...so im having some pulling when braking, sometimes to the left and other times to the right! also very slight vibrating in the steering wheel while crusing @ 70 + (nothing serious). i thought my calipers were sticking but when i took it back to the shop, i was told that my rack & pinion on its last leg the mechanic told me if it doest bother me not to worry about it...really! any suggestions on my next step?

thanks in advance!!!

 

It's true. Unless the PS fluid is leaking rapidly, the overboosted feel of a bad power steering rack is only an annoyance. If this is the case you'll notice the steering will move at the slightest push or bump in the road, yet the steering wheel and front wheels will always follow each other exactly.

You can fix this by replacing the rack. Several hours of labor and not much fun. I did it in my garage and it took me a full day going kinda slow. Definitely make sure your power steering lines get cleaned out thorougly of any metal particles from the worn rack or else the new one will wear out quickly too.

That said, make sure there is nothing loose in the suspension or steering. It's not OK for the rack bushings to be bad or worn tie rods. If the direction of the steering wheel and the direction of the front wheels is not the same, then don't assume your rack seals are worn and everything is OK.

 

It may not necessarily be due to the gear pinion and rack being worn out. E.G., this happened on my Ford Aerostar (I'm going back a few years, haha) and I had the rack rebuilt, it was ball-ended joints in the rack that had worn out, the pinion and rack were actually OK. I don't know what a Max rack & pinion assy. costs, but if it is a big whack you might be able to get it rebuilt.

 

My rack/pinion is leaking. About how long, mile-wise could I wait to get this fixed?

 

Depends how bad it's leaking, where from, and if there's anything else wrong with it.

There's no set mileage, just whenever you get around to it.

 

When mine went bad there were loads of metal shavings in the fluid lines. I think it's safe to say it would not have been rebuildable.

The worn inner tie rods (ball-ended joints) are separately replaceable. Make sure those are good before condemning the rack itself. The same goes for other wearing parts in the front end - lower ball joints, outer tie rod ends, steering rack bushings, control arm bushings, etc.

Dave

 

I have the same problem and its SO annoying. I am planning on replacing the whole assembly as well but I heard that the 99 SE's came with a stiffer steering rack or something like that. Can anyone confirm this? i really wasnt planning on putting a used steering rack in my car but I was curious if the aftermarket ones were made to the specs of the sportier rack or the regular ones.

 

I looked it up in Nissan FAST, and I don't see any evidence of the 99s being different. The SEs are different from 97+, but nothing changed from 97 to 99.

Here are the selections for steering rack assemblies in FAST:


And note too the description of the various parts from a major online parts dealer:
492000L700 $888.85 $0.00 $693.30
Steering gear and linkage - Steering gear and linkage - Gear - Se
Se 1997 - 1999

Versus:

4920040U05 $888.85 $0.00 $693.30
Steering gear and linkage - Steering gear and linkage - Gear
Gear 1995 - 1996

4920040U05 $888.85 $0.00 $693.30
Steering gear and linkage - Steering gear and linkage - Gear - Gxe and gle
Gxe and gle 1997 - 1999

So I don't see any evidence to suggest other than the SE and GLE/GXE are different from 97 up and the 99s are not special. FWIW, my car is a 97 SE and the rack has failed twice (the second time due to me not cleaning the hoses properly during installation - DOH!)

Dave

 

hmmm thanks for the information. So there is no way to tell what standard the aftermarket assemblies meet since they are all for 95-99 anyway...I was just hoping to get a sportier feel but I"m certainly not going to pay 900 bucks for one.

how did you improperly clean the hoses??

 

The PS fluid was full of metal particles that developed due to the rack going bad. I found this in one of the hoses connecting to the rack, near the bottom of the system. I did not see metal particles anywhere else in the PS system and I was changing my PS pump at the same time. FWIW I installed a used PS rack with about 50k on it. It was a lot better at first but now 40k later it's not very good.

Of course I don't know for sure if this was the cause of the current rack going bad, but metal particles are a Bad Thing for any precision metal assembly. They accelerate wear on seals and gearing, both of which are found in the rack. If I did it again I'd disconnect that hose, remove it, flush it, and dry it before reassembly.

Dave

 

man thats a fun area to work in.

 

no leaking, just the random pulling to the left and right on ocassion. also slight vibration when crusing 75+ mph.

 

Also, you might notice that at a full turn, the wheel may not return to center. That is a very badly worn rack in that case. Not sure it will leak fluid if that is the case, but you should keep an eye on it.

 

Yeah, if your wheel has any play in it or it doesn't hold the wheels straight when you hold the wheel at dead center, I would replace it sooner rather than later.

Dave

 

JtzMax & dgeesaman, it's very interesting to hear your descriptions of a bad steering rack.

The more i read, the more It all starts to sound familiar.
Is there a good way to verify a bad rack?
My car always tends to drift to the right. But not under braking. (....and no allignment seems to fix it).
I would also say that the steering is very sensitive to bumps on the road.
It also seems like there's a very slight vibration when going over 70
But it's not leaking any fluid. I did a flush a year ago, and i haven't lost a bit of fluid since.
Not to mention that the rack/ ps pump area is bone dry.

If only you were nearby dgeesaman, you could try my car out and see for yourself

 

Are you sure it's not a broken belt in the tire? Have you tried to rotate the tires to find out? I'd start there and see how it goes.

 

Hey!

Maybe it's a broken belt, but i've rotated tires 2X already. Same thing.

Even if it IS the rack, i hope it'll last me until next summer when i can replace it with something nice
(like an 06/07 G35x )

 

mine better feel like heaven after i replace it because my steering feels like garbage right now.

 

Sup Chill

It should be fine, it's not like it's gonna fall off the car or stop working. Steering might become more difficult (once you start loosing fluid) but unless the gear strips out (and that is unheard of) you'll be fine.

 

Thanks for putting me @ ease, JtzMax

It's really not loosing any fluid (knock on wood).

Of course it will, chillin.
To me, replacing the outer/inner tie-rods made a noticeable difference.
I'm sure a new rack (made for 99SE ) will be heaven!

 

yeah i was thinking of replcing my tire rods (when i get some $) too, to see if that would make a diference.

 

wazzzuppp jtzzz.

yeah the steering just feels like dookie thats all...very jerky yet loose paired with the ksports.

I dont think I'll be replacing mine with a 99SE unit unless I just find a deal or something...but I really cant imagine pulling that from a junkyard and feeling comfortable with it working or lasting very long. This doesnt sound like something I want to do twice lol. who knows maybe its not that bad.

I just like to feel the difference of parts that are failing/not working and brand new fully functional properly workign ones.