Play in steering rack

i have some play in my steering column or rack, if i wiggle the steering wheel from side to side you can feel a feint knock. you can REALLY feel it if you grab the tie rod, which to me says there is play in the rack.

i know it's not the tie rods or anything simple, as i've disconnected the track rod ends from the hubs so i just have the tie rods floating in the air and it still knocks if i wiggle the steering wheel.

rack bushes are new as they were worn anyway. if i grab the u/j closest to the rack there is no play.

any suggestions? i've read you can adjust the rack via bolt, but don't know where this bolt is.

cheers

i had this on my dCi and it was the rack end balljoints (the bit that looks like a drumstick). There is an adjuster on the rack but its a right shunt to get at and adjust if you look straight up from underneith from where the steering colum is you will see a small hole in the subframe, you have to relieve the steaking and turn it clockwise in 180 degree incraments (10mm allen key iirc) and the re steak it.

is it obvious how to relieve the staking (never heard of that before)

I have the same problem but my squeaks to as I'm steering at low speeds, it's bloody doing my nut in now,

kpmatthews said:

is it obvious how to relieve the staking (never heard of that before)

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best to have a look it depends on your technical knowledge i suppose

Knowledge should be ok. Do u know what the stake adjustment is usually used for? Is it to align the rack, or tighten the pinion/gear assembly?

tighten the pinion/ gear assenbly

is this the item i'm looking for? doesn't look accessible without removing the rack. due to lack of sight i can't see how to remove the stake unless it's the big plastic ring around the hex hole.


here you can see the gap in the subframe


this is it from the other side

thats the kiddie

well, i had some success. i dropped the rack off it's mounts and tightened it 180 degrees. steering was alot tighter which was great, and it got rid of the play i could feel in the system, but it was so tight the car wouldn't straighten itself up! with the wheel at a 45 degree angle it would stay on that course if i took my hands off the wheel! rather than drop the rack again i widened the hole a little so i could get a hex in there with the rack in situ. i backed it off 90 degrees and it was a little better. it wouldn't straighten itself up from say a 15 degree angle, but it was easier to steer and the play wasn't apparent. so i backed it off another 45 degrees and this time it almost straightened itself up. i still couldn't feel the play which was good, but it felt horrible to drive, didn't inspire confidence at all, felt like it had a mind of it's own.

the firmess in the steering with the pinion tightened 180 degrees was excellent, if only i could find a way for the car to straighten itself up.

I know this is old thread but I must reply. Steering rack is definitely not adjusted in 180 degree turns. Its spring loaded and turning bolt clockwise linearly tightens the spring. I would advice 10 degree increments for a start , most times you need to adjust multiple times for perfect steering stiffness without play, its almost like adjusting steering angle from tie rods, very little does much.

Thread resurrection.... But does anyone have any tips for accessing the adjuster without completely removing the rack?

Jumpinjim said:

Thread resurrection.... But does anyone have any tips for accessing the adjuster without completely removing the rack?

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i widened the hole just enough using a belt sander so that i could fit a 10mm hex bit in there whilst everything was left in situ.

kghb4 said:

i widened the hole just enough using a belt sander so that i could fit a 10mm hex bit in there whilst everything was left in situ.

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I did the same!

So I did the far more annoying, long-winded thing and took the rack off it's mounts, disconnected the lower UJ and moved and rotated the rack forward to get to the adjuster.

I lucked into an adjustment that seemed to work.

I was able to tighten the adjuster clockwise by about 120 degrees. I then backed it off by 60 degrees.

Much better steering - no clicking whilst dry steering. Less noise (feel). The car also seemed to be less affected by ruts and broken surfaces, holding a steered line much better.

I paint marked the final position in red. I didn't stake the nut again but I can observe any torque relaxation from underneath with the undertray off.