Steering rack bushes - patience of a saint

[kardiak]

My bargain 182 had some very vague steering when I picked it up, and after taking it to get the tracking done, it couldnt make up its mind where the wheel should center, the guy doing the laser alignment finally twigged the rack bushes had died... and the whole thing was sliding about.

So off i toddle to Renault, two new Rack bushes bolts and half clampy things and Im £40 lighter. It had the SMI rack, the parts guy knew his stuff so top marks to Renault Norwich, in that past ive had to fight the parts guy at Nissan who wont do anything without a chasis number, so that made a pleasant change.

Changing the bushes was not so pleasant, straightforward enough job, but you guys must have the patience of saints, everythings so damn jam packed in there my hands feel like ive cleaned them with a wire brush.

Still job done, and the handlings transformed, really enjoyed the test drive home and am begining to understand why these little cars have such a good rep.

Onwards and upwards... Aux belt next, that looks fun.

 

[rich-6]

Onwards and upwards... Aux belt next, that looks fun.

Erm its not lol

 

[Hutchie]

aux belt is fine, its the next one in thats more of an arse.

 

[kardiak]

I've read the guide but that's cam and auxiliary together, do you need to remove the engine mount and move the engine up and down just to do the auxiliary?

 

[rich-6]

I've read the guide but that's cam and auxiliary together, do you need to remove the engine mount and move the engine up and down just to do the auxiliary?

Yeah,

TBH as Hutchie says its not too bad a job, just take your time, I had my old one off and new one in place ready to go on in an hour, Then i broke the tensioner cast lol So it took a bit longer

 

[Russ_16v]

lol they are a bit of a pain

 

[Gray]

hmmm... where are these bushes located? (or are you reffering to the inner ARB bushes?)

 

[topp_shotta]

Guide would be nice, as meny people also suffer this problem, bloody renault cheese made parts

 

[sideways danny]

hmmm... where are these bushes located? (or are you reffering to the inner ARB bushes?)

they clamp around the rack and hold it to the subframe

 

[Gray]

ahhh!

 

[caister]

Is there an easy way to tell if the rack is moving about?

 

[kardiak]

From inside the c0ckpit mine was fairly obvious, after a 90 degree left turn the steering wheel would be on the piss to the left when driving in a straight line, but then slowly go back to almost straight as i continued to drive, also it was very vague on turn in and would float about under heavy braking.

From underneath, but with the wheels on the ground (4 poster ramp/pit) i guess you'd need to know what your looking for, there is supposed to be some flex, thats why its bushed, but not as much as mine was exhibiting, try and find a good car to compare it to if its not obvious.

 

[nathanH]

Did you find that when stationary with the engine on, if you turn the wheel from left to right you can feel a knocking down in the foot well as if its taking up the play etc

 

[kardiak]

Nope, the D bush has a lip round the edge so there was no metal to metal contact on mine, no clonk, but if the bushes are even further gone than mine were its possible i guess.

 

[Alex_X93]

Did mine ages ago along with rack ends controll arms etc made a noted improvment. nathanH yes especially in - temps, there is nylon bush on end of 1of the inner rack end threads also.

 

[Chri5]

What a C00nt of a job these are, Im doing mine and having trouble getting to the 13mm bolt

 

[Beasley Clio182]

What a C00nt of a job these are, Im doing mine and having trouble getting to the 13mm bolt

​Did mine this afternoon , i used a quarter inch long snap on ratchet with a shallow 13mm socket if it helps, made it easier once i knew how they worked !! the bolt is captive that the 13mm tights down to so once you loosen it a little , itll spin the whole thing so pull the bolt forward then undo the nut if that makes sense ? lol

 

[davebem]

What a C00nt of a job these are, Im doing mine and having trouble getting to the 13mm bolt

I changed mine last weekend, I found the the o/s 13mm nut impossible to get to from underneath with any of my spanners/sockets, but after a while I realised it was easily accesible by removing the o/s wheel and plastic trim, theres then plenty of room to get to it from the side.

Made a hell of a difference once done.

 

[Chri5]

Cheers for the replies guys, I figured it out before I came back to read them though, after much swearing lol!!

I managed to get in with a 13mm ratchet spanner from the side (like you suggested^^^) but still whilst laying under the car What a pig though...the whole process, for such a seemingly simple bush change! But they're all done at last. Not driven it yet though!

 

[rollerdan]

Think ima get this done ! And inner tie rods

 

[Chri5]

Well Ive driven it and its definately behaving differently, but now the tracking is way out (It was set before whilst things were obviously moving about) but its "consistantly pulling to the left when braking hard" lol instead of doing whatever it feels like.

Ive ordered some new genuine wishbones and ball joints (cheap ball joints dont last long), some Koni adjustables and going to get some new top mounts too then get it tracked, again!!

 

[Beasley Clio182]

It's made a big difference to my driving but mine were KNACKERED lol

 

[pbufton]

Had a read of all these posts and it seems I have this problem too..but if i turn lock to lock whilst stood there are some odd noises coming from the footwell. Some of it is the springs but i've noticed the steering wheel being off centre on a straight road, then another day its smack where its supposed to be. another job to be done

 

[Chri5]

Mine was like that too, it'd sit in different places depending on the previous steering input lol! Now it sits on the pi$$ in the same place regardless!

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Mine was like that too, it'd sit in different places depending on the previous steering input lol! Now it sits on the pi$$ in the same place regardless!

If your doing the arms etc I'd get it all done then tracked up ! Lol

Luckily my steering sits alright but it was tracked up before very well by a friend lol