I am having a hard time with my something on my passenger side. My wheel whobbles bad espicially when accelerating. I have been told its the tie rod. Is the tie rod suppose to have play where it attaches to the stering rack. I am not sure if my whole rack is bad or even how to tell. All I know is where the tie rod end connects to that ball joint going in to the rack it seems like there is play. Is there an inner tie rod that can be replaced with out having to get a whole new rack. I am not even sure if I explained what I am takin about right but if any other crx owners know what I am talking about and have fixed a problem like this I need your help, thanks alot Paul.

 

I'm not sure what your question is

But yes there is an inner and outter

the inner one if it has play can be replaced without having to do anything to the rack same with the outer one.If it has play that you can feel it with your hand you should replace it before it falls apart on you. Also you will need an alignment after.

 

there are two things on the passenger side that can cause play on the inside of the tie rod end. the inside tie rod ends on both sides are connected to the steering rack by another inner ball joint. this can certainly go bad as well, especially if the accordian boot is torn. to see if this is causeing your play, move the steering wheel all the way to the left to extend the rack. then hold onto the rack and outer tie rod and start wiggling. to replace this, you remove the boot, and then there is a crush washer that is originally bent around the balljoint. push this back and you can properly wrench off the balljoint. remember to buy a new crush washer if you are replacing the balljoint.

the OTHER part that can cause play is the steering rack bushing. it fills the space between the rack and outer steering casing that the rack slides in and out of. its only on the passenger side because the steerng gear box is already there on the driver side. its a weird looking white plastic piece. to check for play, with the steering wheel all the way to the left again, grab the steering rack and just push up and down, forcefully if you have to. to replace it, remove the inner ball joint first. then move the steering all the way to the right. you can see the bushing easily now. youll notice two circles on the side of the steering rack housing. you gotta push these in and then you can slide the bushing out. its a bit tricky, i ended up mangling the bushing to get it out, but of course i had a replacement anyway. its a bit easier to get the new one in than out of course. its ok to unbolt the whole steering rack housing and let it drop a bit for easier access.

id be interested to hear what your problem really is. also be sure to check other balljoints in the suspension. also, just having the outer tie rod end jamnut loose causes lots of play in the steering and tends to wobble during braking like a warped rotor feeling.




[Modified by Tyson, 5:34 PM 2/3/2003]

 

i just replaced both inner and outer tie rod ends along with the ball joints and after the allignment all of the noises and wobbly steering are gone. the car drives smooth and like new! it wasnt that hard of a job to do.