NHTSA Complaint #11527312 — 2017 DODGE DURANGO

I took my 2017 Durango RT AWD in for my steering rack locking up on me while driving and after being parked out in the cold for about 10 min. The two technicians working on it did there multi point inspection and stated that my CV boot had a slight tear and needed replacement as the gears had sediment but were not able to recreate my issue as no codes came out minus a message stating Steering Rack was hot and was limited. A few hrs later they called and said it was done and when I picked it up after paying over $1000 I was not able to leave parking lot because the steering was locked. The brought out the techs and tried to get some codes with no luck. I did even ask to see the old CV boot to see what happened and they told me that they could not show it to me because it was a core they had to swap out. Either way, they told me that the worst thing they did not want was that I needed a new rack and pinion and was looking upwards to $5000 with labor($2K for part alone). It took me about 20 min in their parking lot moving forward and backwards until it unlocked on me. Essentially, I made it home 45 min later fighting with steering which locked up on me while driving almost crashing into the bridge rails on certain occasions or other obstacles as I had to get to the median so I could turn the wheels back in order to warm them up or vehicle to warm up as I was driving in cold weather. When i got home i looked under the vehicle and noticed the passenger steering rack boot cover being really stiff. I waited an hour and cut open the boot and noticed water had accumulated and there was lack of grease. Purchased another dust cover boot for $50 and cleaned and lubricated the steering rack and lucky that has stopped my issue for a while but keeps locking the wheel momentarily.