play in steering

[miniad]

Need some help with my steering on a 92 cooper. it seems that i have about 2-3" of play in both directions in the steering when stationary and moving around the centre point (i.e. when wheels are straight forward). Is it time for a new rack or is there something else to check beforehand?

[sacha]

Check the U-bolts holding the rack on are tight, mine were a bit loose and did the same. peel off the carpet in the front well to access the nuts, you can miss them there are two on each side, iditical position either side.

[Mr2Mike]

With that much movement I'd suggest not driving it at all untill you have figured out the problem.

The U-bolts are favorite, if loose they can cause a huge amount of rack movement, and more scarily they can cause the rack to move suddenly during hard cornering etc (a trouser filling experience I can assure you).

Also check where the steering column connects to the rack down on the floor under the pedals. There is a pinch bolt that tightens the column onto the splined shaft of the rack. If this has come loose the splines will start wearing, causing a lot of lost motion. If the bolt is missing you have a good chance of getting zero steering sooner rather than later!

Also the front subframe is mounted on blancmange-like rubbers that only get worse with age. This can cause a certain amount of movement of the subframe and really spoils the mini's precise steering. If you have these then ditch the rubber bits ASAP and replace with either solid metal mountings or uprated polyurethane ones. The rubber front suframe mountings are nearly always broken anyway.