steering issues, maybe rack?

[92dx]

ok, how many bg owners experience this sentence below?

go outside and grab your steering wheel, with the engine running, and rock it back and fourth. can you hear a knocking sound coming from the rack area?

all three of my pros do this, (the dx and the parts car have a slight knock) but the green car is the worst. I have checked the rack bushings, inner and outer tie rod ends, pump belt for wear, pump and rack for leaks, ball joints, and wheel bearings for play or looseness....all good.

Now on to the real problem...

When the road is wet and im going 65-70 on the highway...its dead scary. I feel the front end getting loose and it pulls the car and the steering wheel. It does the same at 35-40mph or so, but its not as bad. At that speed if i turn the wheel right say..5 degrees while going straight, I can feel what seems like a quick shimmy or wobble in the sterring wheel and front end and the wheel just stays there and wont center, turning left the same way feels normal...I dont think the pump belt is slipping. Alignment is ok as well


Im looking for some insight or similar experiences. All posts and help is welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

[FE3-323]

sounds as if you may have a bad inner tie rod or your rack(s) are damaged

[redheddude222]

My LX rack did it, and my mx-3 rack does it even worse. I think it's the gear inside the rack is worn, causing excessive play. I'm going to buy a new rack and see what happens.

[bcowie]

My car does this but it started after I installed the zx2 from swaybar. Mine doesn't feel loose or wooble though. Just makes that clunk sound. Maybe the inner tie rods got damaged when I was installing the swaybar, is it hard to change them?

[92dx]

Im pulling the rack out of the parts car for the hell of it, might depower it.

The inner tie rods are pretty easy if you rent an inner tie rod tool from autozone.

Is there no adjustment on our racks like some others have?

[jraz305]

**** thats the problem im having .. and im in south florida we got some ****ty weather around this time .. for instance tonight .. high way and the rain is a nono .. that car is unstable breaks loose real quick .. then starts to drift .. if u jiggle the wheel left and right .. eazy ,, 2 the points of clunk there is no directional motion coming from the wheel .. what im trying to say is ..
< <( ~ )> > there is no response from your hands ..and im also driving a depowered dx rack that probely has no powersterring fluid left in it any more .....


so soloutiion is ?????????get a nre rack whhich one .. i donno

[redheddude222]

If there's no fluid in it, it's shot. You have to keep fluid in it, even if you depower it.

[FE3-323]

no you dont, thats nonsense. there are seals inside of the power racks you can remove. simply put the fluid pressure merely assists in turning ability. it does nothing more. & has no miracle effect on keeping the rack in 1 piece.
if you have broken teeth or a bad pinion in your rack that cant be blamed upon depowering in any situation

[Mazda_Powered]

yea, you don't need fluid in a depowered or manual rack lol. if that was the case, there'd be a power steering resevoir tank.

i'd check your steering mount bushings too, might be warn to ****. also if there's some internal damage in the rack it should 'twitch' on start up. so check for that too.

JACK.

[jraz305]

dude you have to

keep it lubricated if not thats what causes the teeth to go bad .. friction with no lube burns ,., lol ,.,think about it ,,

[redheddude222]

keep it lubricated if not thats what causes the teeth to go bad .. friction with no lube burns ,., lol ,.,think about it ,,

That's what i meant. When you depower a manual rack you have to keep fluid in it to keep it lubricated. No fluid = no lube. Wears out MUCH faster. Obviously there's no fluid in a rack that didn't come powered.

[clipper]

There's a rack support adjustment at the back of the rack. It has an adjustable nut, jam nut, spring, and a nylon wear plug in it.
It puts pressure on the rack and keeps it from bowing away from the pinion when you turn. I set mine so I feel drag on the pinion when I turn it.
Maybe try loosening the jam nut off and tightening the plug a bit.
When I depowered mine I put a grease fitting in the top of the rack so I can keep the pinion lubed (have to rethread the inverted flare thread)

[Lex]

I know this is an old thread but I have been wondering about the clunk or looseness in the rack. My 94 protege doesn't have it at all but my EGT has it when it was both powered and depowered. The EGT has 60k more miles on the rack than the protege.

So is that clunk or looseness in the rack from the rack itself or is it more likely the tie rod ends?

[bcowie]

My rack was loose I just had to tighten the 4 bolts.

[92dx]

I know this is an old thread but I have been wondering about the clunk or looseness in the rack. My 94 protege doesn't have it at all but my EGT has it when it was both powered and depowered. The EGT has 60k more miles on the rack than the protege.

So is that clunk or looseness in the rack from the rack itself or is it more likely the tie rod ends?

The rack did end up being toast in the green LX. I swapped the rack from the parts car with some new inner/outer tie rods.The rack from the parts car was not as bad as I thought on a previous inspection, it was a shot driver side inner tierod.

Check your tierods over again for play, especially the inners. I had my girlfriend rock the steering wheel back and forth while I was under the car grabbing t.r. ends trying to feel some play..pain in the ass w/ car on the ground trying to get to the inners, lol. Dont forget the rack mount bushings.

Good luck.