Hcivic88

well, i found out today my whole rack was shot, i kinda knew it tho, I had noticed some play in it before.
Anyways, i figured i'd do a quick write-up just to help out some people in the future.

you'll need a size 14mm, size 10mm, about a 6" extension, hammer and drift to remove "bitch pin",
There are 4 bolts holding the rack up(14mm), 2 on each side, although before u take those out, there are a few other things you have to do first.

First of all, jack the car up off the ground, enough so you can crawl under it. After you have it up in the air, take off the wheels. loosen the castle nuts on the outer tie rod ends, but before taking them right off, use a hammer and give them a good hit from the bottom to pop the tie rod out, then remove the castle nut completly and pull the tie rod up and out of the knuckle.
After you have this done, its time to go into the car, in the drivers side footwell, pull up the carpet, you'll have to remove a little plastic cover(which has 3 10mm plastic nuts) and then pull off the cover, its a cylinder shaped. you'll see the shaft coming from the steering wheel, going into a knuckle, and then down into the rack. loosen the 10mm nut on the knuckle, and then pull the knuckle(steering wheel side) off of the shaft to the rack. After you get the knuckle right off, its time to get under the car.
now that you're under the car, before unbolting the rack, you have to remove the shift linkages. take out the bitch pin, and pull the shaft off, then take off the 14mm bolt off the stabilizer bar and pull that off and out of the way. Now you can take off the bolts for the rack, there should be two 14mm bolts on each side, the drivers side will have longer bolts. After you get the bolts out and the rack is somewhat free, pull the rack down a bit so its loose from the car. By now , you're probably thinking theres no way the rack is going to come off without taking the tie rods off, but they dont have to come off. pull the rack towards the passengers side as much as you can and then pull the drivers side of the rack down, under the crossmember, then you can just pull the rack out and underneath the car.
Installation is the reverse of removal.
Heres the rack removed, notice how high I got my car up, i like to have room under there


The write up can also be found on my webpage: http://www.angelfire.com/d20/hcivic88/4gtech.html


Modified by Hcivic88 at 10:17 PM 7/25/2003

MrTodd

Nice! That's way cool that you're documenting all of your work - it makes things less complicated for the rest of us who have not done that kind of work. Good job!

FourthGenHatch

Please tell me you are not using wood and cinder blocks as jack stands.

Ef Whore

Yeah your flirting with the devil with those wood blocks. Good writeup but the wood is dumb IMO.

Vinceg99

Eh you think the wood blocks are bad I used 4 milk crates to hold my CRX up while I swapped the rims out a few 7 years ago...lol...they held just started getting a bit low!!

sCeRaXn

Nice write up man...where did you get the rack and how much was it? I think mine needs replacing because there is a good bit of popping coming from around there when im steering at slow speeds. Do you think this could be the problem...how did you know yours was bad? Thanks man

Sean

Hcivic88

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FourthGenHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Please tell me you are not using wood and cinder blocks as jack stands.</TD></TR></TABLE>

haha, i had to for this, a friend of mine was borrowing my jack stands, I told him he could have them last week(i wasnt expecting to be changing my rack so soon), so I got stuck using the blocks. They worked fine though, i had no problems with them.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Nice write up man...where did you get the rack and how much was it? I think mine needs replacing because there is a good bit of popping coming from around there when im steering at slow speeds. Do you think this could be the problem...how did you know yours was bad? Thanks man
Sean</TD></TR></TABLE>

The price of the rack was about $130(canadian). Although thats with my discount(I work at an autoparts store). I believe list price is somewhere around $200 canadian. I knew mine was bad cause it had a slight popping, which i wasnt too conserned about, it wasnt that noticible, although it also had a lot of play in it, i could move the steering wheel like an inch to the left and right without turning the wheels so i knew something was wrong


Modified by Hcivic88 at 4:44 PM 7/26/2003

CRXRageD

Ooh this will be good to use when Fastbrakes brings those new quick steering racks from Quaife.

raene

OK, I'm trying to remove the steering rack from a removed crossmember... I have it all sitting on the ground, free of the car, but even so I still can't get the rack out from the crossmember! The two tie rod ends are caught inside the crossmember, and I can't shift the crossmember right/left because there's a shaft from the steering rack going up through a small hole in the crossmember (where it goes into the steering column).

How the heck do you remove the steering rack? I'm feeling like a we-todd!

b16_madman

Captian Obvious wonders if his needed replacing also?

Mine pops every now and then when I'm turning @ slower speeds.
And did you notice a difference?

Vinceg99

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by raene &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">OK, I'm trying to remove the steering rack from a removed crossmember... I have it all sitting on the ground, free of the car, but even so I still can't get the rack out from the crossmember! The two tie rod ends are caught inside the crossmember, and I can't shift the crossmember right/left because there's a shaft from the steering rack going up through a small hole in the crossmember (where it goes into the steering column).

How the heck do you remove the steering rack? I'm feeling like a we-todd! </TD></TR></TABLE>
Man you sound just like me I was just trying to seperate the stuff to sell but couldnt figure it out so I put it back together!! I think you have to take the tie rod ends completely off but still not sure??

raene

Hcivic88 seemed to indicate that he didn't even remove the outer tie rod ends let alone the inner... WTF... hahaha... on me for getting stuck on the simpler stuff

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">By now , you're probably thinking theres no way the rack is going to come off without taking the tie rods off, but they dont have to come off. pull the rack towards the passengers side as much as you can and then pull the drivers side of the rack down, under the crossmember, then you can just pull the rack out and underneath the car</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm gonna go buy a couple of new tie rod ends, when I get home I'll try again to get it out from the x-member

Hcivic88

I didnt take off any tie rod ends, lol.
I did it a while ago, so its not quite as fresh in my mind anymore, but you have to pull the rack down to get it out of the whole in the corssmember(which would go to the steering column.) then you just pull it all the way towards the passengers side, the rack itself, and crank the tie rods over that way too, then you should be able to pull it down and out of the crossmember.

Hcivic88

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B16_madman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Captian Obvious wonders if his needed replacing also?

Mine pops every now and then when I'm turning @ slower speeds.
And did you notice a difference?</TD></TR></TABLE>

did I notice a difference - definately. The new rack is like 10x better than my old one, and my old one wasnt really that bad. I have no problems at all turning now, mo more play or anything. well worth the money IMO

raene

The problem is the shaft that goes through the x-member to the knuckle inside the cabin. It's too long and the hole it goes through is too small to remove the rack! I mean, I can pull the rack down a little bit but not nearly enough to get the shaft out from the x-member. It's like 1" too long.

4crx4me

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hcivic88 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

did I notice a difference - definately. The new rack is like 10x better than my old one, and my old one wasnt really that bad. I have no problems at all turning now, mo more play or anything. well worth the money IMO</TD></TR></TABLE>

Mine felt 1000x better ,the single best part I ever bought for my Si, aside from new tires. "Do it today, Don't delay" lol
Makes a CRX fun again. I can't overemphasize the difference a new rack makes.
And to Raene:
You have to rotate the rack so the pinion shaft faces down or to the rear of the car as you slide it out. If that makes any sense. Rotate and slide at the same time.lol Another tip bend the tie-rods at an upward angle.
And did you drop the exhaust? It ain't coming out if you didn't. lol

raene

The crossmember and rack are removed from the car. I can't rotate the rack 'cause the shaft for the steering column is trapped inside that hole in the crossmember. I really don't see how it can be removed without removing that shaft, but if I do that I might cause a fluid leak or something

4crx4me

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by raene &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The crossmember and rack are removed from the car. I can't rotate the rack 'cause the shaft for the steering column is trapped inside that hole in the crossmember. I really don't see how it can be removed without removing that shaft, but if I do that I might cause a fluid leak or something </TD></TR></TABLE>
Maybe I did take off the driver side tie-rod end, I can't remember either, it was a few weeks ago.lol
I don't recall having a problem getting the pinion shaft out of the crossmember though.
Did you drop that crossmember?
And did you drop the exhaust?
I think you need to bolt that xmember back in. If I recall correctly that DOESNT get dropped, thats why you are having the problem.

raene

Here's pictures, that might help explain







The rack + x-member are from my brother's '88 STD. He's using a CRX rack + crossmember since this one is fooked, so it doesn't have anything to be bolted onto anyway

4crx4me

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by raene &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Here's pictures, that might help explain
The rack + x-member are from my brother's '88 STD. He's using a CRX rack + crossmember since this one is fooked, so it doesn't have anything to be bolted onto anyway </TD></TR></TABLE>
I don't follow, is that or is it not the rack you are trying to remove?
Or was it just for explaination use?

raene

Yes, that's the rack that I'm trying to remove... that crossmember is garbage but the rack is good

4crx4me

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by raene &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yes, that's the rack that I'm trying to remove... that crossmember is garbage but the rack is good </TD></TR></TABLE>
I think you have to undo the boots off the inner tie rods that will give the room to pull the rack down another inch or two to get the pinion out of the hole in the x-member. If that doesn't help, just unscrew the the inner rod ends from the rack, and remove them. And then you'll have plenty of room to lower it.

Hcivic88

I didnt remove any boots or tie rods to do mine. I do remember it took me a coupl eminutes to figure out how to get the shaft out of that hole though, although it does come out. you pretty much just pull the rack down as far as you can, then like someone else already mentioned, twist it.
Thats really all the help I can give ya, since I dont really live close enough to help u with anything physically.

If you still cant get anything out and cant figure it out, just twish out the inner tie rod ends and the rack should be really easy to get out then. Although after you get it out with them on the first time, every other time is easy.

edit: just to make sure, you did get the two bolts out of each side, right??

4crx4me

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hcivic88 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I didnt remove any boots or tie rods to do mine. </TD></TR></TABLE>
I didn't either, I can't understand why Raene is having a problem though?
Mine came out fairly easily as well.
Maybe the x-member is severly bent?

raene

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4crx4me &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I didn't either, I can't understand why Raene is having a problem though?
Mine came out fairly easily as well.
Maybe the x-member is severly bent? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Maybe it IS bent Doesn't look like it though! I'm probably just retarded + missing something obvious... I'll play with it later, I got my driver's seat fixed *finally* so I'm gonna put that in