[Lear35A]

I can't imagine that compression of the rod sockets would change the steering wheel position by 15 deg! However, moving the rack position L or R certainly could. However if that is the case, it means a realignment not a change of the steering wheel position.

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[Cloud9...68]

I think the answer is very simple. When I put the steering rack back on, I didn't know about the centering dimple and locking screw, so I moved the rack by probably one tooth (if that's the correct word) relative to the straight-ahead position during the five-hour installation ordeal. So all I have to do is move the rack back to the true center position and lock it in place using the tapered screw, remove the steering wheel and position it straight ahead. Assuming everything was correct when I had the car aligned (and I have to assume it was, because the wheel was centered, and the car tracked straight), I should theoretically be done at that point.



Now, if the rack wasn't truly centered when I had the alignment done, then I will have to adjust the tie rods, as Flash says. But suddenly I'm not sure how to check this.

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[Lear35A]

[quote name='Cloud9...68' timestamp='1370880065' post='144039']



Now, if the rack wasn't truly centered when I had the alignment done, then I will have to adjust the tie rods, as Flash says. But suddenly I'm not sure how to check this.

[/quote]

That's the rub. Once you move that steering wheel you have lost a key reference. If you turn one tie rod out and one tie rod in, the total toe remains unchanged. However, your steering wheel position changes. It seems to me that the more correct thing to do (if you want to avoid a trip to the alignment rack) is 1) leave the steering wheel alone and 2) adjust the tie rods by equal and opposite amounts until the car tracks straight with the steering wheel straight.

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[flash]

AND has exactly the same number of turns to the left lock as to the right. that is the single most important thing. that comes first. that's why you start with the rack centered, then move on.



if, with the wheels pointed straight, regardless of steering wheel position, you have the same number of turns to the left as to the right, then your rack is centered and you can merely move the steering wheel.



if, on the other hand, you have fewer turns to one side then the other, then you need to adjust the tie rods.



it doesn't bloody matter about the steering wheel. that is no reference point the minute you removed the rack. 15 degrees on the wheel relates to about 1/4" on the steering. the ratio of steering wheel to rack is not 1:1. it takes very little to throw the steering wheel off.

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[MB968]

I'm with Flash on this one in terms of the "right" procedure to follow. Do it that way and all should work out. Suspect at least some alignment shops don't always make sure the rack is perfectly centered before starting the alignment.

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[Cloud9...68]

Makes sense. I'll center the rack using the capped hole, and check that I have exactly the same number of turns to both sides. If so, I'll lock the rack in the center position, take the steering wheel off, and put it on straight.



Sure wish I had known about the steering rack center finder/locking bolt. Would have saved me a ton of grief, and possibly money.

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[bombfactory]

But the important thing is you got your full boost back after switching the pump vanes back to curved-side-out - there's hope for me yet!

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='bombfactory' timestamp='1370892745' post='144047']

But the important thing is you got your full boost back after switching the pump vanes back to curved-side-out - there's hope for me yet!

[/quote]

Sadly, this is not true. The pump vane direction had ZERO do to with my lack of boost. The problem was the teflon seal that goes around the collar that fits on the shaft inside the tube that's attached to the tower casting on the passenger side was broken. I'm not an expert on power steering systems (despite having taken mine apart several times), but I believe this seal keeps the fluid that pushes the rack to the right separated from the fluid that pushes it to the left. If this seal is compromised (and mine had a chunk missing out of it), it allows the fluid to completely bypass the rack, and return to the reservoir without providing any assist. It is within the realm of possibility that this same seal in your rack is compromised, such that it is allowing fluid flow where it needs to in the rack under normal conditions, but under higher stress conditions (like a high speed turn), it fails, allowing fluid to bypass the rack, and depriving you of the assist you were expecting. Unfortunately, finding this out involves removing the rack, and almost completely disassembling it. And then, getting the shaft back into the tube without breaking the fragile teflon seal is a non-trivial operation.



But yes, it is definitely great news that my power assist has returned - getting the steering wheel centered is trivial by comparison. It means my car is pretty much ready to get registered, and therefore be street legal, and more importantly track-ready, after 2+ long years.

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[bombfactory]

Cloud - hm, not good news for me then. I replaced everything in my ps system (except for the pump, which I just re-sealed) including the rack (AutoZone), and I ended up with the same underboosted steering feel as before. The system is definitely making boost - as during this process I drove the car with no ps belt and that was definitely much heavier - but just not quite enough to feel right. And it's inconsistent, sometimes it feels fine and fully boosted, sometimes the boost seems to go away mid-corner. Yes, it's driving me crazy! I thought the vanes my be my salvation....

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1370882668' post='144042']

AND has exactly the same number of turns to the left lock as to the right. that is the single most important thing. that comes first. that's why you start with the rack centered, then move on.



if, with the wheels pointed straight, regardless of steering wheel position, you have the same number of turns to the left as to the right, then your rack is centered and you can merely move the steering wheel.



if, on the other hand, you have fewer turns to one side then the other, then you need to adjust the tie rods.



it doesn't bloody matter about the steering wheel. that is no reference point the minute you removed the rack. 15 degrees on the wheel relates to about 1/4" on the steering. the ratio of steering wheel to rack is not 1:1. it takes very little to throw the steering wheel off.

[/quote]

Flash,



I've been thinking about this all day. Let me see if I have this right:



1. Center the steering rack by finding the red dot through the site hole in the bottom of the rack. Insert the tapered bolt to hold it there.

2. Lower the car, and check to see if the wheels are pointing straight ahead. Question - what's the best way to do this? Do I have to buy or build a set of toe plates? Or should I take it to an alignment shop and have them do this on their machine? How accurately do I need to know the tires are pointed straight ahead? Obviously this is the step that's tripping me up

3. Remove the tapered locking bolt, and rotate the steering wheel in both directions to full lock, carefully counting the number of turns in each direction. If they're equal, remove the steering wheel, and put it back on in the centered position. If they're different, move the tie rod ends equal amounts in opposite directions until the number of turns in both directions are equal.



Is this about it? If I can do step 2, I should be OK, so I would appreciate any advice as to how to do this. Thanks.

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[flash]

you can make toe plates, but here's an easy one to check things. if you have a 4' level, you can lay it along the tire at the center and look the level down toward the rear of the car, like looking down the barrel of a rifle. both tires should follow the same line toward the rear of the car. if the front tires are toed in, they will both have the same gap between the body and the "line". if they are toed out, the line will hit the body at the same point on each side. make sense?



you have everything else correct.



feel free to call me if you need me to walk you through it.

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[Lear35A]

I did something similar using one of those laser levelers you can get at Home Depot. Frankly speaking...not worth the effort. Just get the toe set at your favorite alignment shop (something you'll probably have to do anyway). No screwing around with rack centering, tie rods or steering wheels.

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[flash]

he still needs to center the rack, and i know of no alignment shop that will do that properly, if at all. that gets done at the repair shop or wherever the suspension gets installed. you can't set the toe correctly without the rack centered.

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1370913311' post='144073']

you can make toe plates, but here's an easy one to check things. if you have a 4' level, you can lay it along the tire at the center and look the level down toward the rear of the car, like looking down the barrel of a rifle. both tires should follow the same line toward the rear of the car. if the front tires are toed in, they will both have the same gap between the body and the "line". if they are toed out, the line will hit the body at the same point on each side. make sense?



you have everything else correct.



feel free to call me if you need me to walk you through it.

[/quote]

Thanks - makes sense.



Lear,



I'm going to have to agree with Flash here. The rack needs to be centered as the first step of the process. Not knowing about the centering site hole, and the tapered locking bolt, is what has gotten me into this situation. My hope is that the alignment shop centered the rack as their first step using some different means, in which case the wheels should be pointing straight with the rack centered, and I should have the same number of turns of the wheel from the center to either lock position after centering the rack. If not, and I have to move the tie rods to straighten the wheels, I will probably have to go back and have the toe adjusted. At least that should be an inexpensive procedure.

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[flash]

i can teach you how to set your toe. i do it all the time. it's very easy and costs almost nothing to make toe plates (about $10).

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1370920171' post='144081']

i can teach you how to set your toe. i do it all the time. it's very easy and costs almost nothing to make toe plates (about $10).

[/quote]

May just take you up on that. I've been searching on the web to see how people measure toe at home, and have seen several methods described, all using a similar process. I'd be interested to see which method you use. I probably won't get to this until the weekend, though.



However, making sure the wheels are pointed straight ahead and checking the toe are two different things, right? In other words, toe could be correct, but the wheels could still be off, if the steering rack is off center. I'm assuming this is exactly the situation I have, because I assume the shop did the alignment correctly. I created the steering wheel problem by putting the rack on in an off-center configuration.



So the order still needs to be: 1. Center the rack, 2. Check that wheels are pointing forward, 3. Confirm same number of turns to each lock position (although, by definition, if you start from the rack-centered position, there must be the same number of turns to either lock, right?), 4. Center steering wheel, 5. Check toe. Correct?

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='bombfactory' timestamp='1370909866' post='144062']

Cloud - hm, not good news for me then. I replaced everything in my ps system (except for the pump, which I just re-sealed) including the rack (AutoZone), and I ended up with the same underboosted steering feel as before. The system is definitely making boost - as during this process I drove the car with no ps belt and that was definitely much heavier - but just not quite enough to feel right. And it's inconsistent, sometimes it feels fine and fully boosted, sometimes the boost seems to go away mid-corner. Yes, it's driving me crazy! I thought the vanes my be my salvation....

[/quote]

Austin,



I wish I could offer a straightforward answer. All I can say is the rack contains several (a total of 5) fragile teflon seals that fit very tightly into their respective housings. If any of these seals has a hairline crack in it, it could cause boost to come and go. But checking this is a lot of work, and there's always the risk of creating a problem where there wasn't one before. That's why as painful as this process has been, I'm kind of glad in the end that I rebuilt it myself, as opposed to buying a remanufactured one, because doing so forced me to learn the pitfalls, so I now know to be extremely careful when placing the parts that contain these teflon seals back into their housings without breaking the seals. I'm not so sure I'd trust whoever rebuilds these for Autozone, who charges a paltry $185, to do this delicate job correctly every time.



When you get your car back, I would take it for a drive, and pay very careful attention to your symptoms, just to make sure you've got it exactly correct. Then I would give Travis from Rennbay a call. Travis knows more about the power steering on these cars than anyone else on the planet. He's the one who walked me through the troubleshooting of my lack-of-boost problem, and he nailed it. If anybody can diagnose and recommend a solution to your problem, it's Travis. Great guy.

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[flash]

yes, toe could be correct, but the wheels off.



the first thing to do is center the rack and see where things point.

then adjust tie rods as needed, adjusting both equally but opposite. this will maintain your current toe setting.

then adjust steering wheel as needed.

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[Cloud9...68]

Got it. Thanks for all the help.



I have to say, as much of an ordeal as dealing with this steering rack has been, I've definitely learned a lot, which is always a good thing. Another reason for keeping this car a very long time - I'd hate to have to start the learning process over on another car! Although I realize that a lot of things I've learned through working on this car are pretty generic in nature.

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[Lear35A]

Hey, I'm always interested in learning. Cloud, could you possibly take a picture of the place on the rack where this tapered bolt is used to center it? With everything buttoned up on mine and all the bottom pans on it is a little hard to see.

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