Steering Question

[syfir]

My terminology may not be correct here so please bear with me. Saturday I was checking steering and suspension and noticed that the joint where the tie rod and rack meet is loose on the passenger side. When I pushed the back of the wheel in, the rack would move a little bit. In case I am wrong in naming parts, I am assuming the rack is the tubular shaped part mounted on the firewall and the tie rod is rod coming out of it. Is this an easy problem to fix? How serious is it? Is it possible to do myself? This problem is not noticeable when driving the car(although I take left turns a little slower now). The car does not have power steering.

[GenevaDirt]

the rod/rack move in and out and not the joint where the tie rod hooks up to the front end? If so then either you have a bad inner tie rod or your steering rack is possibly going bad. I have not done either job but I am sure other will chime in. If it is just moving wher the outer tie rod hooks into the front end.....that is not a big job at all.

[syfir]

Hmm. I should have taken pictures. The rod/rack joint is what I'm talking about I think. The tubular part that moves side to side is what is moving(Not just side to side but freely, looks as if a mount is loose or something?).

[Unco]

inner tie rod.

relatively easy to fix. you will need a new inner tie rod.

i have not done one in a festiva but i have done plenty on holdens, nissans and toyotas. undo the outer tie rod. then, if it's the same method, unscrew the inner tie rod (you may need really large multi-grips to crack it loose from the steering rack), then just screw the new inner tie rod in and do up the outer tie rod. you'll need a wheel alignment done afterwards.

[GenevaDirt]

Hmm. I should have taken pictures. The rod/rack joint is what I'm talking about I think. The tubular part that moves side to side is what is moving(Not just side to side but freely, looks as if a mount is loose or something?).

Just was thinking...if you are talking about the inner tie rod....are you checking it with the steering wheel locked...if not then there is going to be back and forth play no matter what you do.

[syfir]

Steering wheel was not locked. There was back and forth play as the rack moved in and out, but the movement I was concerned about was up and down movement. Hopefully I can get it up on a jack Wednesday and post a picture of the part, but if it is the rack, it does not look to me like it should be moving the directions it is moving in.

http://s493.photobucket.com/albums/rr294/syfir/?action=view&current=rack_and_pinion_componentsMOD.jpg

This isn't a Festiva diagram but this should help illustrate. I circled the joint that is moving.

[GenevaDirt]

yep...inner tie rod.....if it is moving up and down at just the joint....it needs replaced.

[Safety Guy]

You circled the inner tie rod "ball joint." Ball and socket joint, that is. I saw mine Saturday as I replaced my almost gone rack boots. What a pain! With them off, I could easily see how the inner tie rods work and how they screw into the rack ends. The ball and socket joint also allows the inner tie rods to turn, which is how the alignment shop adjusts the outer tie rod ends before tightening the jam nuts.

I also put on new tie rod ends.

The shop wanted around $300 to put on new rack boots! I bought FMS's front end kit for $120 shipped and so I had new tie rod ends to put on. I needed them since I tore up my original ends with the tie rod end remover taking them off to slide the new boots on.

I saved around $180, and learned more about my car. But it was a real PITA! Took me around 3.5 hours.

Karl

[syfir]

Is there a mount on the rack that could be loose as well? As in where the rack mounts to the frame? It's not so much that the tie rod is loose in the joint, the joint looks pretty tight, it's more that the assembly as a whole is moving up and down.

[Levitan]

Sounds like his whole rack is loose from the car.

If that's the problem, it's an easy fix. There are 4 bolts that fasten the rack to the car. You can reach all of them from above with a socket. I don't remember what size, but I would definately try tightening them before you drive it. Your Haynes manual should have torque specs. If they are tight, then it has to be something else.

[drof 89]

If you do a complete rebuild on the rack. Is it better to take it out of the car to do it? Or leave it in place. Also is there a freeplay adjuster on these racks? Thanks

[syfir]

Ok, got to get another look at it yesterday. The rack is not loose, bolts are tight. I'm thinking Geneva dirt was right initially with the tie rod end and front end joint. The joint I was looking at was still moving, but it is not at the rack.

[syfir]

To bring back a dead post...

OK, so I was going to put the tie rod ends on today and when looking at the rack, I noticed it was not the tie rod ends that were loose, but the steering gear inside the rack. The rack is tight to the car, but the rod that comes out of the rack when you turn the wheel is loose, very loose on the passenger side. There is not noticeable play when the wheels are on the ground, but if I jack it up, lock the steering wheel, and push the back of the front wheels, I can push the wheel in about an inch. The freeplay does not seem normal to me, do I need to replace the rack?

http://s493.photobucket.com/albums/rr294/syfir/?action=view&current=Pass_side_rack.jpg

In this picture, the steering wheel is turned to the left so the pass side wheel is pointing the left. When I push in on the back of the wheel, the rod that the yellow arrow is pointing to moves back toward the firewall. The steering gear boot is off so you can see the rod. The boot needs to be replaced anyway.

[jglutz]

I did my rack and inner tie rods a few months back......I took the rack out of the car in order to remove the inner tie rods. Glad I did.

http://http://www.fordfestiva.com/fo...ad.php?t=15003

[GenevaDirt]

but if I jack it up, lock the steering wheel, and push the back of the front wheels, I can push the wheel in about an inch. The freeplay does not seem normal to me, do I need to replace the rack?

even with the wheel locked you will have a little play in the rack. I do not think one inch is all that much when you checked it the way you did.