I currently have to much play in my steering wheel. If I position my wheels straight and moved the steering wheel from side to side, there is too much play. Also, if you just loose your power assist sound when the wheels are turned from side to side does this mean your rack is bad. How often does the universal joint go bad located between the end of the steering wheel and the rack. Any assistance is appreciated.

 

Check the bushings that mount the rack to the firewall. Mine were all forked up and the steering wheel had nearly 15 degrees of play each way. New bushings are pretty cheap (check www.internetautomart.com) but replacing them can be a real PITA.

 

I'd check the steering knuckle joints for looseness.

 

:hunh:

 

How many miles do you have on the car? As a general procedure, visually inspect your outter tie rod, then if possible, check your innner tie rod as well. outter tie rods are a breeze to replace, but with inner tie rod, I think it would be best to just replace the whole rack altogether if the car has had alot of miles put on it.

 

Yeah,

I have about 15 degrees or more in the steering wheel when turned fron left to right. I did replace both outer tie-rod ends, because the boots on them were ripped. Question......Is there a specific tie-rod end replacement for the left and right or will one tie-rod end work on both sides, this could be my problem if that is the case. Also, the steering is binding, but the boots on the inner tie-rods are in tack. I will definitely check the bushings on the rack, before replacing the entire thing, also when the road is bumpy the steering has a mind of its own.

 

One more thing....will I have to remove the entire rack to replace the bushings ? and why is replacing the rack such a PITA?

 

Aaa, you know what Im talkin about.. The joints at the tie rod ends. Forget the name...

 

Put the car up on ramps. Have someone inside the car and have them turn the steering wheel slow each way. Get under there and visually see what is causing the play. Look at the tie rods (inner/outer), steering rack bushings (as mentioned) and anything else tied to the steering

 

You don't necessarily have to take it completely off, when I did mine I did one at a time so the rack wouldn't just flop around. It's a straight forward job - just 3 bolts on one bracket and two on the other. It's a real pain because 1) it's awkward to get to the bolts and 2) one bolt is nearly impossible to get a wrench/socket/? on - the only acess is right between the engine skid and the y-pipe. If you took the y-pipe off it wouldn't be a problem - I wanted to avoid this, but in the long run it may just make the job quicker.