vz power steering

[stick3]

this thread should be to the how to section so it easy to find

 

[Lex]

Got to do something about those photo bucket pics before you could put it in the how to section?

 

[stick3]

i can see them but i do have photo bucket hot fix extension in google chrome

 

[Fu Manchu]

Go to do something about those photo bucket pics before you could put it in the how to section?

On behalf of every forum user in the world, Photobucket can go suck a fat one. Bloody extortionists.

 

[wannaeatyourbrains]

markovr is the best person... ever.

 

[ant797]

beyond my skills think i would just go to the wreckers myself get a s/h one

 

[wannaeatyourbrains]

Having just completed this mission, I can tell you nothing is easier. Piece of piss. But don't start the mission if you get angry turning spanners in tight places, it is getting dark, or there are mosquitoes.

Here's how it goes down. Don't forget to disconnect your battery first.

Oh, by the way, I drive on the right hand side of the road here, so the steering wheel is on the left. You will figure it out. Think opposite to what I am telling you here. Better not do this drunk or high then.

Remove three small screws, 8mm head, from the power steering lines nearest the radiator. The two held together with the plastic clamps, not the ones on the sump. Two are in front of the harmonic balance, one is under the power steering pump. Get into it with a long extension.

Get a bit of rope. Attach it to one side of the steering wheel, loop it around the headrest of the driver's seat, and tie it to the other. This way, you know you are not twisting the wheel and breaking the spring inside it as you move it to get the rack out. Don't cross the ropes, right?

Turn the wheel so the nut under the universal joint that joins the steering rod going through the firewall to the steering wheel to the rack is facing the bell housing. The steering lock holds everything in place, so you will need a bit of deft ignition key work. You can get your 13mm ring spanner in there onto that nut then, between the engine and the rod. Give it a spray with WD40 cause you are gonna want to spin that baby off with your fingers as soon as you can. Remove the nut and pull the bolt out. When you got it off, turn the wheel so where the nut was is directly facing the engine and lock it there.

Reach down to the top hose nut of the power steering lines with a 16mm spanner and loose it off until it's gonna come out with your fingers. But don't completely undo it yet.

Loosen your front wheel nuts.

Jack your car up at the front and put it on stands.

Cut the cable ties and pull the rubber boots off the side of the steering rack.

Get a big spanner or shifter onto the steering rack end of the arms that attach to the rack. Get the jack under your shifter before you raise the car, and use the jack to push the end of the shifter up, applying the lever force. It will have those arms loosened in a jiffy, which will otherwise be a pain in the bum if you leave them tight till the rack is off.

Get under the front of the car and undo the 8mm nut holding the top power steering line you just loosened to the chassis.

Undo that steering line and pull it back out of the way a bit.

Pull off the wheels.

Undo the nuts and knock the joints at the wheel end of the rack arms out. Put an old nut on the top before you start bashing at them. If those tie rod end joints are difficult, you hit the housing sharply on the sharpest end with your meaty hammer. You know, a sharp bash on the housing perpendicular to the bit you want to get out, instead of trying to hammer the joint out like a nail. Pops it out like a curry gooner.

Twist off the arms to reduce weight.

Get your 19mm spanner and go in through the wheel arch and undo the bottom power steering hose and push that back out of the way.

Hold the rack up with a bit of wood and the jack now, and undo the two 19mm bolts either end that fix it to the chassis.

Tap it out of the end held in there with the bushing.

Lower it down carefully with the jack. You might have to get up and pull the steering rod off. Mine just falls out of the bracket as I lower the rack down.

You got it. Wipe all the transmission fluid you've been rolling around in off yourself.

Undo the hydraulic hoses. If they are reluctant, put a bit of heat on them, and go for some prudent use of vice grips. Don't deform them, you don't have to go that hard. Don't leave them on there, cause you are only gonna **** em up, and ruin your nice job.

Get your big old allen key and remove that huge allen key bolt. You'll need a man-size allen key for that. You can easy tell this car was designed for Australians. I stuck it in there, braced the end in a hole in a manhole cover on the road, and then used the long end of the rack as the lever to twist it. Just pushed down on it. No need to undo the lock nut them, which is a bastard. Whole lot comes out so easy.

Knock the steel doodad under it out by hitting the opposite side lightly with your mallet. Make sure you're away from the road so nothing rolls down the gutter.

Undo the 19mm cap over the pinion nut. You'll find it, cause it's the only one on there. It's just a cap. Bit of heat helps if it is stuck, one of mine was.

Undo the 17mm nut on the end of the pinion inside.

Undo the two bolts with your allen key holding the pinion housing onto the rack chamber. Tap it with a rubber mallet, off it comes. Pull out the pinion.

Observe where seals and stuff are so you can put it back together. There's that diagram above too.

Go to the long end of the rack. Look in there, you'll see the nylon end cap. Clean everything in there really well, and hit it with some DWD40, if dirt got in your rubber boot.

Cut a nail to fit across the slots of the cap, and you can easy twist it with big pliers or multigrips to spin the wire circlip out of the hole. Just spin it anticlockwise till you see the end of the clip, pry it up with your screwdriver, and keep spinning. It's soft and easy. Scared of the big allen key, see. Out if comes. Use a pair of long nose pliers if you got the end cap with just holes, not slots. Put the points in the holes and twist, using a screwdriver as a lever if you need to.

If you stick your broomstick into the pinion hole, sit in a chair and put your leg over the broomstick, and hold the rack between your legs, this twisting game is a breeze. I found my long nose pliers with the slot cap went either side of my piece of nail and down the hole in the rack arm, and - using a breaker bar as a lever - cracking it initially to get it spinning had it submissive in no time.

Pull the nylon cap out if you want but you don't need to. You can just grab it with your long nose pliers. If it's reluctant leave it there for a stricter lesson.

Then, just pull hard on the end of the rack arm where the end cap was, or use it like a slide hammer - or, if it hasn't learned yet, tap at it with your broomstick and mallet from the other side - and the whole kit and caboodle will come out. Be careful power steering fluid doesn't fly out the hydraulic hose holes, ha ha, if you are doing the slide hammer thing, and you are working somewhere your wife gets angry about. Sshhh...

Then get a wooden broom stick and knock the seal out of the other end, the pinion end.

All the other seals in the pinion housing etc. come out easy if you just gently lever them out with your long nose pliers.

Observe how it was all put together.

Change all your seals and O-rings etc., and put it all back together.

Pretty much these steps in reverse.

Honestly, it's an easy job.

Best thing is, it's like brand new again, for $35. Sweet. I hate spending money on cars.

 

[wannaeatyourbrains]

I would like to add, I greatly regret buying an entire seal kit. Why spend unnecessary money? If you mark out where the arms go onto the rack and where you got the bush holding the rack to the chassis and line it all up when you reassemble, you don't even need a wheel alignment after this job. If you are careful and precise with everything, and do it slowly and patiently, this is just an undo and put back together job you could do again and again with the same bits.

I fitted a new power steering rack a year ago because the edge of my old one got chipped by a rock when I drove off the road. So all the seals in it were still good. They are in there now, and it's not leaking a drop. I changed the two seals either end of the rack chamber, that go on the rack arm, but the rest was all fine. Really, I only needed to change one, the one that burst when I hit a speed bump too hard.

In retrospect, I didn't need to mess around sourcing a seal kit and spending $35 to buy a whole bunch of stuff I didn't need. I could have gone down to the nearest industrial area or got online and bought a seal for $2, and a bottle of DEX III down the road for $3.

I am kicking myself I spent $35 on something should have only cost me $5! The old power steering rack had probably been in there a decade, and it was the same seal gone on that one too. The rest was fine.

I know complete disassembly is an easy job, by the way, because I practiced on the old one before I got stuck into the new one. I am gonna try fixing that one too by using some alloy braze I just ordered for next to nothing to mend the chip, cause it's only a little hole stopping the dust boot from completely sealing things off. I know a place out the back of some repair shops where there are power steering rack parts lying around in the pebbles like nuggets of gold, and I am gonna go get myself a chunk and shape it up with my angle grinder, see if that doesn't sort things out.

 

[wannaeatyourbrains]

 

[wannaeatyourbrains]

I just had to do this job again. Power steering pump failed, debris went through the lines, ground out the seals, so I had to change them again. Did everything this time.

I just wanted to add some more advice.

(1) If your boots were stuffed and dust or water found it's way onto the ends of the rack arm, or the pump failed and metal sand got in there, you should polish off the rust and scoring all this causes. I just used some super-fine wet and dry, took it back to shiny. No leaks now, several weeks later.

(2) Absolutely take care of your fingers cutting and prying the Teflon rings out of their groove. I stabbed my finger so bad the knife split the bone. **** that hurt. Only a small hole, but, which I was able to fix with electrical tape. Keep that handy too.

(3) This time, the steering was heavy when I started up. I had not returned the tensioner with the spring to a good position. If it is too tight, the steering will not return to centre well after you come out of a curve.

It is easy to adjust by feel. I don't have a large Allen key piece for my torque wrench, although I saw good instructions here if you do. Just keep loosening it a little at a time - half a turn is good - until the steering returns to centre as normal. If you got play before the wheels start to turn, you gone too far. Start again.

Does anyone know what actually fails in the power steering pump, and where the debris comes from? What makes it start squeaking? Seems to me to be the steel plate and wheel that holds the little stainless blades start rubbing. It was on one of mine. The other one sure as **** failed and started screaming as well, but there is nothing wrong with it the eye can tell.

I would like to know, please, so I can fix them. Any advice much appreciated.