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vz power steering

markovr

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07vessv 94vr .04vz wgn,93vp wgn,82 vhV6 wgn 88 vn
I have my power steering rack out to fix a leak from the drivers side of the housing so I was going to take it apart and replace the seals .Went looking on the net for some info .....even a view of all the components.... Next to nothing ... About to change that by posting these so it might help someone else.
This is a TSSA branded steering rack out of my 2004 vz ...apparently company that made these for Holden went belly up during vz series run and Holden then sourced steering racks from a different company so those later ones will be different from this one.
Turned pinion shaft so rack bar is roughly in middle so flats on pinion shaft are where they should be when the coupling from the steering wheel hooks up when steering wheel would be centre and measured from edge of rack to end of housing so I know where it should be when I reassemble. So by picture below....pinion will be in the right position with flats on input surface roughly parallel to rack and relief flat in pinion surface for coupling bolt facing in (you cant see that relief flat in picture as its points inboard) and 39mm from housing end to end of rack bar on drivers end.

Found a non genuine vx service manual on line(ellerys?) and most of the steps from the manual are straight forward .....take rack boots and rack ends off ....undo and take the pinion support and bottom locknut ...release top circlip and take out pinion assembly out ..but I have got to the part to remove the rack bar itself from the housing but the manual says to just take it out without saying how.
Actual rack bar comes out from passenger side of housing but is retained by a plastic sleeve/bush..... Older racks had a steel nut screwed into the passenger side of the housing that was turned using a special tool that had pins that located in the nut to unscrew it and everything just came out after unscrewing it.
This one has a plastic retainer similar to that nut but with a wire spring on the outside that seems to lock it in place in the housing . Trouble is I cant tell by the directions how this plastic retainer comes out. Can anyone help me? Direction 16 is a bit sketchy to me. It seems to jump between rack types and you have to work out if it applies to yours...... it seems to jump steps and even the pictures are out of sequence.


 
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markovr

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07vessv 94vr .04vz wgn,93vp wgn,82 vhV6 wgn 88 vn
Worked it out ..made up a tool that is a flat washer with a 3/16 thick steel welded to it in the shape of a cross to locate in plastic rack end retainer. So I pushed the rack bar as far to the drivers side so its clear of retainer and pushed the tool into the slots in the section in the plastic retainer and rotated it until the wire end is visible and guided it through the slot in the body and wound the retainer back until the whole of the spring wire is out the slot and plastic retainer is now loose and comes out with your hands.



 
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markovr

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07vessv 94vr .04vz wgn,93vp wgn,82 vhV6 wgn 88 vn
Ok with that retainer out all you have to do is apply considerable pressure to the rackbar end from the drivers end to contact and push the passenger side rack seal out of housing with the rackbar...now you have the rackbar out and all that is left is the drivers side rackbar seal so I modified a washer to closely fit the inner housing and pressed the seal towards the passenger side and it came out. only thing left is the inner pinnion seal that is straight forward ..just knock it out like any seal....or so I thought?


only pinion seal left to take out


now to replace the seals from this kit
 
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markovr

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07vessv 94vr .04vz wgn,93vp wgn,82 vhV6 wgn 88 vn
Pinion bottom seal (I reckon this was the seal that was actually leaking ) didn't want to come out and because it was against the top pinion bearing you don't have much area to push against. Above it there are valve body seal surfaces that can't be damaged . So I had to make a tool from a 12 mm dyna bolt and welded a washer on to it and tapered the edge to bite on the edge of the seal and then cut 3 slots in it so it would move out with the dyna bolt . So I put it inside the seal lip and expanded the dyna bolt by doing up the centre bolt and it gripped on the seal. Then I hit from the bottom of the pinion hole with a drift so as I tapped the base of the dyna bolt it not only pushed the seal out ,but it expanded putting more pressure on the edges of the seal gripping it harder... Out it came. Now to get the new one back in... Again another mission.... Got a piece of threaded rod and found a washer same size as the seal outer diameter and got a swaybar rubber which was a good fit in the inner part of the seal and cut it down to the same width as the seal . Screwed nut on rod and put washer next against seal and pushed rubber over seal to centre the seal on the rod and put it through hole pinion hole until seal was at edge of hole and the thread stuck out and got another washer over rod where it exited the hole and screwed a nut on it and squared up washer and did up nut so it pulled seal into hole until it bottomed. ... Lot of stuffing around but did the job and didn't damage/ mark anything.



 
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markovr

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07vessv 94vr .04vz wgn,93vp wgn,82 vhV6 wgn 88 vn
Next I lubed the seal lips and put the drivers oil seal over the rack bar (spring end first flat end last )and carefully slid it over the rack teeth and all the different parts of that side of the shaft until it was against the piston and then slid the passenger side seal over the other end of the rack bar a short way along the shaft and got the rack bar with the seals on it and carefully slid it as squarely as I could with a bit of auto oil lubrication into the housing as far as it would go easily with my hands from the passenger side
Then put the plastic retainer over the passenger end and pressed on the retainer against the passenger side seal into the housing all the way noting how it felt when it bottomed .

Got a large 15mm dia brass bar and pressed on the rack bar end from passenger side to push the driver side seal sitting against the piston home inside the housing all the way so it felt the same when it bottomed like the passenger one did.
Next to get the rack ends on and get it all together so but on inspection the way they lock the rack ends in the rack bar threads is to put a slot on the rack bar on the end so the metal is fairly thin .So they screw the end in and press on the metal so it compresses and locks the thread... Ok in service but a mongrel if you are taking it apart. That part where it was compressed has damaged the thread on the rack end when I was taking it out and I really can't reuse it ... So I have got some new rack ends coming .They compress the metal quite a bit

and I needed to touch up that part of the thread where it has been compressed on the very edge with a die grinder to make the start of the thread round so I could get a 14 x 1.5 mm tap in there to clean the thread up for the new end...reckon the new rack ends will be done up tight but im going to use locktite instead of compression
Worked fine .. Saga continues
 
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markovr

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07vessv 94vr .04vz wgn,93vp wgn,82 vhV6 wgn 88 vn
Next the plastic bush put into its position next to the passenger rackbar seal and wind in the new wire retainer until it's completely inside . Then slide mount over housing on passenger side until it's at the marks you made originally .. You can get it exactly right when it's mounted in the car.
Now because from factory they put that crimp on the inner rack threads on the original rack ends is trashed so now you have to make a decision on which aftermarket ones you are going to use.
Do you get the 30 dollar ebay specials or the dearer ebay ones ... Factory ones are out of the question.. So I checked out the 30 dollar specials and they looked too cheap and the ball joint had some play I didn't like so I went with ones I found locally and they gave me the ep0 grease I need for the rack teeth for nothing .
Put the flat section of the rack teeth in a soft jaw protected vice and with some loctite on the threads screwed both rack ends on to the rackbar and used considerable force.
So I got the rack and pushed the rackbar as far as it would go to expose the teeth of the rack and coated it in ep0 grease and pushed it back to that position 39 mm rack end to housing and with pinion teeth coated in ep0 ,installed pinion into housing so it was in position as in post #1( took a bit of trial and error). Installed bottom pre greased pinion bearing on bottom of installed pinion and pulled it home with new retaining nut and screwed cover nut on until tight.
Then I slipped top pinion seal over top of pinion shaft and into housing until it bottomed and exposed the circlip groove and installed the large circlip and then dust cover. Then I got the rack pad and greased the contact surface and installed it against rack bar and put spring in and screwed on adjusting nut. I tightened it to about 10 mn then backed of about 30 degrees and locked it up with big locknut.
Next I measured the old tie rod ends on the old rack ends so I knew roughly where to install them on the new rack ends.
 
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adventra lx8

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hi i know this is an old thread but struggling to find a part and this appears to be the most comprehensive thread about these racks. so the question do you or anyone you know know how to get a new plastic rack end bush/retainer part number 92143485 old part number 92140037 this part was discontinued in 2010 and i rang every holden dealer up and down the coast to no avail and seems to be no aftermarket supplier and all the steering places ive rang dont sell components only complete racks. ive found a vauxhall part number the same and says its a bush but no pics or dimensions so not sure if it would be the same. any help would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance.
 

markovr

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07vessv 94vr .04vz wgn,93vp wgn,82 vhV6 wgn 88 vn
Sorry just noticed this question...I used the old one as it wasn't worn out so I cant help ........but im not very impressed about the rack ends I used..bought from a local steering place who assured me they were quality from taiwan not china but I noticed today some play in the passenger end that the old end didn't have....goes to prove it isn't always the dearer part that is better..actually bought the cheapies and decided against using them...didn't like the way they seemed loose from new but they assured me they are ok..they werent
 

wannaeatyourbrains

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Thanks, mate. Just had to figure this one out myself. Really nothing to it, with the good help of your write up. Mine was ancient, too.

The only hard part for me was removing the hydraulic hoses. Brake line spanners just didn't cut it.

A bit of heat, lubrication and a pair of carefully adjusted vice grips did the trick.
 

Fu Manchu

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markovr is the best person... ever.
 
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