Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

[stevejgreen]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

There may be a slight difference between the Mk1 and Mk2 racks, apart from the obvious difference in mountings that I have already documented, that explains the difference on lock to lock on the steering and perhaps the final position of the bush.
I have never had the two racks dismantled side by side, it would be useful if someone has.
JoshWard on the fastmarina forum is the Mk1 expert, Kilroy is based in New Zealand.

I am surprised that so few MOC forum members don't use FastMarina and don't share the Marina specific information that they learn over there. It could help everybody.

[Sidon]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

I have ordered a bush from Chris Weedon. £23 inc 1st class postage. Nice fella. Also ordered a couple of track rod ends, newOS QH ones - may as well replace these whilst I am at it even though the current ones look ok. Next job is to see if I can split the ball joint whilst the rack is on the car.

[stevejgreen]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

I have ordered a bush from Chris Weedon. £23 inc 1st class postage. Nice fella. Also ordered a couple of track rod ends, newOS QH ones - may as well replace these whilst I am at it even though the current ones look ok. Next job is to see if I can split the ball joint whilst the rack is on the car.

It always helps to follow advice when Chris Weedon is involved!

If you have not already invested in some PlusGas its way better than many Penetrating oils, certainly better than the standard WD40. Give the taper a good soak and be patient, it may take a few hours, avoid letting any penetrating oil getting any into the ball joint itself, generally they are sealed, but if you are going to replace them, no problem.

[NIck Myra]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

then don't

There you go again. Proving my point exactly.

How about adding your technical input as ex Marina Roadster Advisor, or is that too much to ask, or does this thread exceed your knowledge limitations?

[listerjp2]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

we all have limitations, it's knowing when you have hit them.

personally I can only comment on those things I have carried out myself.

information I give on parts and availability are given in good faith and if someone else has other information then that's what a forum is all about.

your tone now and previously in this thread is very negative and rude.

I replied the way I did because, once again, I have added a comment and, once again been shot down.

I try my best and apologise if some of the content is naive but we are not all engineers.

the reason I volunteered to be the roadster rep is because no one else stood up.

i stood down when, it was quite apparent, that my knowledge was not good enough.

I say again , we all have limitations.

no doubt, I will be slagged off again, but there you go.

regards

Adrian

[old_n_notpastityet]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

Hello all.I have a new rack that I bought as a spare and it is marked 21H5423.All well and good but the one on my Roadster a 1983 build, which year doner car I have no idea as I have no info on the build.The rack on the car seems to be marked 21H2457 ?? but not sure as I am trying to read upside down with a mirror.Apart from all of this the main shaft in the rack on the car has up and down play at the N/S but no play in the ball socket on the track rod so i presume it must be that bush that is knackered.I have been into the Marina O.C. website and tried to e-mail Chris Weedon but after writing a message and selecting send a pop up box appears saying PAY ???????.Will try to phone him.How do we get the bush out of the rack to change it ??, any advice appreciated here,regards.Graham.

[listerjp2]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

see below information from original parts catalogue

R-H drive, Marina MK1 to 1975 length 40.5” 21H5423
R-H drive, Marina MK2 & Ital 1975 on length 40.25” 21H2457

earlpart do them but not cheap £100

that's why I asked for part numbers

regards

Adrian

[old_n_notpastityet]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

Thank you a lot for the reply Adrian,so I have the MK2 one on my Roadster the 21H2457 so the one I bought for a spare is longer.I did not know about the differences when I bought it !!.So will go for trying to fit the new bush if I can get one,just need some advice on how to do it,cheers.Thanks again Adrian.Regards.Graham.

[stevejgreen]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

see below information from original parts catalogue

R-H drive, Marina MK1 to 1975 length 40.5” 21H5423
R-H drive, Marina MK2 & Ital 1975 on length 40.25” 21H2457

earlpart do them but not cheap £100

that's why I asked for part numbers

regards

Adrian

Those are not the only variations.

Its worth reading this

[stevejgreen]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

Thank you a lot for the reply Adrian,so I have the MK2 one on my Roadster the 21H2457 so the one I bought for a spare is longer.I did not know about the differences when I bought it !!.So will go for trying to fit the new bush if I can get one,just need some advice on how to do it,cheers.Thanks again Adrian.Regards.Graham.

Adrians advice is a little incomplete. Please see the link I referenced I my reply to him where you will be able to see all the differences that I can currently confirm.

I have shared Chris Weedon's original article about steering rack bushes on keepandshare. That article which was the first to describe the process, includes both his email address and a phone number. Since then the main resource on steering racks has been FastMarina, for the amount of information there it's worth signing up to the forum.

The number of times that Chris Weedon's name now appears on this forum it should be enough for him to be added as an Honorary Forum Member! Something to discuss at the AGM?

[old_n_notpastityet]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

Thank you for the reply steve,I will have a look,much appreciated,regards.Graham...

[Sidon]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

I did mine yesterday. It was less troublesome than I had feared. I have taken photos of the job as I progressed but can't put them up on here until tomorrow.
I managed to replace the bush without removing the rack from the car and all seems well now it is back together. First point to note is that I did not remove the old bush. The plastic bush itself had broken up and there were bits of it in the gaitor and the rack end casing.

This is the way I did it having read all I could on FastMarina forum and headed the advice of Chris Weedon and others on this forum:

1/Remove nearside wheel
2/Remove nearside track rod end remembering to count the number of revolutions required to remove it so that tracking is not disturbed when re-assembling.
3/Remove rack gaitor - at this point you should be able to see into the end of the rack casing. In my case the plastic part of the bush had broken up but the metal outer remained in the casing. This was left in place.
4/Remove ball joint where rack meets tie rod - lifting the locking tabs was the most difficult part of the job due to restricted access. I wound the steering out to full lock so that the ball joint was under the wing. I could just then manage to prise up the locking tab on the inner end of the ball joint locking nut. I then wound off the ball joint complete. This will be much clearer when I put photos up.
5/ Clean out the rack casing. Make sure all remnants of the old bush plastic are removed.
6/ Slide the new nolathane bush (I bought mine from Chris Weedon @£23 inc postage) over the rack end shaft and push it up inside the rack casing so it sits snug against the old bush metal ring surround. It recommends using silicone to secure the new bush on FastMarina but I didn't bother as I didn't feel it would stick to the oily surface inside the rack casing.
7/ Secure the bush in place with a new self tapping screw (the old retaining screw can also be left in place. In any case it was inaccessible on mine with the rack left ion the car) - measure the position of the new bush from the end of the rack casing and find a self tapper that isn't too long. Drill the casing carefully and insert the screw. Try to ensure the screw goes into the thickest part of the bush.
8/ Re-assemble not forgetting to put the gaitor back on BEFORE the track rod end.
9/ Replace any lost oil with 90s Gear Oil.

That's it. I hope. I have heard of a few bushes coming loose and needing re-securing. I'm not sure if they had been secured with a screw. Time will tell if mine stays put, but I now feel much less intimidated by this job if I need to look at it again.

If I can manage this job then most people with basic car knowledge can also. Just take your time reading how others have done it and then whilst doing the job itself. Thank you very much to all who helped.

[stevejgreen]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

Congrats to a job done. Not as onerous as some seem to think, and really quite easy to do.
Your pictures will be interesting to see, especially if they enhance the experience of others.

[old_n_notpastityet]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

That is a very good write up sidon and I'm sure everyone will appreciate the knowledge.I was investigating the layout on my Roadster today and thinking on the same lines as you have done and did realize that the screw is inaccessible to get the old casing out so did think of doing what you have done putting in a new bush and drilling the Rack to put in a self tapper.I was though worried it may have an effect on the distance of travel of the Rack shaft not taking out the old bush casing ??.I will be looking into doing mine in the near future.Thank you and everyone else for taking the time to help others by posting valuable info,also while on the subject of the Steering Rack I was wondering about the subject of lost oil I was thinking of Why there is not a removable plug on top of the Rack to enable topping up on the oil I am tempted to drill a top up hole and plug in mine,regards.Graham.

[Sidon]

Re: Steering rack LH tie-rod bearing MOT fail

I've now managed to download and sort some images of this job: