I have a 91 crx i just traded with excessive wheel play. I have no feel of the road. I can play with the wheel and have no response. I have gone over bumps in the road at high speeds and i almost lost control. I put new tie rods which in the old ones the bushings where totally gone and that did not fix anything. Could it be the rack and pinion? Also can a si crx rack and pinion fit.

 

Tie rods probably helped your steering just a bit since they were blown out as you said.
How are the shocks doing?
I would jack the car up and also check your wheel bearings and upper and lower ball joints as well. Check the rear suspension as well for worn out parts. I'm only saying this because if the tie rods were old enough to wear out then there are probalby other things on their way out as well.

 

yes a si rack will work, i would first jack up the car put it on jackstands, and get someone to move the tire left right and up and down while you look underneath to see where all the play is coming from.

it can also be your steering column, i forget if these cars have a rag joint or not, but thats more then likely your problem.

 

Also when i switch lanes and i go over the lane dividers the car sways side to side. i feel like im in a damn hovercraft. it has coilovers but on the front right it has a different brand. ill jack it up and take a look at all the pieces. BTW im not driving the car i feel its not so safe to do so.

 

thanx for the advice

 

also what are your tires and size? may just need a suspension overhaul as well...but id check the column leading into your rack.

 

check the part where the steering column meets the steering rack - by the gas pedal. make sure things are bolted up and tight. They are 10mm.

 

check this. that what was wrong with mine, gnarly clunk, and alot of play.
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-crx-ef-civic-1988-1991-3/crx-rack-end-bushing-1117870/

 

Also take a look at your rear trailing arm bushings. Stick a flat blade screwdriver in there and make sure the two connector parts of the rubber (top and bottom) are not cracked all the way through. Snap oversteer is an unpleasant result. Expensive too, especially when you're at Watkin's Glen going thru the bus-stop chicane...

 

So the rear suspension could really result in poor handling and sloppy steering?

 

I was throwing that out there in response to post #4 - My line of thinking was that if his T-arm bushings are broken thru his rear toe settings are changing as he changes lanes, which will make the car feel like driving a bowl of jello... Just something to check while he's troubleshooting.

 

I had a kid bring me a car that acted like this...He lowered the car and used ingalls camber adjusters, but never tightened the slide adjustment. Just throwin it out there.

There are so many factors that can cause issues like this. I would look through all the suspension bushings first then move on to the rack.

Some other info may be helpful as well. How does it react in a straight line, a slow turn as oppossed to a loaded turn, is one way worse, is there a sound of any sort, and does the steering wheel seem to skip?

 

This is a very likely culprit.
I made a write-up a while back. But the pics got lost.

 

I had wheel play but it was a bearing in the rack that didnt show up on the illistration at the dealer.
There was a bearing at the bottom of the pinion shaft not the big upper ball bearing. This was a roller style. ???? Maybe my rack was refurbished before i got it. any one been that deep on a rebuild. Im going to kaman to special oder one.

 

New to honda-tech and read this older post..... it was helpful and I now
see I need to check my steering rack bushing (part#10 in diagram)
as I have other suspension parts in good shape but, it still steers and I
feel the road but I have the noisy thud clunk on my 88crxsi. Thanks.

 

there is no roller bearing on a manual crx steering rack. just a ball bearing on the pinion shaft.

rack end bushing is seriously the biggest issue with suspension and handling problems, considering the age of our cars. lots of ppl think they need to start with new shocks or whatnot, but that simply isnt the real problem.