pip9

I have a 94 civic coupe ex. My friend has a 97 civic dx hatch. He wants power steering and i want a manual rack. Would we be able to swap the racks in our cars w/o any fabricating?

s2000june

im not 2 sure about the diff year working.
i have a 92 vx hatch i just did mine. but i had to order from 92-95 they might be diff sizes. and manual and power are dif... like they will drop in and bolt up but i dont know if it will actually work or what u have to do with lines and stuff..

pip9

how much was the manual rack for you?

sleepyEK

man, i wish someone was trading me a powersteering rack for my manual rack out of my 97 hatch. i don't want powersteering but they have a shorter lock to lock ratio. i would keep the powersteering rack if i were you.

pip9

It's alot harder to turn the wheel though with the gear ratio it has. If i take all my lines off and everything and just leave the rack will it dry out since there would be no fluid in it or does the fluid just help it to move easier (ie power steering)?

h22avid

I have a 95 EX that has a power assisted rack but I don't have the PS pump hooked up with the new motor so I was going to swap out the power assisted one for a manual one becasue mine was bad plus the manual ones are much lighter.

I picked up the manual rack from salvage for $35 and was set. I went to bolt it all in and it all fit perfectly except for the right/passenger side mount... they are different between the power and manual. So I figured ok, I'll swap the mount on the subframe to make it work but when I looked at it, the mount was welded to the subframe.

soooo... to swap from power to manual on a 95 EX I would have to swap the subframe as well. No big deal but the subframe was $100 from salvage and I didn't have that at the time so I just went with another power rack.

When I have the money I'm going to do the conversion by buying the subframe

pip9

wow, thanks for the post thats what i was looking for

racerx707

just get the loop/vent system that ht user padawan sells for $60 bucks, im pretty sure you need to keep fluids in a p/s rack even if the pump is not hooked up

IDriveHonda

Here is the info on the loop vent system. https://honda-tech.com/zero...age=2

pip9

thanks, i was just reading the thread u sent me. Wouldn't my car be different than the itr power steering rack. I think i saw in a thread by padawan that it has more lines or something..

h22avid

I know a couple people that have their power steering removed and just cut the lines at the steering rack and left them wide open and have had no problems whatsoever.

The fluid from power steering DOES NOT lube the rack!!! All it does is pump fluid through the power assist on the rack to assist in steering similiar to how a brake booster assists your braking by using the vacuum from your motor.

The actual rack is lubed by grease not power steering fluid.

EG-cellent

I did this same swap and you are right, to do it right you have to do the crossmember and rack, you can make it work with the power crossmember but it does take a little rigging and I just would not trust it.

pip9

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by h22avid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I know a couple people that have their power steering removed and just cut the lines at the steering rack and left them wide open and have had no problems whatsoever.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

How long have they been running it like that? I donno, it still seems really ghetto to do that. I have my belt disconnected right now and it doesnt really feel that hard to turn to me. I just want the extra weight off.

h22avid

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pip9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

How long have they been running it like that? I donno, it still seems really ghetto to do that. I have my belt disconnected right now and it doesnt really feel that hard to turn to me. I just want the extra weight off.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You cut the 3 lines just a couple of inches from the rack and then remove evvvvvverything else (pump, resivoir, lines, hoses, etc.) With the lines cut at the rack, you can't even see them unless your under the car so there is nothing ghetto about it.

The power assist part of the rack is completely useless without the pump pushing ps fluid through it. PS Fluid does absolutely nothing for the rack without the pump pressurizing the system and applying the power assist to the steering so there is no need to keep fluid in the rack either.

If your really freaked out about the lines hanging open and getting dirt in the power assist (unlikely, and who really cares since your not using it) then take the 3 metal cut lines at the rack and run hose off of them to a T-junction with one of those cheap little crank case breather filters that you can get from pep boys so that the air can escape and dirt will stay out. Again there is no need for PS Fluid, just let it breathe pure 100% air.

pip9

if the fluid does not lubricate the rack at all then why are people paying padawan like 60-70 dollars for that kit. Why would that race team have that elaborate breather system if it wasn't necessary??

h22avid

You got me? I dunno why but everyones gotta make a buck.. no offence I'm sure they got a great system but if your that concerned then just build a brass fitting T from the hardware store with some hose to connect it all for $5 then spend another $5 on the little crank case breathers to let the air move freely as you turn the wheel back and forth.

Think about it, power steering is a one-way pressurized system which pushes fluid in one way and out another to accuate the power assist on the rack. With any breether system, NO oil will stay in the power assist on the rack because it is all being forced out of the system everytime you turn the wheel. IMHO, this whole breather system stuff is for paranoid people who apparently like to keep dirt out of the lines of a power assist; which isn't even doing a damn bit of good without a pump, by running hoses together into a fancy breather which just lets air out... the same result as running open lines for free.

RTE117

I'm not sure about this. But when I was gonna switch my rack to a 92 CX one, I was told I'd have to switch subframes because 6th gen power racks are different?.. BUT all 5th gens use the same subframe.

h22avid

The sub frame that the steering rack bolts to is different on the 5th gens between power assist versions and non-power assist versions (manual). On the passanger side of the rack is where the difference is. The sub frame mount at the passengers side of the rack is dramatically different between power and manual racks.