Play in steering rack

[petrohl34d]

Originally Posted by DunkinBiskits

on yours you may have the adjustable wedge beneath where the pinion gear enters the casting to let you tighten up the slack. Seen it on some C70s of that age, may well be on yours too. Not all racks have these, depends on which version you have.

Had it up on the lift last week, and we were wondering about something which we thought might be an adjuster like this.

If you're looking at the back of the rack on the driver's side, there's a sort of a metal cowl, and underneath it is a torx nut (I think it's torx, because of course I didn't take a picture when I had the opportunity).

Is this the adjuster you speak of, or where can I find it?

[petrohl34d]

So I was in having a look at it again this eve.

I'm going to try adjusting this and see if it cures it.

Probably going to have to take the anti-roll bar out, but it's a good opportunity to get some poly bushes in there.

RACK1.jpg
RACK2.jpg

[brickman]

That's the one.
It's a 10 or 12mm Allen head iirc. Turns fairly easily. Some have "notches" others just index marks on the side. Strongly suggest cleaning up the area and marking where it was before playing with it. Some folk have suggested "four" is tye maximum number of notches you should wind it in by.

You don't have to remove the arb.

[petrohl34d]

Finally got round to looking at this properly yesterday and it seems to have done the trick.

It's very awkward to get at, so it's ideally a lift job (as is everything), so I hacked it.

Process is

1. Disconnect anti-roll bar from drop links
2. Disconnect both anti roll bar bushing clamps from sub frame.
3. Jiggle the anti-roll bar around until you can get it to sit above the adjuster bolt.
4. Drill a hole in the cowl that covers the adjuster bolt
5. Use a 10mm allen key to turn the adjuster clockwise until you take the slack out of the rack.

I had a mate turn the steering wheel whilst I turned the adjuster. He was able to tell me when the steering wheel got tight, and then I backed off the adjuster anti-clockwise by the tiniest amount, and everything felt perfect.

hack1.JPGhack2.JPG

[Luxobarge]

Brilliant, well done & thanks for posting the result with pictures - no doubt useful for other members who might come across this issue.

Glad you didn't need to replace the rack eh? Cheers!

[Baffler]

Originally Posted by petrohl34d

Finally got round to looking at this properly yesterday and it seems to have done the trick.

It's very awkward to get at, so it's ideally a lift job (as is everything), so I hacked it.

Process is

1. Disconnect anti-roll bar from drop links
2. Disconnect both anti roll bar bushing clamps from sub frame.
3. Jiggle the anti-roll bar around until you can get it to sit above the adjuster bolt.
4. Drill a hole in the cowl that covers the adjuster bolt
5. Use a 10mm allen key to turn the adjuster clockwise until you take the slack out of the rack.

I had a mate turn the steering wheel whilst I turned the adjuster. He was able to tell me when the steering wheel got tight, and then I backed off the adjuster anti-clockwise by the tiniest amount, and everything felt perfect.

Well done! It's a pity to have to drill the protection plate but I've seen just how tight for space it is in there. Where you able to lock the adjuster screw in place with a punch or something similar?

[petrohl34d]

Originally Posted by Baffler

Well done! It's a pity to have to drill the protection plate but I've seen just how tight for space it is in there. Where you able to lock the adjuster screw in place with a punch or something similar?

Didn't hit it with a punch to lock it again. Hopefully it'll be alright anyway. I'll update the thread if it comes loose.

Not too bothered about having to drill the hole. Seems like it should've come with one from the factory.

[drjohnson666]

Hi,

I know this is an old post but can anybody help with my rack.

It's a TRW but doesn't have the 10mm allen key adjustment, I know this as I replaced the tie rods with the TRW ones. When i was doing that job I noticed theres about 2mm of in & out play on the near side and no movement in the off side, no knocking, just wishy washy steering and was hoping I could tighten the allen key. I've attached 2 photos of where allen key should be and one I found on the internet of what I think it looks like off the car.

Thanks for your help, Dave

[brickman]

Probably a remanufactured rack, and that thing you can see is a cover that hides the adjuster. Might be possible to fish it out or it might be a fit once type of job.

One side of the rack has a guide bush (the longer end) this can wear usually from other components been super worn and hammering it over thousands of miles. So adjusting the gear lash pad won't make the difference you are looking for imo. Several recent bmw have a rack where this bush wears out in less than 80k and is a very painful job to change the rack (only way to fix!).

If you get stuck find a local rack shop, somewhere that only deals with pas systems and let them look. Likely will give you an opinion for free

[drjohnson666]

I've had a play with it and managed to turn it slightly which has lost about 1mm of play but that is all. It's made out of plastic so the lugs have broken but seems to work the same as the allen key version. I've added a better image from the OZ volvo forum.

I don't have any local rack shops (2 hrs minimum drive) so I've emailed a few companies, Shaftec being one and Lion automotive being another that have them on the shelf, the other two would recondition mine, so any recommendations would be good, thanks.