Steering Rack Replacement.......Revisited
 

Has anyone had the pleasure of replacing the steering rack or rebuilding it using a kit on a 92 SSEi ?

My rack is leaking badly on the passengers side, its emptying the Power steering resivour every couple of days.

I checked the Haynes manual (similar to Chiltons) but it doesn't say much about replacement. I Have not checked Mitchell yet.

Anyone know what is involved in doing a replacement ? How difficult is it to Re & Re ?

Thanks in Advance,
Dutch

It's not too bad once you get the lines off it.. 3-4 bolts.

Are you sure it's the rack and not the lines leaking?

Ya its the rack.....the boot on the passenger side is soaked as well as the sub frame on that side.

Mitchell 2003 says that you have to raise the engine 4 " and lower the subframe to get out the old rack.

A shop I deal with for alignments and suspension said they would do it for around $500 Canadian, including parts and labour.
I can get the part for around $200 AC Delco (Rebuilt) on my own. I was thinking about doing it myself to try and save some coin, but after checking Mitchell, it sounds like a big pain in the A**

Have you replaced the steering rack on one of these cars with the engine still in ?

Thanks,
Dutch

Make absolutely sure that its an FE2 Rack, with a variable ratio....

And yes I replaced my rack with the engine still in place.... I loosened the bolts on the front a hair, and dropped the rear of the subframe just enough to fish the rack out... Jackstands and a couple of good jacks helps... All in all it wasn't too bad... But you have to be very careful

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:stupid:

Make DAMN sure. I own two L67's. One with the variable rack and one without. You'll HATE it if you get the SE/SLE/SSE rack.

so how can you tell witch one you have, cuz mine feels like its the vaiable rack... when im going like 0-15 or so its really easy to turn and dat 30+mph its stiffer...

You have an SE, so you don't have the variable rack. You have RPO code T2V, which is two-flow power steering. The effect you feel is to make it easier to steer at low speed. Check your RPO label.

My 95 has T2V, but not the better rack.
My 93 has T2V and the good rack. Remarkable difference.

The variable rack Don mentioned above isn't really variable, it's a tighter ratio, so you get firmer steering. In comparison, the SE rack feels 'loose' and I have to give a bit more steering input on the freeway.

Correct.... My SE's rack is wavy at best... I totally hate it... You should have seen how bad it was before the replacement...

The SE rack is $70-$80.... The SSE/SSEi rack( Most of these will have the tighter steering ) will run about $170-$200... Big diffrence there...

Its funny tho, My 91 LE has always been tighter than the 95 SE as far as steering is concerned... The 91 SSE is very diffrent than either of my other cars... It requires little input and is firm... Thats the type of steering I wish I had in all of my cars... :roll: ;)

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So when I buy it how do I tell if they have given me the correct rack ?

I want the tighter steering, not some loose garbage.......thats one of the things I hate about Buicks, etc. (loose steering).

Anyone know the part # or is there a way to tell ?

Thanks,
Dutch

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