Replacing Rack and Pinion

[acco-R-d]

im about to replace my rack and pinion, because its leakin like b*tch. i was wandering if yall have any tips and things i should look out for. i would like to know soon because im starting on friday(4/29/05) .Thanks

[acco-R-d]

sry bout the repost, but i am really curious if ne of yall hav done this?

[nutmeg_runner]

I am just starting the same repair only I call it the power steering gearbox because that's what the manual calls it. So far so good. I am up to step 8, remove the center beam. I'm not sure if I got the first step right though, disconnect the steering shaft from gearbox. I just loosened the bolts and the joint slides along the shaft but I do not seem to have enough play to detach it. My thought is that the shaft will slide out when I drop the gearbox down. Is the power steering fluid corrosive to rubber? The front stabilizer bar's bushing is mush, soaked with ps fluid. Good luck tomorrow.

[mr eff]

it does a number on paint, though i don't know whether that means it'll corrode rubber.

[smufguy]

well i have removed the gear box from the car but the whole lower front and rear cross beams were outta the car. but basically, u can drop the gear box from the car just by itself. just gotta loosen the 10mm bolt that connects the gearbox input shaft to the steering column.

then go underneath and remove the tie rods on the knuckles. Then remove the bolts that hold the gear box in. Its a bitch to remove the damn steering lines, cause mine was rusted beyond belief, so i just replaced the whole rear cross beam along with the gear box from my car and bolted it up to my dx. the bolts on the gear box was soo rusted that even with a pipe wrench it wont turn and one of them just snapped. So choose ur best bet and the easiest way is to just drop the rear corss beam along with the high pressure hose and gearbox and replace it as such with another one.

[nutmeg_runner]

Let us know how it went and I would appreciate your letting me know how you got the pinion out. Did you remove the "steering grommet A" first?

[nutmeg_runner]

I just needed to take a break and eat. It came right out once I slipped the steering shaft off the pinion and pushed the gearbox to the right. Tomorrow I will try the install.

[acco-R-d]

*UPDATE* i finally finished replacing my CV axles, oil pan gasket, and the rack and pinion. it runs like a new car now. the acceleration and overall is totally better.
the way i did it was how the book said pretty much. it was easy to do, but we had trouble gettin off the exhaust. at times, u kinda need 2 people working on it .while i was replacin evry thing, i replaced my oil pan gasket which was LITERALLY BONDED to the oil pan and its mount. it took me like 20-25 minutes 2 get it off. if any of yall are doin the CV axles, make sure to do them one at a time.