Does anyone have a quick summary of what you have to do to drop/remove the steering rack for cam and pulley installs? I flipped through the manuals but they're rather disjointed. thanks.

 

In a nutshell, you disconnect everything and slide it out the passenger side between the subframe and frame. Obviously, you have to disconnect all of the lines, the tie rods on both sides, and the 2 (or 3) bolts that holds it in the car, along with the steering shaft.

Dave

 

Do any of the lines have to be bled to relieve air in the system? Thanks.

 

Removing the rack is not as hard as some make it out to be. You first thing you need to do is pull the car into the garage dead straight. Then make sure the steering wheel is locked and mark the steering rack shaft. The steering column has a sensor on it that tells the PCM the angle of steering rotation. If this sensor becomes out of sync you will get PCM codes.

1) Disconnect the 13mm bolt that holds the steering shaft to the steering rack.
2) Remove the 18mm nuts that hold the tie rods.
3) Reaching down from the top side (drivers side) you can disconnect the two 18mm nuts that fasten the lines to the rack. Make sure you use a tubing wrench.
4) Remove the two 10mm bolts that hold the power steering cooler to the sub frame.
5) Remove the four 13mm bolts and the large 18mm bolt from the drivers side of the rack unit.
6) Remove the other 18mm bolt on the passenger side.
7) Disconnect the connector for the Magna-steer.
8) Know suppport the car under the frame behind the front wheels so the front craddle can be slightly lowered.
9) You will have to drop the two straps that hold the sway bar into place.
10) Now loosen the four nuts that hold the craddle to the frame.
11) I then take a pry bar and pry down the drivers side corner of the craddle and stuff another large screw driver in there to keep it held down aprox. 3/8".
12) You may have to pry up on the rack on the passenger side to get it out of it's mounting place.
13) Once lifter out the rack should be free. Start feeding it out towards the passenger side wheel well.
14) It will take a little twisting to get it out past a few brake lines and to get it to clear between the craddle and frame.

I usually do it by myself. Another person in the engine compartment and one in the drivers wheel well can greatly speed up the removal and reinstall.

Its too bad we have to go through all this :bs to get to the cam!!!

Good luck!! :seeya

 

I greatly appreciate this write up. One quick question, my column lock is disabled, so how can I lock the steering wheel in place? Thanks.

 

Great description. Thanks. :cheers:

 

If you cannot lock it manually then at least take a string or some tape to keep it in place. Having it just straight up will not cure the problem if it moves 360 degrees one way. The only way to fix it is to use a TECH1 scanner that will read that sensor to tell that the steering angle is 0 degrees. This happened to me the first time I took one apart and it drove me nuts for two weeks!!

Be prepared for the rack to move out of alignment when pulling it out of the car. But if you pull the car in straight its easy to put it back.

 

By "it" you mean the steering wheel, correct? Taping it so that it stays straight?

 

Also, what is a tubing wrench? Thanks.

 

A tubing wrench is like a closed end wrench with an opening to get it over the tube. It provides a grip on all six sides of the fitting. They are usually in there pretty good. If you try to loosen it with a standard open end wrench you will strip it for sure. That will totally ruin process right there on the spot. Having the right tools pays off big. Over the last 10 year I have aquired over $ 18K's worth of tools and my temper has gone down!!!! :lol:

 

Got a pic off hand? ;). BTW, you mean to tape the steering wheel straight, right? thanks.

 

Why can't you lock the steering wheel?? If you can't then do something to keep it from moving off 0 degrees.

Just go to Sears (or Snap-on) and you can ask them for a 18mm tubing wrench.