Rack and pinion questions

[Jeffs89festiva]

I had a local mechanic put in a refurbished rack and pinion once I got the car back the steering wheel was off center and when I turn the wheel all the way to the left it feels,like it has to much play in it. Could it be doing this cause the rack and pinion wasnt properly put in? If its put in the correft way and dentered will it fix the play? What else might be causing this. It didnt do this until the rack and pinion was replaced. I'm just trying to get this resolved ive spent a lot of money trying to fix it and its not getting fixed. Thank you

[Studebaker]

Once you replace the rack the front end has to be aligned. They can tell you if anythings wrong.

[Jeffs89festiva]

_{yeah I did that I'm just seeking other festiva owners advice. He said it seems he didn't lock the wheels when installing rack. I'm just curious if it could be something else I haven't covered}

[firebush357]

There are many components that you have to take off to replace the steering rack. There is a good chance that the mechanic did not install something correctly when he put everything back together. The steering wheel being not straight is not really a big deal and the easiest way to fix it is to just pop the steering wheel off and recenter it. What exactly do you mean by it has too much play when you turn left?

[Jeffs89festiva]

When it comes near the end of its turning radius i can feel the steering wheel/wheel turn to easy, it does not do this when turning it to the right. I got a second opinion on this matter and he said it looks like that the previous mechanic didnt lock the wheels when taking the rack out.