My ELX (`94) also makes ominous noises when the steering is taken off from full lock. I had a garage look at it and the nut (or whatever fixing) at the end had not been "staked in" by the factory, so it could work loose and the bearings inside the rack could move above a lot more. This causing the knock-on effect of early wear. Luckily the garage were very helpful in that they took it apart, packed it with grease and tighted it right up. Only now, about 2 years after this happened the knocking noise is starting to come back,- but I dont think its going to fail the MOT test sometime soon!