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Steering column lowering SAFETY WARNING from FB 28 12 02
**IMPORTANT WARNING: remember if you are lowing the steering column to make 100% sure the link between the steering column and the rack is PERFECTLY aligned otherwise it acts like a bevel gear until it fails!!!!!**
You must be 100% certain the pinch bolt is tight and the splines on the rack are parallel and engaged with those on the inside of the column..
You CAN by accident lower the column beyond the ability of the rack to rotate round/down to meet it .. CHECK there is space between the rack splines and the floorpan ( Can you see the rack chassis through the hole in the floor below the Shaft? make space if necessary by cutting a notch in the floor pan to give clearance) so that the rack has rotated to be in PERFECT alignment with the lowered column.
I had this FAIL at 5mph in
a carpark imagine it at 40mph on left hander!!!!Join
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Steering rack, checking alignment
Park the wee beast with the right-side front tyre
sidewall solidly up against a kerb, so the wheels can't be steered and have
somebody try to turn the wheels with the steering wheel and see if there's any
play in the rack, rack-mount, ball-joints or steering knuckles. Then try to see
if you can sense any play at all by trying to turn the opposite wheel by hand
really hard. Then do the exact same test with the left front tyre against a kerb
on that side.
Points where play might be introduced are:
worn steering knuckles
worn or loose (nut not tightened down and locked) ball-joints
loose rack mounts
worn or loose rack-end-knuckles (inside the rack boots)
worn or mis-adjusted rack gears
sloppy subframe mounts
sloppy lower arm pivots
knackered track-rod rubbers
bent axles; loose axle nuts
bad wheel-bearings
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Gaiter replacement tip
Gaiters are the rubber concertina coverings on the end of the steering rack tube over the ball joints between the steering rack and the track rods.
Count the number of turns up the track rod the end is screwed
on by AND mark the "virtual end stop" with liquid paper/snopake in
case you forget BEFORE you take the track rod end off. Replacement is the reverse
of removal.Join
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Steering slop
I had this problem of my mini going sideways (left in this case ) when I loosened my foot on the throttle. So I found that there was lots of play in the steering rack. I didn't even have take out the whole thing to fix it.
Starting by taking off the steering boot, I found the ball-joint connecting the gear piece with the other piece ( don't know the names of these ) was almost totally loose. So by using 2 small monkey wrenches, I first loosened the perfectly round(?) locknut and then tightened the piece holding the ball.
The piece holding the ball in place, is spring loaded so
just tighten the holder till it feels tight enough.Join
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Steering wheel boss types
There are two main ones. The big size generally known as
mountney, and the small one generally known as momo. The sparco ones are momo
sized.Join
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Steering rack replacement: Caution
2.2 rack kits aren't entire replacement racks afaik. (info
provided by Ade IME'd 20 Dec 2002)Join
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Steering column bushes
These are an easy job to fix.
You need:
a 7/16 spanner
a 9/16 or 14mm spanner for the shear bolt if it is not sheared
a hacksaw and screwdriver for the shear bolt if it is sheared
a big socket for the steering wheel. Mine is 1 5/16, but there area few other sizes in use.
Then:
Get both the top plastic bush and the bottom felt bush
Soak the felt in oil, grease the top bush
Removing the steering wheel seems to be best done by pushing and pulling on alternate sides of the wheel until it comes off. Pulling hard on both sides of the wheel seems to accomplish nothing more than bending it
Remember to put the clippy thing that holds column to the dash rail onto the column guide before you insert the column itself.
The felt bush goes into the column guide AFTER the column, you put the column in until you get to the thin bit near the bottom, then you feed the bush in and then push the column all the way home.
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