were the total length of the rack and pinion with inner tie rods and the length of that tower looking thing where I gather the actual pinion or gears are.

- - Length with inner tie rods: about 48 inches.
- - Tower thing: about 10 inches.

After the local mechanic took off the bad rack and pinion, we again measured and compared to the new replacement. The sizes were the same, and the ONLY differences we noted where the hydraulic lines lengths and shapes.

Both of those autoZone units did about 3.2 turns.

The mechanic cleared and calibrated the Steering Angle Sensor with this cool looking tablet thing, and so far my car has no further steering issues. Mechanic said to drive it for a week or so then come back in if the CEL comes on again, or if I'm curious to see if the sensor reading have changed (from center zero, all the way left was 583 and all the way right was 590).

Thank you for allowing me to ask for help on this site. A moderator may choose to close this thread as resolved, even though the actual specs of the parts were never found.
 

Attachments

  • 20241031_102958.jpg
    20241031_102958.jpg
    280.8 KB · Views: 1
Last edited:
Can't wait to hear back. There's a mediocre book called The Death of Expertise...and we have endless examples of it in the new 'merica.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
14,695
Messages
69,670
Members
8,256
Latest member
NickL88

Latest Threads

Back
Top