E85 Steering rack issues - hard to resolve
- Thread starter ryushe
- Start date
raymond.harper
Senior member
This one is LHD https://www.autodoc.co.uk/delco-remy/11057712ryushe said:
I have struggled with the same problem. My EPS is working and I have adjusted the ring many times but it still self steer on highway speed. I have made all possible testing exept looking inside the steering rack. Yesterday I took the steering rack out of the car. Is was bone dry inside and it also showed wear at 12’o clock. After cleaning and lubing I put the steering rack back and put the preload in position so there was no play in it. I don’t know if this is a permanent soulution but it helped a lot. It now drives much better 
Maklo said:I have struggled with the same problem. My EPS is working and I have adjusted the ring many times but it still self steer on highway speed. I have made all possible testing exept looking inside the steering rack. Yesterday I took the steering rack out of the car. Is was bone dry inside and it also showed wear at 12’o clock. After cleaning and lubing I put the steering rack back and put the preload in position so there was no play in it. I don’t know if this is a permanent soulution but it helped a lot. It now drives much better
Interesting. How tough a job this was? I might try this myself, so I would be grateful for any tips, links to videos if you used any, etc.
Not to hard to do. Before I took it out I tested the steering with the engine of, the front wheels in the air and the tie rods not connected. The steering felt loose in the center and heavy of center. The loose feeeling appeared again after one turn of the steering wheel in each direction probably due to wear on the pinion.
Dismantling the steering rack:
Take the plastic cover of, release the big clips from the rubber boots, release the inner ball joints from the rack, release the column at lower u-joint (torx bolt) and finally release the two bolts holding the steering rack. When the steering rack is out you can take a closer look at it. I only took the preload adjuster apart. A full dismantling may be better to do so everything can be cleaned up but my dust cover was stuck and I was afraid to break it. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures during the work
Don’t forget to use thread locking on the torx bolt when you reassemble.
Good luck!
Dismantling the steering rack:
Take the plastic cover of, release the big clips from the rubber boots, release the inner ball joints from the rack, release the column at lower u-joint (torx bolt) and finally release the two bolts holding the steering rack. When the steering rack is out you can take a closer look at it. I only took the preload adjuster apart. A full dismantling may be better to do so everything can be cleaned up but my dust cover was stuck and I was afraid to break it. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures during the work
Don’t forget to use thread locking on the torx bolt when you reassemble.Good luck!
Not to hard to do. Before I took it out I tested the steering with the engine of, the front wheels in the air and the tie rods not connected. The steering felt loose in the center and heavy of center. The loose feeeling appeared again after one turn of the steering wheel in each direction probably due to wear on the pinion.perttu said:
Dismantling the steering rack:
Take the plastic cover of, release the big clips from the rubber boots, release the inner ball joints from the rack, release the column at lower u-joint (torx bolt) and finally release the two bolts holding the steering rack. When the steering rack is out you can take a closer look at it. I only took the preload adjuster apart. A full dismantling may be better to do so everything can be cleaned up but my dust cover was stuck and I was afraid to break it. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures during the work
Don’t forget to use thread locking on the torx bolt when you reassemble.Good luck!
Maklo said:Not to hard to do. Before I took it out I tested the steering with the engine of, the front wheels in the air and the tie rods not connected. The steering felt loose in the center and heavy of center. The loose feeeling appeared again after one turn of the steering wheel in each direction probably due to wear on the pinion.perttu said:
Dismantling the steering rack:
Take the plastic cover of, release the big clips from the rubber boots, release the inner ball joints from the rack, release the column at lower u-joint (torx bolt) and finally release the two bolts holding the steering rack. When the steering rack is out you can take a closer look at it. I only took the preload adjuster apart. A full dismantling may be better to do so everything can be cleaned up but my dust cover was stuck and I was afraid to break it. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures during the work
Good luck!
Thanks for this, much appreciated
.I found a guide how to set the preload on the steering rack. Take a look at this clip, start from 6 min. https://youtu.be/9KUJOvYR23A I did this adjustment today without taking the steering rack of. You can feel if the movement is smooth with the wheels in the air and the engine of. It made a huge improvement to my steering issue
ryushe said:
Everytime i read prices in this forum, i think the same. I think we're just cursed that NL is a non-petrolhead country (by majority)
@ryushe I just remembred. theres a bloke in Belgium that has two Z4's for parts. Got my replacement wind deflector from him. I can pass his Marktplaats profile to you if youre interested
Maklo said:I found a guide how to set the preload on the steering rack. Take a look at this clip, start from 6 min. https://youtu.be/9KUJOvYR23A I did this adjustment today without taking the steering rack of. You can feel if the movement is smooth with the wheels in the air and the engine of. It made a huge improvement to my steering issue
Thanks again, seems like a nice one.
So, did I get it right: to clean and lube the rack, you take the steering gear out of the car, and then you can just move the rack left and right inside the housing and clean and lube the visible part of the rack as you go? You don't have to take the steering gear apart more than just remove it from the car?
Also, for the preload adjustment, did you use the special tool mentioned in the video, or you can do it with a standard tool only?
perttu said:
I did just like you discribed at first and it made my steering feel better. Today I took the rack out again and took it apart. It is worn on both pininon and rack
I cleaned and lubed everything up and put it together with the pinion turned 180 degrees. I can still feel the wear in center but not as much as before.I used a wrench to the set the preload.
Attachments
Josvi said:
I eventually found a second hand LHD low mileage (34k ish!) steering rack in the US and had it shipped and fitted here. Seemed to fix things just fine.
My original rack had some (very minor) play in it, more than I would've liked. Took it apart, cleaned it up, and installed a grease nipple. No more play at all. Your reply reminded me I need to put it up for sale, it's just gathering dust at the moment :lol: