Steering Rack

want-a-fast-svx · #1 05-21-2003, 03:27 PM

well i was informed that i need a new steeering rack and was wondering how hard of a job is this???if someone knows and has a how to it would be greatly appreciated, i searched for steering rack but didnt see a how to...thanks in advacne for any help

svx_commuter · #2 05-21-2003, 04:05 PM

Well I haven't done this but I have been thinking about.
The first thing is to get the correct rack. I hear there are a few different ones.
Then let's see from the FSM.
1 Disconnet battery -
2 Disconnect O2 - I would check and make sure these have to come out on both sides.
3 Jack-up and support on stands & Remove front wheels
4 Remove under cover
5 Remove O2 wire from harness
6 Remove collector cover and rear catalytic converter protector.
7 Disconnect front exhaust pipe- (Does this have to come out?)
8 Remove the outer tie rod- (Why can't just be unscrewed from the rack?)
9 Remove pin at axle to tranny-(Why does this have to come out?)
10 Move axle out ofthe way. (Can't do this until the ball joint is loose.)
11 Disconnet the pipe joint from the upper hose and drain fluid rotating steering wheel right and left. Similarly loosen flare nut secureing other pipe and disconect the pipe to drain fluid from pipe. ( need a pitcure)
12 Disconnect the performance rod(Front stablizer bar in subframe)
13 Disconnect the lower ball joint driver side. Use the 3 bolts(Beave thanks

)
14 Scribe U joint so it can be put back the same way. (White out or paint or scribe)
DO NOT TURN THE STEERING WHEEL as this will cause the airbag system roll connector to become misaligned. (What is this?)
15-1 Remove bolts securing rack to subframe and detach gear box (rack).
TO ADVOID SCRATCHES wrap with a cloth during removal
15-2 To ease removal of rack turn ASSY around so that control valve faces rear.
15-3 Move gear box fully to the right so that left tie rod can be removed form the subframe.( What? The tie rod attaches to the subframe?)
15-4 Remove gearbox ASSY from the SVX.

Wait.... Use something to measure the distancce betwen the front wheels rims so the toe can adjusted when you put it back together. A folding carpenters scale with the smaller brass sliding scale worked nicely when I did my inner tie rods. However I have not figured out how to get a reference to the car frame. I would eyeball the tires to see if they look straight. It should be close enough to get to the garage for an alignment.

How much labor does a shop get for this? I can see that CAT cover could be ruined during take apart, rusting exhaust parts (PB blaster) new exhaust gaskets.

want-a-fast-svx · #3 05-21-2003, 04:54 PM

WOW....that seems like a lot of work maybe its just cause i read it all at once and dont have anything infront of me like pictures but i dont know if this sounds feasible for someone who is learning as they go...maybe it is, does it just sound harder than it is???thanks for the info its greatly appreciated..

svx_commuter · #4 05-21-2003, 06:00 PM

Well I think it is kind of long and involved but I would not say it is hard. We need somefeed back from soemone that has done it.

Maybe the exhaust doesn't have to come out, maybe the rack can be pulled out of the wheel. That would be nice. The FSM may ask for parts to come out that don't need to. The rack is crammed into the car for sure.

So.... What's wrong with your rack that you need a new one?

want-a-fast-svx · #5 05-21-2003, 08:23 PM

i honestly dont know whats wrong with it the mechanic at the dealership said it was leaking pretty bad...thats all they told me...and since i really dont know what to look for i wouldn't have the slightest clue as to what could be wrong with it, nor do i even know exactly where it is, granted i havent looked yet but still...i appreciate the help thus far, if anyone out there has taken the rack off, could you by chance step in and give your thoughts???that would be much appreciated...thanks in advance for any help...

curlykicker · #6 01-05-2004, 07:00 PM

Has anyone done this yet? I'm about to attempt this in the next few days and would like to get some additional advice/hints/tricks if there are any

gl1674 · #7 01-05-2004, 11:23 PM

I've done that. I followed FSM - pretty much the procedure described by svx_commuter. The only difficult part was to disconnect the tie rod from from the wheel knuckle. You have to have a good pitman arm puller - I've bent my puller. When it finally detached it was quite a bang.

Comments on specific items:
8 - you disconnect tie rod from the wheel assembly because a new rack comes with new tie rods. Tie rods do go bad (develop freeplay), mostly from impacts as I've discovered.

9 - might be not necessary, but it is a simple procedure if you have a right punch.
10, 12, 13 - might not be necessary (I don't remember if and why it is needed). You might need to swing the wheel/strut assembly around...

14 - there are wires going to airbag inside the steering wheel column. You do not want them to become twisted by spinning the steering wheel endlessly. Accidental airbag deployments are not fun.

15.3 - tie rods go through holes in the subframe. You have to get them out of the subframe one at a time. Driver side goes first - you move rack to the right until left tie rod clears subframe, then you move it to the left until right tie rod clears subframe and the rack is in your hands. You have to rotate the rack as you go.

curlykicker · #8 01-06-2004, 03:34 AM

Some great advice, thanks!

How long do you think it would take a couple of rookie mechanics to do this?

gl1674 · #9 01-07-2004, 12:13 AM

A weekend.

svx_commuter · #10 01-07-2004, 10:29 AM

I always do a double take when I see old posts come back. Thanks for the info from your experience.

svx_commuter · #11 06-13-2005, 04:51 PM

Well a few weekends ago I replaced the steerig rack with a new one. (241K miles). It took me awhile and I hope others can learn something from this. I followed the procedure above and have a few things to add.

I was able to get the three bolts out of the lower control arm for the ball joint BUT it was a pain. Sort of similar to a puzzle. Remove these 2 bolts first then slide the BJ forward and take out the back one. All the same time fighting with keeping the arm down. I could not get the bolts back in so I ground down the flange on the bolt to get clearance. Beav if you have done this then you are the MAN.

Unbolting the engine mounts and raising the engine helped to get clearance to put the rack in. I just sort of bent the pipes taking it out. The engine support at the back top of the engine has to be removed for this.

I had the exhaust out on both sides.

Removed the sway bar link from the strut on both sides.

I almost lost the o-ring on the high pressure fitting. It would not thread togeather and I was having a hard time not to cross thread. When I did get it on I turned over and said what's that? I saw this little o-ring sitting the blanket. So then I had to take it apart again, put the o-ring in and fight with the fitting to get it back on. It was a pain. I had push on the fitting with a smaller wrench and turn it at the same time to get the thread to catch.

I removed the tubing bracket that attached to the rack to get the high pressure fitting to line up better.

It nice to have a new rack. I also did the steering coupling. It had to much play in it. Any play is too much play. I also did the front struts too. Well you know the SVX is a lot tighter now.

After it was installed and after filling the reservoir I slowly rotated the steering wheel left and right by increasing amounts while watching the reservior to fill up the rack.

The steering coupling bolts have to come completely out of both sides. Then the coupling has to slide up on the steering wheel shaft. This took some time to get it to slide because of dirt on the shaft.