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HR31 HICAS Steering Rack Reconditioning
Ok, here we go on another (miss)-adventure!
Apparently, R31 steering racks leak. That's news to me, as I've had 3 of them, and none of their racks have leaked!
R31's however, are not HR31's.
The HR31 HICAS rack (fancy name for Four Wheel Steering) is prone to leaking, and mine started dripping - so I just kept topping up the power steering reservoir for a while, until it was leaking too badly. This coincided with a steel high pressure line rubbing through, and squirting power steer fluid everywhere!
These pics show the complexity of some of the
10 (yes 10!) lines that run in and out of this rack. Plus the half dozen or so
that surround it!
As you might imagine,
getting it out was an achievement in itself!
Especially with one bolt right under the sump...
Note the engine mount already lifted off its bracket.
And this is how I had to get
on it...
Two ring spanners hooked together.
Incidentally, this is how high the engine
had to be lifted up to get the above mentioned bolt...
After a full day of struggling with tight nuts, even tighter tube nuts, and lying on my back I finally managed to remove the rack!
Now to start pulling it apart!
Remove dust boot to expose rack end.
Get something thin under the
little tabs , and bend them clear of the nut.
The standard nuts are only
thin and I didn't have a spanner or shifter thin enough that would open to the
required size, so had to use vice grips.
NOTE!!! Both these threads are right hand threads, meaning you screw them
anti-clockwise to remove!
This picture shows the driver's side. The actual toothed rack has to come
out the other end...
This is what the passenger's side looks like after the
removal of rack ends and tyre-rod ends
I'm sure there's some special Nissan tool that you're suppose to use to remove this screw on end, but failing that, I used a grinder key.
This is off a 7" grinder if anyone cares!
By inserting one of the pins
on the key into one hole, and the other against the edge, I was able to turn it.
Now's the time to get the
steering shaft out...
Undo the big bolt on the side ...this is what you should see
Remove the spring and you're left with another Nissan special
tool requirement...
I ground down an old bit of scrap steel I had laying around,
until it fit neatly into the slots
Apply a bit of downward pressure on it as you turn. The
plastic part will only go half a turn
That's the part that helps hold the rack in place.
Now undo the big bolt
underneath, you will be looking at this...
That is the bottom of the steering shaft.
Remove the nut and be sure to get all the shims!
The nut has a little bearing for the end of the shaft to run
in, don't forget to clean and re-grease this!
The shaft has to be tapped
down from the TOP!
Once the steering shaft is
out, the toothed rack can be carefully slid out the passenger side.
Once you have cleaned all the bits up, you should have the following main
components!
For those that didn't pay enough attention
pulling this apart (like me!) here's the order from left to right of what goes
in first
Below are the main seals that come in the kit.
There are actually two seals here. One O-ring type, like on
part "B"(below)and the hard plastic
seal shown here.
Be sure to use a smear of Auto trans fluid on these seals for reassembly.
Reassembly is basically the reverse of the
pulling apart process.
Here I've repacked all the rack and pinion with grease, and
installed the new seal kit.
I thought it would be a good move to buy some new rack-ends,
and tie-rod ends since I had a nice new rack!!
Not shown is where the rack-end screws into the rack. The aftermarket ends had
two wide flats in them, so I was able to get a big spanner on them.
Another KYB product! Geezsh!
While the rack was out of
the vehicle, I thought I may as well replace the hard line that had rubbed
through. I originally planned to weld it with my TIG, but had concerns about it
not sticking due to the leaking fluid. I did clean it up and let it sit for a
few days draining the very last fluid out, but in the end,seeing as how I had a
spare one, I thought I may as well just put it on.
It had actually kinked when I removed it...
It took another full day to
get the rack back in - you know what they say about things
being easier to pull apart than put back together!
At least this time I knew what I was doing (sort of)
The worst bit was installing
the new hard-line for the high pressure feed. This took me a couple of days to
get right, as anyone that knows anything about those tube nuts will know,
they've got to be in exactly the right angle to go in without cross-threading.
Seeing as how I could only get two fingers on it, it took a fair whack of time
because of the new line being a slightly different shape (for some
reason!)
This is the line in question. Note how close it runs to the
crossmember, the other fitting on the left, and the awkward angle it enters the
rack body!
As the new one was a slightly different shape, you could imagine how I wished I
had just welded the old one up!!
I did eventually get it in though, and after starting the engine and letting it run for around 5 minutes, giving it slight steering inputs felt and right, until there was no air in the rear rams, or the entire system.
Make sure the car has it's wheels on, and is sitting on
the ground - it needs some load on the steering system to fully bleed the rear
rams of air!!
Pack all your tools away, including the cold, oily bit of cardboard that you've been laying on for the past week to figure all this out, and you're done!
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