changing the steering rack on a 2.1 d8

[omega]

mr mot man failed my rack today as theres fluid leaking from the right hand side of the rack and he wants 450 pound to fit a new one and i havnt got that sort of cash
now ive got mr haynes and it doesnt look to bad a job[ but not easy]
ive also got a spare 2.1 car that i bought of mountain so i can pratice on that to see how easy it really is so
1 is worth taking the rack of my spare car and swapping it?what do i check for before removing apart from leaks and split gaitors?
2 ive seen new racks at about 200 pounds but does anyone no a place where i can get one cheaper?
3 any help advice about the job welcome
cheers

[Lee406]

I've changed racks on various cars, VW Polo, 205 GTi, Ford Focus and its not really that difficult a job. Go for it.. I would be soaking as many nuts and bolts as you can get to in WD40 for a day or so before you attempt the remove the rack.

Follow the manual and you cant go wrong.

If you have a spare car, just take the rack off that and put it on yours.

[mjb]

This is how I'd try to attack it:

Car front off the ground (jack the centre of the subframe, axle stands on the jacking points)
Remove wheels
Soak hub carrier balljoints in WD40 overnight. Do NOT skip this! Re-soak a few times if you can!
Remove the drop links, track rod ends then the wishbones from the hub carrier. Might be a pain and involve cutting and replacement drop links!!!
Get under, unbolt the bottom engine mount. Can't remember which way round the bolts go but hopefully you can remove the bolt that goes through the bush without touching the EVIL EVIL EVIL wheelarch liner
Undo the 2 small bolts holding the PAS pipes to the subframe. Might be an idea to remove any other bolts holding the pipes while you're at it
Undo the 2 large steering rack nuts from the subframe. Beware there's a washer on each between the subframe and rack
Stick a jack under the subframe and take its weight
Remove the Subframe bolts undoing them all a bit at a time. These are about 4-5" long! Be careful as the subframe is VERY heavy so you want to make sure it stays balanced on the jack
Move the subframe out the way but try to keep it balanced on the jack
Undo the PAS pipes from the rack and cover them with something like cling film and a rubber band to prevent spillage
Undo the steering column from the rack (don't know how, sorry!)
Remove the rack


The two most time consuming parts will be removing the balljoints and if you find you have to remove them, faffing about with the wheelarch liners. Seriously...

While you're under there, check the condition of the driveshaft gaiters. These tend to fail after about 10 years and are common MOT failures. Also check the condition of the bottom engine mount bush. While the subframe's off you're in a great position to renew it. A replacement bush is about £15 if memory serves but is a bit of a pig to press in

[omega]

thanks for that folks bolts already soaking on both cars as i thought of that
mr haynes doesnt say anything about dropping the subframe so thats good info as im sure thats going to make the job easier
now my car has red steering fluid in it but my spare has what looks like oil in it[eg its not red] but haynes says automatic transmission fluid so has the spec changed or is red the way to go and someone has used the wrong stuff in the past on my spare car?

[Lee406]

Red fluid is correct.. but also sometimes greeny colour which goes brown overtime..

[omega]

thanks for a ll the info
had a call ftom a parts place that says they have a rack for 130 pounds so sounds a bargin but they didnt need a chassie number and everywhere else did should i be worried?

[mjb]

thanks for a ll the info
had a call ftom a parts place that says they have a rack for 130 pounds so sounds a bargin but they didnt need a chassie number and everywhere else did should i be worried?

There's about 10 different steering racks for right hand drive 406s, so I'd say avoid it unless you can confirm the age+engine of the source vehicle

[steve_earwig]

10 different racks fitted, but only 2 replacements (4000HV > Nov. 1999 > 4000HJ) What's that about?

[omega]

well they reckon theres only one for my 1990 2.1 diesel and they say they will take it back so think il go for it,dont want to take the spare off the car and then find that mr mot man doesnt like it

[omega]

10 different racks fitted, but only 2 replacements (4000HV > Nov. 1999 > 4000HJ) What's that about?

well i think i know?
after much uming and ahing i bit the bullet and bought the new rack after being told it would fit' and as i thinking of keeping the car for a long time i thought it was the best idea
took the advice above and with mr haynes by my side i got stuck in
3 and a bit hours later the rack is finally released and im a happy bunny i compare the new rack to the old and it all looks good so after giving myself a few pats on the back i start to fit the new rack
40 minutes later im not a happy bunny
the diffrence is in the power steering pipes mine has a banjo type bolt that holds the pipe in after trying to get mine to fit in i removed the rack to discover theres no thread!!!
the new rack came with bungs in so i just removed them and didnt check to see if there was a thread
on the new rack ive got between the two holes is a threaded hole which i think is for a clamp to hold the pipes in
so the diffrence is one type of rack the pipes bolt in and the other type clamp in so if you doing this job check what you have got.
i thought i might swap the part where the pipes go in with my old rack as it looks like the top would unbolt[2 allen bolts].
but as im not sure what i would be doing ithought no as you dont want your steering messing up
so phoned up the place where i got my rack from and had a argument.they said its the right one and implied that i was twat.
so got cleaned up phoned a mate up as the parts place is 3 mile away and down i went took the new rack into the shop found the bloke i spoke to on the phone and told him i wanted my money back as it was wrong.he said it was right and as id fitted it was used and so they wouldnt have it back .buy now voices have been raised and the other people in the shop are tacking a intrest so i storm out of the shop and get the old rack that i had tacken off out of the car and bang it down on the counter[oldfluid making a mess ] and point out whats wrong.he then goes to get his manager they look at the computer and after a few minutes agree that its the wrong part so i say whats the word you looking for then? the manager bloke says sorry but the parts guy just sits there.so i said to him pardon i didnt hear what you said so he grudgeling aplozied.
a small victorey, and im sure he would have called me a few names later when ive gone.
but the bad news is they cant get one till thursday so no car but manager has said they will deliver to my home address
so over all not a great day.

[omega]

well i think the car place got there revenge
rack didnt turn up so they said id get it first thing on thursday
9 oclock came and went so did 10 and 11
phoned them up and they said its on the wrong van we get it to you asap finally turned up at 3pm not a happy bunny
so i had to cancel the retest and book in today
good news it passed