My 2000 Civic CX was parked outside my apartment on the street and was sideswiped. In responsible driver fashion, I had the wheels turned to the left so that if it came out of gear it would just roll into the curb. Of course the wheel got whacked when side swiped. When I went to drive the car the steering felt like there was a lot of play and the steering wheel is rotated about 90deg while driving straight. Also, there is a spring loaded tensioner attached to the rack body that broke off. Basically the cap broke the threaded housing right off. I found all the parts in the gutter and used pipe clamps to put it back together temporarily. I was hoping that putting the tensioner back in place would have fixed the play in the steering. It decreased it, but there is still significant play.

So, what should I be looking for here? Should I just replace the rack? I found another manual rack at a salvage yard for a meager $75 dollars. I just want to make sure there is nothing else that I should be looking at before replacing the rack.

 

replace the rack and end links and really inspect it to make sure nothing else is broke.