TVR Aluminium Steering rack Overhaul
Discussion
Whilst I know this topic has been covered before various times across the forum's i've always thought they lacked a little depth so here's my attempt at hopefully clearing any questions that people may have.
The rack I overhauled was a Tamora rack which I will be swapping with my Cerbera rack due to excessive play in the central position. As far as I'm aware essentially all the aluminium racks are the same which I will be able to confirm once my rack is out of my car.
I done most of the overhaul at work, but other then the 60mm socket easily done at home in a garage
Once the rack has been removed from the car, and placed in a vice, it is essential to find the central position of the rack. Best way is to measure either side of the rack bar to get it equal. Once this is done, mark the pinion shaft and mark the outer casting so that you can easily find the central position on reassembly
This is the rack in question
The big end nut, which has one of the seals in, mind did bind up as you can see, even with heating the nut up to loosen the sealant. Easily removed with a 60mm socket and racket
End of rack bar where the big nut is
These are mainly reference photos for when putting it back together, (i'm not that old that i forget but always handy for people)
Adjuster plate for adjusting out any slop in the rack, but only works for an amount of time before parts need replacing
Inside of adjuster pressure plate
Spring and nylon guide
Valve body held on with Three M8 bolts.
Rack bar seal, The white seal is sandwiched between the two plates with an o ring inside
Valve body mounting to the rack body, there are shims placed between the valve body and rack, you can just about make out the needle bearing.
Rack body showing the threaded end where the big nut goes shows some of the aluminium where it had bound up
Valve body, pinion, seals in order.
Rack exploded after complete strip down.
Seals on the pinion, and bearing
Looking into the bore of the cylinder end of the rack with the inner seal, pain to remove, i tried a internal bearing puller with uses a slide hammer, there is nothing to grip onto even from the other end, in the end, i chiselled the sides in not very elegant i know with some marking of the bore which i cleaned up by polishing the bore
I did try heating the cylinder to see if expanding would work, also burning it out which neither worked.
To clean out the threads i used a thread file, but in the end i had to use get a 45 x 1.5mm tap to get the threads correct as even after using the file the new big nut got tight to early.
New seal in the valve body with the shim and circlip refitted this is the spline end
Valve body lower seal.
M45 x 1.5mm tap, was lucky to find a used one for £50 new they are £200, i search high and low to find one at work and nothing, done the job
Rack bar seal minus the top plate and circlip, showing o ring and pfte seal
I put the new inner cylinder seal in with a socket and extention bar, couple of taps with a copper hide mallet and seated nicely.
Rack bar back into the rack using some new ATF
I spoke to kiley clinton where i was able to get a seal kit from £58 posted, they recommended Loctie 243, which luckily use at work, i did ask for a torque setting but they only told me nipped up which with a 60mm socket and foot and a bit racket nipped up is pretty tight.
I considered lots of ways to stop it binding in the future, but because of having to use a thread sealant you cant really use one, which may limit the amount of times a rack can be dismantled with it destroying threads.
I assume part of the premature wear of the rack either the bar or pinion is part down to lubrication. I found when cleaning out the rack that they had used white lithium grease. I used cv lithium grease when rebuilding.
New dowty washers between the banjo bolts
Completed rack, the loctite lid was just to stop the ATF coming out, which didn't work, so fitted some hydraulic blanks, the fittings are AN6 fittings
I plan on fitting a filter on the return line when I swap them out, plus new seals in the pump.
Hope this may help people in the future
Peter
I found the safest way to remove the inner seal was to soke the rack casting in thinners which melted the seal and makes it easier to pop it out. I had the option to leave it in the thinners for a couple of weeks but saves damaging the inner bore.
The rack I overhauled was a Tamora rack which I will be swapping with my Cerbera rack due to excessive play in the central position. As far as I'm aware essentially all the aluminium racks are the same which I will be able to confirm once my rack is out of my car.
I done most of the overhaul at work, but other then the 60mm socket easily done at home in a garage
Once the rack has been removed from the car, and placed in a vice, it is essential to find the central position of the rack. Best way is to measure either side of the rack bar to get it equal. Once this is done, mark the pinion shaft and mark the outer casting so that you can easily find the central position on reassembly
This is the rack in question
The big end nut, which has one of the seals in, mind did bind up as you can see, even with heating the nut up to loosen the sealant. Easily removed with a 60mm socket and racket
End of rack bar where the big nut is
These are mainly reference photos for when putting it back together, (i'm not that old that i forget but always handy for people)
Adjuster plate for adjusting out any slop in the rack, but only works for an amount of time before parts need replacing
Inside of adjuster pressure plate
Spring and nylon guide
Valve body held on with Three M8 bolts.
Rack bar seal, The white seal is sandwiched between the two plates with an o ring inside
Valve body mounting to the rack body, there are shims placed between the valve body and rack, you can just about make out the needle bearing.
Rack body showing the threaded end where the big nut goes shows some of the aluminium where it had bound up
Valve body, pinion, seals in order.
Rack exploded after complete strip down.
Seals on the pinion, and bearing
Looking into the bore of the cylinder end of the rack with the inner seal, pain to remove, i tried a internal bearing puller with uses a slide hammer, there is nothing to grip onto even from the other end, in the end, i chiselled the sides in not very elegant i know with some marking of the bore which i cleaned up by polishing the bore
I did try heating the cylinder to see if expanding would work, also burning it out which neither worked.
To clean out the threads i used a thread file, but in the end i had to use get a 45 x 1.5mm tap to get the threads correct as even after using the file the new big nut got tight to early.
New seal in the valve body with the shim and circlip refitted this is the spline end
Valve body lower seal.
M45 x 1.5mm tap, was lucky to find a used one for £50 new they are £200, i search high and low to find one at work and nothing, done the job
Rack bar seal minus the top plate and circlip, showing o ring and pfte seal
I put the new inner cylinder seal in with a socket and extention bar, couple of taps with a copper hide mallet and seated nicely.
Rack bar back into the rack using some new ATF
I spoke to kiley clinton where i was able to get a seal kit from £58 posted, they recommended Loctie 243, which luckily use at work, i did ask for a torque setting but they only told me nipped up which with a 60mm socket and foot and a bit racket nipped up is pretty tight.
I considered lots of ways to stop it binding in the future, but because of having to use a thread sealant you cant really use one, which may limit the amount of times a rack can be dismantled with it destroying threads.
I assume part of the premature wear of the rack either the bar or pinion is part down to lubrication. I found when cleaning out the rack that they had used white lithium grease. I used cv lithium grease when rebuilding.
New dowty washers between the banjo bolts
Completed rack, the loctite lid was just to stop the ATF coming out, which didn't work, so fitted some hydraulic blanks, the fittings are AN6 fittings
I plan on fitting a filter on the return line when I swap them out, plus new seals in the pump.
Hope this may help people in the future
Peter
I found the safest way to remove the inner seal was to soke the rack casting in thinners which melted the seal and makes it easier to pop it out. I had the option to leave it in the thinners for a couple of weeks but saves damaging the inner bore.
Edited by pmessling on Thursday 4th February 20:15
Edited by pmessling on Tuesday 12th July 16:13
Plan B is a scooby rack have one sat in the garage was going to be my first option but then the tamora rack come up on eBay. The pinion and rack bar seem to be available. Was going to look into some companies to reproduce on for me if needed. But waiting to see what's worn first. My original racks only covered 30k with the wear showing after about 27k so pretty short lift span. I can only think lack of grease or the pinion and rack bar not being properly hardened.
No doesn't clunk the uj's are relatively new and haven't really covered many miles.
I've checked the uj's when turning the wheel and looking at the rack the steering wheel uj's etc move but no movement in the rack itself.
So sounds definitely like the rack.
35k well that sort of says if all really.
I've checked the uj's when turning the wheel and looking at the rack the steering wheel uj's etc move but no movement in the rack itself.
So sounds definitely like the rack.
35k well that sort of says if all really.
Managed to get the rack out today in about three hours, drained the coolant, removed all the coolant hoses and pipes, and still amazing what a mess the cooling system is.
I left the track rods on till last but should have been one of the first things to take off but never mind.
Now just got to order, track rods, new hoses and get the power steering pump off.
Here is a vid of the play at the uj attached to the rack
Lots of pieces to put back in
A vid of the rack itself and the play present at the central position. I won't know until i take it to work the extent of the wear to the rack bar or pinion. but one thing i did notice is the lack of grease.
If you have a nice tight rack (oh err) i would take the tension plate off and put some grease in there to extend its life.
More to follow next week
I left the track rods on till last but should have been one of the first things to take off but never mind.
Now just got to order, track rods, new hoses and get the power steering pump off.
Here is a vid of the play at the uj attached to the rack
Lots of pieces to put back in
A vid of the rack itself and the play present at the central position. I won't know until i take it to work the extent of the wear to the rack bar or pinion. but one thing i did notice is the lack of grease.
If you have a nice tight rack (oh err) i would take the tension plate off and put some grease in there to extend its life.
More to follow next week
Some further information.
I was able to have a look at my original rack at lunch time yesterday to find out more about the wear and whats caused it.
The wear is definately from lack of lubrication, but also very evident from my rack is some degree of water ingress, in the five and half years i've own my car the rack has never leaked, i did a few years back replace the gators not that they were damaged just because i was doing a refresh at the front end, there has never been any evidence of water getting into the rack itself.
AS I SAID BEFORE IF YOU HAVE A GOOD RACK MAKE SURE YOU PUT SOME GREASE IN
On to a few photos of the wear on the pinion, the rack looks okay to me, i'm going to put them in the rust removal tank at work for a day or two to clean them up.
I was also able to get the big nut of without loosing any threads, i did heat the end up again with a blow torch that softens the sealant that is used.
How it looked once it had been removed, had to use some plus gas on the pinion shaft i think it had slighlty siezed inside the end bearing although span okay
Just about visable is how thin the pinion gear has become worn in comparision to the parts of the pinion that dont have any use, not to mention the corrosion, if you conpare it to the used rack i've overhauled then clearly shows what they should be like
Inside the rack housing where the pinion goes, how dried out the grease is, and contaminated with rust, what was in there did feel very gritty,
These are my findings, others maybe different but i feel that the general failure like any metal on metal contact is lack of lube.
I will overhaul this rack at sometime in the future but for now it will be cleaned and stored until i find time and money to put it back together.
I was able to have a look at my original rack at lunch time yesterday to find out more about the wear and whats caused it.
The wear is definately from lack of lubrication, but also very evident from my rack is some degree of water ingress, in the five and half years i've own my car the rack has never leaked, i did a few years back replace the gators not that they were damaged just because i was doing a refresh at the front end, there has never been any evidence of water getting into the rack itself.
AS I SAID BEFORE IF YOU HAVE A GOOD RACK MAKE SURE YOU PUT SOME GREASE IN
On to a few photos of the wear on the pinion, the rack looks okay to me, i'm going to put them in the rust removal tank at work for a day or two to clean them up.
I was also able to get the big nut of without loosing any threads, i did heat the end up again with a blow torch that softens the sealant that is used.
How it looked once it had been removed, had to use some plus gas on the pinion shaft i think it had slighlty siezed inside the end bearing although span okay
Just about visable is how thin the pinion gear has become worn in comparision to the parts of the pinion that dont have any use, not to mention the corrosion, if you conpare it to the used rack i've overhauled then clearly shows what they should be like
Inside the rack housing where the pinion goes, how dried out the grease is, and contaminated with rust, what was in there did feel very gritty,
These are my findings, others maybe different but i feel that the general failure like any metal on metal contact is lack of lube.
I will overhaul this rack at sometime in the future but for now it will be cleaned and stored until i find time and money to put it back together.
Edited by pmessling on Thursday 11th February 08:51
managed to extract the power steering pump today with the engine in so most doable, its tight but only moved the oil hose out of the way to gain better access. I may grind/file off part of the bracket that is welded to the sump as it makes it hard to get an allen key in there.
Power Assisted Steering Pump part number QVB101110. This fits the V8 engines in the Land Rover Discovery 1 & Range Rover Classic 92-94.
Cross referenced part numbers land rover ANR2157
ZF number 7691 974 145 or QVB101110
This webpage so some detailed photos of the pump http://www.bputah.com/Disco%20Parts/Land_Range_Rov...
Various prices from land rover, brit part some silly money, found a seal kit for £20 so will give that a go,
[URL=http://s100.photobucket.com/user/pmessling/media/E5CA1E1C-E8F6-4A1B-B26E-1FA092B1923E_zpsl4vbbwlt.jpg.html]
[/URL
Will be replacing all the hoses, washers etc, removed the rads out of the way to get the reservoir out for a proper clean before it all goes back in.
Power Assisted Steering Pump part number QVB101110. This fits the V8 engines in the Land Rover Discovery 1 & Range Rover Classic 92-94.
Cross referenced part numbers land rover ANR2157
ZF number 7691 974 145 or QVB101110
This webpage so some detailed photos of the pump http://www.bputah.com/Disco%20Parts/Land_Range_Rov...
Various prices from land rover, brit part some silly money, found a seal kit for £20 so will give that a go,
[URL=http://s100.photobucket.com/user/pmessling/media/E5CA1E1C-E8F6-4A1B-B26E-1FA092B1923E_zpsl4vbbwlt.jpg.html]
[/URLWill be replacing all the hoses, washers etc, removed the rads out of the way to get the reservoir out for a proper clean before it all goes back in.
The landrover PAS is QVB101110 the one that fits our cars. There is need for a few modifications for it to fit properly. The britpart ones has a two year warranty.
The Threaded mounted holes have to drilled out to 8.5mm clearance hole. The lower mounting hole has to have part of the casing filled off to give room to get the machined bolt off.
The drive flange also have to be swapped over due to the differing thickness of the nose part.
I removed the reservoir to give it a good clean out, unfortantaly to get the thing out it has to come out the rad hole, but since the coolant was already dropped easy enough.
New hoses which as a b
h as they are a lot stiff then the originals but can be done.
Got a new high pressure hose to go on as well, the heat sheiding was from work which was going to be thrown out so rescued it last year and pleased i did.
The overhauled rack is in, I found a bit of rust in the corner of one of the front bars of the upper frame where all the coolant pipes are so, got rid of that with a wire brush and have hammerited the area. Its not pretty as its on top of the powder coat which is holding up nicely in that area, so an extra layer of protection is fine in my books.
New track rods and ends, Its got to be trailered to Topcats for its tracking so leaving the nut loose.
Hoses need terminating once the pump is back in, will be putting a magnafine filter on the return line, so waiting so see where to mount that first before committing to cutting the hose
Put my spare TV up so can have some tunes whilst working, and use my bike on the trainer.
The Threaded mounted holes have to drilled out to 8.5mm clearance hole. The lower mounting hole has to have part of the casing filled off to give room to get the machined bolt off.
The drive flange also have to be swapped over due to the differing thickness of the nose part.
I removed the reservoir to give it a good clean out, unfortantaly to get the thing out it has to come out the rad hole, but since the coolant was already dropped easy enough.
New hoses which as a b
h as they are a lot stiff then the originals but can be done. Got a new high pressure hose to go on as well, the heat sheiding was from work which was going to be thrown out so rescued it last year and pleased i did.
The overhauled rack is in, I found a bit of rust in the corner of one of the front bars of the upper frame where all the coolant pipes are so, got rid of that with a wire brush and have hammerited the area. Its not pretty as its on top of the powder coat which is holding up nicely in that area, so an extra layer of protection is fine in my books.
New track rods and ends, Its got to be trailered to Topcats for its tracking so leaving the nut loose.
Hoses need terminating once the pump is back in, will be putting a magnafine filter on the return line, so waiting so see where to mount that first before committing to cutting the hose
Put my spare TV up so can have some tunes whilst working, and use my bike on the trainer.
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