The other day i got caught off guard in some fog and hit some really deep water in my 1992 civic vx. after and even the drive to work the next day was fine. when i went to leave work the steering was nearly impossible to turn. the car doesnt have power steering, not sure if it was like that from the factory but its how i got it. but now its so stiff if i make a turn it will just stick where ever you leave it. it is ever so slightly getting better but im probably just getting used to it. i work too much and dont have my own place to work on the car so im kind of looking for the best place to start unless someone just knows exactly what it is. i have looked around online a ton and everything just keeps coming back to peoples power steering but that is not my problem. so if anyone could please help it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

 

The 92 VX came with manual steering. I suspect your rack is not sealed up correctly and water got into the rack. If that is the case, the only solution is to remove the rack, dis-assemble the rack, clean and polish and lubricate and re-assemble the rack. There is an an adjustment on the rack as per the FSM but I don't believe loosening it to fix this problem is the solution if the rack was operating correctly before.

 

thank you! Why would it so suddenly happen a day later?

 

Water and grease don't mix well. Also, water doesn't rust in 5 minutes, usually noticeable after 24 hours.

 

Investigate the rack

 

is there a way I could possibly clean it and save it and not buy a whole new rack? Or if I need a new one would one from a pull a part be trustable? It would be 50$ there instead of 250$ almost everywhere else

 

If you got time you can pull your rack off and take it apart and save it. If needed, you can try and get one from the yard to rebuild or for parts but the manual racks are a bit more rare as they didn't go on as many cars. If you find one for 50 bucks at the yard, I'd grab it anyway just to have a back up due to the rarity of the manual racks.