redrocket_ej1

The car, 95 civic ex. The problem, seals on the power steering rack are LEAKING like CRAZY! The question, how many of you have switched from a power steering rack and pinion to a manual one? How hard is it? Going to be doing it fairly soon cause my s#it is SHOT! Also I don't want to hear "Why would you go from power to manual?" because its my choice.. I just want to hear from PEOPLE THAT HAVE DONE IT how difficult it is. Thanks

Hondaphile13

I have the same problem with the same exact car. what you should do in this situation is first of all, flush the power steering fluid and check the color. if its RED you have the wrong power steering fluid in there and thats probably why the seals are F***ed. buy some HONDA power steering fluid and replace it. its thicker and wont leak as easily.

secondly, take the power steering belt out of the car so the power steering is not functional. this isnt ideal but it will at least keep your rack from getting any worse. This is what Ive done to my car and it works fine and steers fine, just beware of play when you go over potholes and stuff in the road and make sure there is plenty of air in the tires so it wont be hard to steer. be warned tho, this is NOT a permanent solution and I would not recommend leaving it this way any longer than a few months at most.

next, look into replacing the rack. power steering racks are cheaper than manual and easier to find so I would recommend getting a power steering rack and removing the power steering pump and looping the fluid supply tubes or getting a breather (theres lots of articles on it here that would explain it better than me) if you want the car to remain as manual steering. You should not do this to your power steering rack as it is now because eventually it will leak all the fluid and have no lubrication in it which, obviously, will cause problems. also this way, if you want to sell the car to someone who wants power steering, you can simply put all the power steering components back in and re-fill with HONDA power steering fluid.

killahatch

im actually doing the swap on my car to manual next week. a friend of mine said its a 4-5 hour job. my power rack is going out due to water and dirt getting into the lines.

redrocket_ej1

Yeah i know all about looping the current system and what, not but my car isn't drivable like it is now. I'm just wanting to swap it out for a manual rack. And I don't have any intentions of selling my car so I'm in no way worried about the resale value. Thanks though! Anyone ever swapped out the power unit for a manual one??

redrocket_ej1

Let me know how it goes! Yeah I figured it would take about as long as changing the timing belt/water pump. I just can't drive my car the way it is now so I'm going to have to do it real soon.

redrocket_ej1

bump, no ones swapped from a power to manual rack? I need to know if its a straight swap or if i need other parts..

redrocket_ej1

anyone??

BrandonR

Yes it's a straight swap. But I would see about going ahead and buying new inner and outer tie rods. And I'm not 100% sure, but I believe you might have to drop the subframe to do this. If not someone correct me.

redrocket_ej1

Yeah I plan on getting new tie rods and the energy suspension bushing kit for the rack.. Just need to make sure its a straight swap before I take everything apart.. I don't wanna drop the subframe and take the old **** off if I'm gonna be stuck because I'm missing something.

kaiba

manual and powersteering subframe are different. However, all the bolt location are the same.

Koopa Troopa

Wait a minute, who the hell told you not to use ATF in your powersteering rack? Also, cutting a belt or looping a power rack to make it a manual rack is not the same as having a manual rack. Manual racks have different ratios in them, et cetera.

It's a straight swap,you just have to remove the crossmember.

The racks are the same, just one is bigger because it's designed for lines and fluid. The crossmembers are different because of the lower grade model, not because of the manual steering rack.

redrocket_ej1

THANK YOU!!! I've been waiting on this answer for a while.. Much appreciated!