DIY steering rack replacement - "steer" clear??

[aj_mckay]

My 318iS needs the power steering rack replacing as the current one is leaking.

I'm gonna try and get hold of a replacement from somewhere but does anyone know if this is the sort of job a novice like me could do over a weekend?

A mate says he can help me out with tools etc and I've had a read through the article guide on here and looked in the trusty Haines manual and it doesn't sound TOO disgustingly difficult.

Anyone with experience of this? Should I steer clear and get it checked into the local garage for the work or is it something I should be able to do on the drive at home???

Any thoughts gratefully received!!

Cheers,

Adam.

[Dave_M3]

Easy enough to do your self.

It's just a few nuts and bolts holdiing on the rack and might require abit of force to get the ball joints of the track rod ends to drop out of the hubs.

Just a case of swaping it over then and doing up the banjo bolts and re-filling with oil.

No point paying a garage to do it if you can get the tools yourself and have the time over the weekend

[chu346]

It's easy enough.

[smithy318i]

Pretty easy to DIY.

2 nuts/bolts hold the rack onto the front crossmember, a balljoint on the end of each trackrod.
Disconnect the pipes from the pump and reservoir, bend the flanges down a bit and extract the rack forwards.

[chu346]

bend the flanges down a bit

Yeah!

Nobody told me that and I was struggling for ages. Don't bend them too much though, it's easy to get them out of shape

[Ziggy]

Do it - not a difficult job at all, as above!

[aj_mckay]

Cheers lads, all I gotta do now is find a suitable replacement rack can't afford a new or even re-con one at the moment so will just have to get hold of a used one and hope for the best!

Also, someone mentioned that if I disconnect the belt to the PAS pump I should be ok to use it in the mean time (obviously with heavier steering tho). What u reckon?

[secondtimelucky]

Incoming hi-jack would this be the same for a manual rack (minus pipework)?

[SPADGE]

Cheers lads, all I gotta do now is find a suitable replacement rack can't afford a new or even re-con one at the moment so will just have to get hold of a used one and hope for the best!

Also, someone mentioned that if I disconnect the belt to the PAS pump I should be ok to use it in the mean time (obviously with heavier steering tho). What u reckon?

I have a decent s/hand rack here you can have for 40 quid.

[aj_mckay]

cheers jules, what'll it be posted? i'll have it if it's in good nick and is suitable for me to transplant straight into my iS.

Adam.

[SPADGE]

cheers jules, what'll it be posted? i'll have it if it's in good nick and is suitable for me to transplant straight into my iS.

Adam.

It'll bolt straight into the iS mate.
It would be easier to meet-up than post as they are awkward feckers to package
If all else fails i could post it and the cost would be circa £15 with Parcelforce with a small allowance for reams of bubble wrap.

[aj_mckay]

cheers jules, what'll it be posted? i'll have it if it's in good nick and is suitable for me to transplant straight into my iS.

Adam.

It'll bolt straight into the iS mate.
It would be easier to meet-up than post as they are awkward feckers to package
If all else fails i could post it and the cost would be circa £15 with Parcelforce with a small allowance for reams of bubble wrap.

Cool, let me know where I could meet you - can prob get up towards MK this wk end otherwise might have to ask you to post it (at my expense of course!).

[magoose]

Definately diy, i got the seal kit from the stealership for mine and recon'd it myself. easy enough, you just need a hell of a lot of patients!

[SPADGE]

cheers jules, what'll it be posted? i'll have it if it's in good nick and is suitable for me to transplant straight into my iS.

Adam.

It'll bolt straight into the iS mate.
It would be easier to meet-up than post as they are awkward feckers to package
If all else fails i could post it and the cost would be circa £15 with Parcelforce with a small allowance for reams of bubble wrap.

Cool, let me know where I could meet you - can prob get up towards MK this wk end otherwise might have to ask you to post it (at my expense of course!).

Damn right you would be paying lol
I'm around all day Saturday but have a Golf match Sunday from Midday.
Give me a ring if you want to arrange something 07718 901737
Cheers Jules..

[Nelly]

Easy peasy diy

[B7]

Who voted "steer clear"? It's a peice of p1ss.

[aj_mckay]

It'll bolt straight into the iS mate.
It would be easier to meet-up than post as they are awkward feckers to package
If all else fails i could post it and the cost would be circa £15 with Parcelforce with a small allowance for reams of bubble wrap.

Cool, let me know where I could meet you - can prob get up towards MK this wk end otherwise might have to ask you to post it (at my expense of course!).

Damn right you would be paying lol
I'm around all day Saturday but have a Golf match Sunday from Midday.
Give me a ring if you want to arrange something 07718 901737
Cheers Jules..

Cheers, I'll give you a bell friday/sat when i know how i'm fixed and when i'll be over for it.

[aj_mckay]

Who voted "steer clear"? It's a peice of p1ss.

haha, if only i could find out....

[dave525]

hard to tell from pics but gasket looks suspect on number 6.block needs to be much cleaner than in pic when head refitted.make sure radiator/waterpump cooling fan etc ok as no 6 furthest away for coolant flow.if gasket old then can go cos of poor/uneven cooling.if you make a good job of repair then should be good as new . good luck

[dave525]

ignore my last post as i seem to have become a penis and replied to the wrong thread

[aj_mckay]

Replacement rack all bolted in and working fine - not a bad job in the end! Cheers for the rack SPADGE...

[jacko]

Ahh shute, it sounds so easy I might just change mine tomorrow

[aj_mckay]

It's a piece of p1ss TBH. Bit of jiggling needed here and there to 'encourage' things to budge but that's to be expected i suppose!