De-Powering the power steering rack

[TitaniumTT]

I put this write-up on TeamFC3S.Org but since that site has seemed to have died, and there are alot of people here that I didn't know there, I decided to take the time and bring it over here for all to enjoy.

Bill can hopefully chime in on the feel of the steering, seeing as how he was in my car and playing with the steering wheel at DGRR.

So, here we go. (I'm linking the pics so if they don't show up someone please let me know as I still have the originals saved)

There have been NUMEROUS debates about the "right" way to go about this. I have heard people say things from, "Meh, just loop the lines and you'll be fine," to "All you have to do is remove the belt" and I've even heard that it cannot be done:rolleyes: I see a few problems with all of the above statements. The seals that make the rack a power rack are still intact and there is going to be a bit a fluid left in the rack that you'll constanly be pushing around. There is no way to avoid this unless you take the time to pull the rack apart, remove all the fluid, and even the seals. See the pic below.

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38724&d=1182822672

That seal on that shaft is one of the enemies. You can also see on the rack above the two different lines entering the rack. When you turn the wheel you are opening valves that allow fluid under pressure to be pumped into one of the two chambers that this particular seal makes. By leaving that seal intact you are needlessly pumping air and fluid around the rack. This effects the response and overall feel of the rack. If that seal is left in place and you cap the lines, you will constantly be fighting pressure and vaccuum when turning the wheel. You cannot escape physics.

Now, mind you the "feel" is all subjective and alot of people will say looping the lines feels fine but I think the only real way to de-power a power steering rack is to remove everything that makes it power to begin with. Novel idea I know but alot of people don't have the time or the patience or the inclining or the tools to do such a thing and becuase of those reasons I think alot of n00blet type mis-information gets spread around.... So lets get started.

Start with a Powersteering rack. They are identified by the lines... that I already took off damnit. This one happens to be a 15:1 from a parts car that was hit in the passenger front. Subsequently the inner tie rods where both spent.

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38739&d=1182824468

I may be old but I'm pretty hard-core :rofl: and luckily I have a friend with a true Manual if I hate this one. Actually I do primarily auto-xing and want to get into some road racing so the tighter the better.

[TitaniumTT]

Clean the sucker up and get it in a vise. I'm not going to drill into my beautiful stainless steel bench to mount a vise. Vises work best, but if you don't have one, clamp it down somehow

I started by removing the outer tie rods and counting the turns on the way out, then labeling them with a sharpie. This was of course before I knew that both inners were toast. I'll save the outers as back-ups and transplant the inner/outter combo from the good rack that I have that will stay power as I don't feel like spending ~$150 on new inner tie rods.

To remove the inner tie rod ends use whatever means available. I didn't have a thin enough wrench. Usually I'm one to go buy a tool and modify it but it was late and almost time for cocktails and we had company coming over. I used a plumbers monkey wrench instead. Hey, at that point I knew they were garbage although they would've been reusable.

HINT: What you may think is an allen set screw or a roll pin isn't. Just turn on the inner tie rods and it will pop out. You WILL damamge ONE thread in doing this but it will be repairable. I guess Mazda's thinking was if you're removing the tie rod it's garbage anyway so why save the thread.

Incidentally. I went to align my car before DGRR, and counting the rotations and measuring everything put my car damn near perfect alignment even after everything, and I mean EVERYTHING including the front subframe was removed at least once.

[TitaniumTT]

Now, starting here, remove in the following order

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38715&d=1182822486

1) Large Lock nut (not shown)
2) Yoke Plug (center)
3) Spring
4) Rack Support

These are the pieces as they come out of the rack. Left to right following the order above

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38716&d=1182822486

Moving onto the bottom of the rack remove the Pinion Plug and the locknut. The plug is on the bench and the locknut is still in there under that nasty 20something y.o. grease

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38720&d=1182822582

Then head over to the top of the rack and start by gently prying loose the dust cap

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38721&d=1182822582

To expose a lock-ring

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38722&d=1182822582

A gentle tap at the bottom where the threads are will reveal this engineering masterpiece.

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38725&d=1182822672

Left to right we have a pair of seals, a bunch of seals, a bearing and again.... a seal...

I hate seals. They are the enemy to all who seek smooth de-powered powersteering racks. They were my enemy. They all fell before me.

[TitaniumTT]

Moving over to the passenger side we'll find the Rack Stopper. This is neat the way they have this retained. I used a piece of 1/8" aluminum stock I had kicking around to rotate the stopper to reveal the catch pin

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38717&d=1182822486

With a pick you can angle it up ever so slightly and continue to rotate

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38718&d=1182822582

Until the whole thing comes out like so

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38719&d=1182822582

Then the stopper will basically fall out when the rack is pushed out.

[TitaniumTT]

Basically every thing that we have removed so far exposing all the enemy seals save one that is still buried in the rack.

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38723&d=1182822672

This is the real seal that we are after. The other two are bonuses.

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38724&d=1182822672

With this seal out of the way, and all the fluid removed and replaced with some synthetic grease, there will be virtually no back-pressure, no binding, no sloshing etc etc. It will basically be a fast ratio Manual rack which is exactely what I'm after.

[TitaniumTT]

Now onto the "quill" or the control valve assembly. You can see in this picture that we need to get that myriad of seals off starting with the bearing. I suppose you could just bust out the cutoff wheel and throw bits of fiber and metal into the bearing, but I have a different approach. Seeing as how many of us don't have presses and bearing seperators at our disposal, I found that with that same 1/8 aluminum stock you can place it where the arrow is pointing

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38726&d=1182822672

Grab onto the oil seals real tight and give the end a few taps to move the bearing slightly towards the rear displaying a REAL PITA lock spring. By moving this spring out of the groove and allowing it to follow the bearing, you can now press the valve/seal assembly to the bearing like so

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38727&d=1182822672

A few more taps and the bearing along with the lock ring and the valve/seal assembly just falls out. You can see the arrow is pointing to the stupid little lock spring

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38728&d=1182822772

And finally all the pieces removed. The red arrows are pointing to the lock spring and the grove on the control valve assembly where the f'er rode.

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38729&d=1182822772

[TitaniumTT]

Now it's time for some welding. The control valve assembly will disengage & rotate slightly to allow fluid to flow. This of course translate to the steering wheel as a few degrees (I've been told ~5*) of pure SLOP. Meaning that you have to rotate the steering wheel 5* for the quill to open and get to it's mechanical limit before the rack will begin to move in or out. I hate slop in racks as much as I hate seals. Time to fix. This pic shows where the break is

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38731&d=1182822772

So lets weld it up. Even if the weld breaks which I don't think it will, the piece itself will just revert back to its original design. A little ole' MIG welding and viola. Some people will say to TIG it but I don't think it's necessary.

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38732&d=1182822772

Since I had the MIG out and some copper piping laying around I decided to cut off the connections & plug the holes on the rack since they won't be used again. I know, I'm an OCD ass and this step is totally optional but I kinda like it. PLUS I was planning on painting the damn thing anyway. Either way, you need to plug the lines so that dirt and debris can't get in, and your grease can't get out.

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38730&d=1182822772

This may be overboard.... nah.... but I can't use the, "Since I had the MIG out excuse," I'll just admit to going overboard, I busted out the TIG and welded up the other holes on the rack,

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38733&d=1182822862

than sanded everything smooth and painted.

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38740&d=1182827403

Leave me alone, I'm OCD and I don't have a problem

[TitaniumTT]

So, remember this picture? Now it's time to go after the main seal.

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38724&d=1182822672

I took the cut off wheel and cut in two places 180* opposite each other and whacked it with a hammer.

DONE

That was main thing to be done.... Yes, that is the big difference between my dfe-powered racks and looping the lines, or plugging them. That seal makes all the difference in the world.

Now with everything ready to be re-assembled, lets look at a few things. On the rack bushing (bottom left 2 blue circles) there are two seals. The one o-ring seal that is visible and an oil seal that is not. Since we are no longer trying to contain all the pressure of a power steering system and only trying to keep some grease in the rack, I took that seal out and removed the spring to allow the rack to slide easier.*

The O-ring you should leave as it will keep the bushing in place. When re-assembling it though, be sure to press the Rack stopper in VERY hard as the end of the rack has two steps and the o-ring needs to compress.

The center blue circles show the other oil seal and the bushing. Same as above I popped the seal out and removed the spring relieveing some of the friction.* The circle on the rack shows where those two seals are located. I used a socket and a bunch of extensions to seal it in place. Worked aight

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38734&d=1182822862

* I assembled the entire rack and thought that it was a little too stiff to turn. The grease will not lube the shaft as well as the PS fluid. I disassembled and removed the springs inside of the seals. I was really surprised at how mush easier it was to rotate without those springs in the seals. The seals need to stay, but not the springs.

[TitaniumTT]

Lube up your shaft real well :rofl:

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38735&d=1182822862

Grease up the quill

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38737&d=1182822862

Meh, maybe a little much :lol:

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38738&d=1182822938

Put the keeper in place

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38736&d=1182822862

& after that my hands got REALLY greasy and decided not to touch the camera again. The rest is really the reverse of removal, check the FSM for torque specs and so on.... and enjoy.

-Brian

[NoDOHC]

Awesome! I think I might do this, I hate the slop in the de-power rack too, but it is better than the ultra-slow manual rack.

This seems to be the best of both worlds.

[Rotary#10]

Can we sticky mods?

[Boostmaniac]

Can we sticky mods?

I second this.

[Phoenix7]

It's stickied now. Great thread! Don't forget to give good rep points (scale below poster's name) for good threads like this!

[TitaniumTT]

Thanks Phoenix.

So where's Bill? I want him to comment on the feel of this mod as he is to date the only other person on this forum to have felt it even when parked.

Personally, I have no complaints about the feel of it at all. I'm running 235/40 RT-615's in the front and a smaller Sparco steering wheel. This is the 15.2:1 rack so it has the WORST mechanical advantage of all the racks offered for the FC. Yes it is a little difficult when STOPPED. Once rolling it's fine and I one handed her all the way to DGRR and back. There is little effort needed when moving and the response is superb. Me likey and higly rec anyone wanting to do this. I've felt the looped line PS removal and it was kinda notchy. You could feel when the pressure was moving inside the rack. This is seemless, as it should be.

My first Auto-X event is this Sunday........ if I remember to order my helmet. I'll report back then but I can pretty much already tell you I'm not going to have sore arms. I'm not weak by any stretch of the imagination, but I am ~5'10+ and weigh <145lbs.

[WE3RX7]

I'm in the transition part of my moving to my new home so I'm slacking on having an internet connection right now :)

Brian is on point about the wheel during a stop. I'm of the same build too and I'd say its a two-hander from a DEAD stop, but that may be different when using the stock wheel w/ larger diameter. Go physics. Other than that, I can't see how it would be that bad at all during motion.

I have the same car and the same rack as what Brian used and will be performing this mod myself in the next few weeks. For years I had the rack simply capped off and there is a noticeable difference even for the few minutes of sitting in his car at DGRR. His wheel was very tight, had no real noticeable slop or play. My capped version "pulses" still on full lock... even sitting still if you give it a full turn you can feel the fluid push back which is a little annoying.

Another thing I meant to ask you Brian was if you had any steering angle kit or spacers on the tie rods? I am going to install the SuperNow tie rod kit when I depower my rack and think this may be another thing that'll help "ease" the pain in low speed parking situations.


Any thoughts/opinions on swapping to a depowered 17:1 ratio'd S5 rack? I have an extra one and may depower both and once the car is on the road again interchange them to see which one I like more.

[need RX7]

How did you line up the quill to weld it? Did you just eyeball it, or is there some kind of precise measurements you need to do?

[TitaniumTT]

I welded it while at it's resting position. There was ALOT of tension keeping it in one place and required a decent amout of torque (although I had 0 leverage) to get it to move one direction or the other. I just welded it where it layed.

[SleepeR1st]

I've done this modification also. I recommend it to anyone who attempts to remove the power steering.

The hardest part for me was finding someone in my area who can weld aluminum. Otherwise everything was very simple and literally you take it apart in said order, then put it back in said order. Simple :icon_tup:

[Black91n/a]

I've got a welded 15.2:1 rack and I love it. I daily drive it on 17x8, 30mm offset wheels and 225/45/17 high performance tires and I recently did 2 days at the track with 15x9, 20mm offset wheels and 225/50/15 race tires and it was fine as well. I don't mind it at all and I quite like the feel and speed of it, but I'm also a 6'3" tall Rugby forward, so a little effort doesn't bother me.

[TitaniumTT]

I always pictured you as a little guy :rofl:

So after the first auto-x on the rack, yeah it kicks ass. It was a REALLY tight course and not once did it hinder. In fact, I think the power-steering would've gotten ahead of itself with some of he slalom to tight radius turns so I couldn't be happier with it. Very rec'd mod for anyone with some upper body strength.

[fire85gslse]

Nice!

So who's going to start doing this work and charging? And where do we sign up? :)

[TitaniumTT]

I'll offer the de-power. No list to sign up for, if you're interested just PM me and we'll work something out.

-Brian

[LuckySeven fc3s]

pm sent

[WE3RX7]

Now that I've completed this myself, I thought it worthwhile to add some additional input and offer up some details.


First off. It is pretty straight forward. If you've got access to a MIG welder, even better.

Following Brian's write-up you should have no trouble at all completing this task. Here are some things I've done different (slightly) for those (like me) who don't have ALL the tools required (TIG for example).

The biggest difference in how Brian did it versus mine was not the modification of the rack itself (I removed all the same bushings and removed the metal spring from the o-ring as well) but it comes when dealing with the quill housing.

I didn't have a TIG or access to one even. The threads are M12x1.25 and M14x1.25. The depth is up to you really, but you will need to order/find set screws this size to plus those holes. I added some teflon tape just to be sure. Its not a pressured system any longer, this is more to keep dust/debri out.

Also, during my rebuild, I had a torn dust cover for the rack. For those who have been faced with this as well, or just want to replace them here are the parts #

Beck Arnley (makes most of Mazda Genuine Parts):
Drivers Side: 103-2689
Passenger Side: 103-2691

They are two different sizes as noted in the image below. The smaller of the two goes on the passenger side. The larger on the drivers side.

http://www.findtuners.com/FCProject/steering_rack6.jpg

http://www.findtuners.com/FCProject/steering_rack7.jpg

Other than that - Brian's write up is spot on. Just wanted to add what little bit I could.

[sen2two]

damn, what happened to the pics on the first page?

[TitaniumTT]

I linked them from TeamFC3S.org and that place has apparently been down for months. I've gotten PM's from a few people asking me to fix the pics from a few threads. I don't have the pics on this computer. They should be on an older machine that I gave to my mother a few years ago, just need to get there and try to find them.

[infernosg]

I was able to get some of the pictures to show up by plugging the URL of the first page into Way back web (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2F&ei=-JS5TYbuBYuYhQeihPiODw&usg=AFQjCNGDBmIsvvOxdSeHKKSdQ4FGS1fe6Q). Maybe 2/3 of the pictures are showing up for me but that's better than nothing for visual learners like me.

EDIT: So I understand how to keep the tie rods in the correct location for reinstall (measure, mark, whatever to keep toe settings) but what about actually "centering" the rack (steering wheel is straight = wheels straight)?

[Tanj!]

So I understand how to keep the tie rods in the correct location for reinstall (measure, mark, whatever to keep toe settings) but what about actually "centering" the rack (steering wheel is straight = wheels straight)?

Typically one would mark the top of the quill and where it mates to the drive shaft linkage before disassembly to get it all hooked back up basically in the right place. But since we are actually taking apart the rack that doesn't work. You could measure the amount of rack that juts out on each end when quill mark is face up and just reproduce those measurements and mark that as your new up.

Since i'm replacing inner and outer tie rods and updating to a power rack from a manual one and lowering the car I plan on just measuring revolutions from lock to lock and setting it halfway when doing the install and just matching the amount of thread showing for the tie rods between the two sides. I can eyeball it a bit but I already know I'm going to have to go get an alignment done afterwards so I'm not to worried.

[FC3S.USD]

Re-Posting with Pictures TitaniumTTs posts.

This is a great write up and thanks for sharing.

[FC3S.USD]

I put this write-up on TeamFC3S.Org but since that site has seemed to have died, and there are alot of people here that I didn't know there, I decided to take the time and bring it over here for all to enjoy.

Bill can hopefully chime in on the feel of the steering, seeing as how he was in my car and playing with the steering wheel at DGRR.

So, here we go. (I'm linking the pics so if they don't show up someone please let me know as I still have the originals saved)

There have been NUMEROUS debates about the "right" way to go about this. I have heard people say things from, "Meh, just loop the lines and you'll be fine," to "All you have to do is remove the belt" and I've even heard that it cannot be done I see a few problems with all of the above statements. The seals that make the rack a power rack are still intact and there is going to be a bit a fluid left in the rack that you'll constanly be pushing around. There is no way to avoid this unless you take the time to pull the rack apart, remove all the fluid, and even the seals. See the pic below.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11393&stc=1&d=1324996464



That seal on that shaft is one of the enemies. You can also see on the rack above the two different lines entering the rack. When you turn the wheel you are opening valves that allow fluid under pressure to be pumped into one of the two chambers that this particular seal makes. By leaving that seal intact you are needlessly pumping air and fluid around the rack. This effects the response and overall feel of the rack. If that seal is left in place and you cap the lines, you will constantly be fighting pressure and vaccuum when turning the wheel. You cannot escape physics.

Now, mind you the "feel" is all subjective and alot of people will say looping the lines feels fine but I think the only real way to de-power a power steering rack is to remove everything that makes it power to begin with. Novel idea I know but alot of people don't have the time or the patience or the inclining or the tools to do such a thing and becuase of those reasons I think alot of n00blet type mis-information gets spread around.... So lets get started.

Start with a Powersteering rack. They are identified by the lines... that I already took off damnit. This one happens to be a 15:1 from a parts car that was hit in the passenger front. Subsequently the inner tie rods where both spent.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11394&stc=1&d=1324995943


I may be old but I'm pretty hard-core and luckily I have a friend with a true Manual if I hate this one. Actually I do primarily auto-xing and want to get into some road racing so the tighter the better.

[FC3S.USD]

Clean the sucker up and get it in a vise. I'm not going to drill into my beautiful stainless steel bench to mount a vise. Vises work best, but if you don't have one, clamp it down somehow

I started by removing the outer tie rods and counting the turns on the way out, then labeling them with a sharpie. This was of course before I knew that both inners were toast. I'll save the outers as back-ups and transplant the inner/outter combo from the good rack that I have that will stay power as I don't feel like spending ~$150 on new inner tie rods.

To remove the inner tie rod ends use whatever means available. I didn't have a thin enough wrench. Usually I'm one to go buy a tool and modify it but it was late and almost time for cocktails and we had company coming over. I used a plumbers monkey wrench instead. Hey, at that point I knew they were garbage although they would've been reusable.

HINT: What you may think is an allen set screw or a roll pin isn't. Just turn on the inner tie rods and it will pop out. You WILL damamge ONE thread in doing this but it will be repairable. I guess Mazda's thinking was if you're removing the tie rod it's garbage anyway so why save the thread.

Incidentally. I went to align my car before DGRR, and counting the rotations and measuring everything put my car damn near perfect alignment even after everything, and I mean EVERYTHING including the front subframe was removed at least once.

Now, starting here, remove in the following order


http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11395&stc=1&d=1324997049


1) Large Lock nut (not shown)
2) Yoke Plug (center)
3) Spring
4) Rack Support

These are the pieces as they come out of the rack. Left to right following the order above

XXX



Moving onto the bottom of the rack remove the Pinion Plug and the locknut. The plug is on the bench and the locknut is still in there under that nasty 20something y.o. grease


http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11396&stc=1&d=1324996582


Then head over to the top of the rack and start by gently prying loose the dust cap

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11397&stc=1&d=1324996620




To expose a lock-ring

XXX



A gentle tap at the bottom where the threads are will reveal this engineering masterpiece.


http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11398&stc=1&d=1324996720


Left to right we have a pair of seals, a bunch of seals, a bearing and again.... a seal...

I hate seals. They are the enemy to all who seek smooth de-powered powersteering racks. They were my enemy. They all fell before me.

[FC3S.USD]

Moving over to the passenger side we'll find the Rack Stopper. This is neat the way they have this retained. I used a piece of 1/8" aluminum stock I had kicking around to rotate the stopper to reveal the catch pin



XXX


With a pick you can angle it up ever so slightly and continue to rotate

XXX



Until the whole thing comes out like so


http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11399&stc=1&d=1324996925




Then the stopper will basically fall out when the rack is pushed out.

[FC3S.USD]

Basically every thing that we have removed so far exposing all the enemy seals save one that is still buried in the rack.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11400&stc=1&d=1324997017




This is the real seal that we are after. The other two are bonuses.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11401&stc=1&d=1324997082





With this seal out of the way, and all the fluid removed and replaced with some synthetic grease, there will be virtually no back-pressure, no binding, no sloshing etc etc. It will basically be a fast ratio Manual rack which is exactely what I'm after.

[FC3S.USD]

Now onto the "quill" or the control valve assembly. You can see in this picture that we need to get that myriad of seals off starting with the bearing. I suppose you could just bust out the cutoff wheel and throw bits of fiber and metal into the bearing, but I have a different approach. Seeing as how many of us don't have presses and bearing seperators at our disposal, I found that with that same 1/8 aluminum stock you can place it where the arrow is pointing

XXX



Grab onto the oil seals real tight and give the end a few taps to move the bearing slightly towards the rear displaying a REAL PITA lock spring. By moving this spring out of the groove and allowing it to follow the bearing, you can now press the valve/seal assembly to the bearing like so


XXX


A few more taps and the bearing along with the lock ring and the valve/seal assembly just falls out. You can see the arrow is pointing to the stupid little lock spring


XXX



And finally all the pieces removed. The red arrows are pointing to the lock spring and the grove on the control valve assembly where the f'er rode.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11402&stc=1&d=1324997253

[FC3S.USD]

Now it's time for some welding. The control valve assembly will disengage & rotate slightly to allow fluid to flow. This of course translate to the steering wheel as a few degrees (I've been told ~5*) of pure SLOP. Meaning that you have to rotate the steering wheel 5* for the quill to open and get to it's mechanical limit before the rack will begin to move in or out. I hate slop in racks as much as I hate seals. Time to fix. This pic shows where the break is

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11403&stc=1&d=1324997350





So lets weld it up. Even if the weld breaks which I don't think it will, the piece itself will just revert back to its original design. A little ole' MIG welding and viola. Some people will say to TIG it but I don't think it's necessary.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11404&stc=1&d=1324997403




Since I had the MIG out and some copper piping laying around I decided to cut off the connections & plug the holes on the rack since they won't be used again. I know, I'm an OCD ass and this step is totally optional but I kinda like it. PLUS I was planning on painting the damn thing anyway. Either way, you need to plug the lines so that dirt and debris can't get in, and your grease can't get out.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11405&stc=1&d=1324997462





This may be overboard.... nah.... but I can't use the, "Since I had the MIG out excuse," I'll just admit to going overboard, I busted out the TIG and welded up the other holes on the rack,

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11406&stc=1&d=1324997648




than sanded everything smooth and painted.


xxx




Leave me alone, I'm OCD and I don't have a problem

[FC3S.USD]

So, remember this picture? Now it's time to go after the main seal.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11407&stc=1&d=1324998283





I took the cut off wheel and cut in two places 180* opposite each other and whacked it with a hammer.

DONE

That was main thing to be done.... Yes, that is the big difference between my dfe-powered racks and looping the lines, or plugging them. That seal makes all the difference in the world.

Now with everything ready to be re-assembled, lets look at a few things. On the rack bushing (bottom left 2 blue circles) there are two seals. The one o-ring seal that is visible and an oil seal that is not. Since we are no longer trying to contain all the pressure of a power steering system and only trying to keep some grease in the rack, I took that seal out and removed the spring to allow the rack to slide easier.*

The O-ring you should leave as it will keep the bushing in place. When re-assembling it though, be sure to press the Rack stopper in VERY hard as the end of the rack has two steps and the o-ring needs to compress.

The center blue circles show the other oil seal and the bushing. Same as above I popped the seal out and removed the spring relieveing some of the friction.* The circle on the rack shows where those two seals are located. I used a socket and a bunch of extensions to seal it in place. Worked aight

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11408&stc=1&d=1324997844

[FC3S.USD]

Lube up your shaft real well

XXX



Grease up the quill

XXX



Meh, maybe a little much


http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11409&stc=1&d=1324998694



Put the keeper in place

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=11410&stc=1&d=1324998746



& after that my hands got REALLY greasy and decided not to touch the camera again. The rest is really the reverse of removal, check the FSM for torque specs and so on.... and enjoy.

-Brian

[barnett87rx7]

Now onto the "quill" or the control valve assembly. You can see in this picture that we need to get that myriad of seals off starting with the bearing. I suppose you could just bust out the cutoff wheel and throw bits of fiber and metal into the bearing, but I have a different approach. Seeing as how many of us don't have presses and bearing seperators at our disposal, I found that with that same 1/8 aluminum stock you can place it where the arrow is pointing

XXX



Grab onto the oil seals real tight and give the end a few taps to move the bearing slightly towards the rear displaying a REAL PITA lock spring. By moving this spring out of the groove and allowing it to follow the bearing, you can now press the valve/seal assembly to the bearing like so


XXX


A few more taps and the bearing along with the lock ring and the valve/seal assembly just falls out. You can see the arrow is pointing to the stupid little lock spring


XXX



possible to get these pics???

[infernosg]

Sorry to bump this (and reply to a sticky) again, but since the pictures depicting the process of removing the seals from the "quill" are among the few to not be reposted is there any way to get a more detailed description of the process? I've got my steering rack completely disassembled and am at this process now.

[Whizbang]

trying to do this and i got the stopper metal piece out but the stopper itself will not come out. just spins, but no way it wants to come out... wtf bbq?

[Whizbang]

turns out a piece of that wire broke off inside there (maybe 2mm worth) had to switch to the next rack i had laying around.... lame!

[theorie]

Here is another tutorial in PDF format with all of the photos:

http://www.mediafire.com/view/l4lymb2k1e23op5/How_to_De-Power_Steering_Rack_FD3S.pdf

I made that way back when I wanted to make sure I would have this tutorial when I was ready to do this myself.

---edit---

I de-powered my rack yesterday. Here are a few pics (CLICK picture for large size):

http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/resizes/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-1840.jpg?m=1372889481 (http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/albums/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-1840.jpg?m=1372889479)

http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/resizes/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-1853.jpg?m=1372889493 (http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/albums/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-1853.jpg?m=1372889492)

http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/resizes/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-1854.jpg?m=1372889754 (http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/albums/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-1854.jpg?m=1372889753)

New tie-rod ends from J-Auto.net:

http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/resizes/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-1948.jpg?m=1372889799 (http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/albums/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-1948.jpg?m=1372889798)

http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/resizes/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-2003.jpg?m=1372889808 (http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/albums/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-2003.jpg?m=1372889807)

http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/resizes/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-2034.jpg?m=1372889838 (http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/albums/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-2034.jpg?m=1372889836)

http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/resizes/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-2049.jpg?m=1372889864 (http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/albums/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-2049.jpg?m=1372889863)

http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/resizes/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-2054.jpg?m=1372889884 (http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/albums/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-2054.jpg?m=1372889883)

All back together (still waiting on the boots to come from J-Auto.net though:

http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/resizes/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-2131.jpg?m=1372889904 (http://gallery.tfrascone.net/var/albums/cars/rx7_93/2013-07-02/2013-07-02-2131.jpg?m=1372889903)

[JustJeff]

Maybe this was answered and I missed it, but the fittings that were removed. I assume they are just cut off and the holes welded shut? I'm having a hard time getting the hardlines out at those points and would really like to simply cut them off, or break the off. Breaking them off probably would make me feel better, but also probably isn't the best course of action.

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z259/justjeff_photos/PS%20Rack/steeringrack.jpg (http://s191.photobucket.com/user/justjeff_photos/media/PS%20Rack/steeringrack.jpg.html)

Also how do I get the outer tie rods to break free? Put a wrench on both the locking nut and tie rod and turn them opposite directions? I tried this after soaking them in PB Blaster with no luck. I was going to heat then up, but I was out of gas for my little torch.

[theorie]

^ Cut them off. I cut them off on a band saw in a matter of seconds, then welded the holes.

[Whizbang]

^^ that's what i did. Cut, welded, grind smooth

[infernosg]

Maybe this was answered and I missed it, but the fittings that were removed. I assume they are just cut off and the holes welded shut? I'm having a hard time getting the hardlines out at those points and would really like to simply cut them off, or break the off. Breaking them off probably would make me feel better, but also probably isn't the best course of action.
Yep, cut, weld, smooth, and paint!


Also how do I get the outer tie rods to break free? Put a wrench on both the locking nut and tie rod and turn them opposite directions? I tried this after soaking them in PB Blaster with no luck. I was going to heat then up, but I was out of gas for my little torch.
This is what I did but I didn't have any difficulty. I also used a very large wrench so I was able to apply a lot of torque to the tie rod. I also didn't have any issues with damaged threads as mentioned in the original post.

[JustJeff]

Yep, cut, weld, smooth, and paint!



This is what I did but I didn't have any difficulty. I also used a very large wrench so I was able to apply a lot of torque to the tie rod. I also didn't have any issues with damaged threads as mentioned in the original post.

The purpose of the lock nut is simply to hold the tie rod in place so that it doesn't walk its way in towards the car, correct? What I really need to focus on is breaking the tie rod free correct?

If that's the case, I may borrow a big pipe from work and put it over my vice grips. Do it similar to flywheel nut...though, hopefully having to use less torque :P

[Whizbang]

tie rods were easy for me. I had a hard time with the damn giant size locing ring for the pinion though. Mostly because i had to go and buy a silly huge pipe wrench to make it work.