Steering preventative maintenance

[Devin]

I am rebuilding my engine but I fear that the steering will be all fudged up when I put the engine in thus I'll have to take it back out. So I have a few questions to ask:

1. Is there any preventative maintenance I can do to the rack?
2. Is greasing the shaft (that sounds raunchy... ) necessary?
3. Can I hook up the shaft to the rack and get a feel for problems before the engine is attached (ie: powered on and power steering setup). It's on blocks so moving the wheel shouldn't be an issue.

 

[rlw001]

Why not just replace the rack while you have easy access. If the seals are bad, a greased shaft will not help and may cause vision problems later in life.

 

[Devin]

So I can't test the rack first? How much does a new rack cost? I'm pretty sure you can't get a new rack at any store.

 

[SHOZ123]

I think rebuilt racks are under $100 with your old one as a core. New tire rod ends too IIRC. Try Rock Auto.

 

[Devin]

Anyone do this before? What level of difficulty is it?

 

[jelloslug]

Anyone do this before? What level of difficulty is it?

With the car apart it's literally a 15 minute job: Unhook the lines, unhook the steering shaft, unhook the outer tie rod ends and take out the 2 big bolts that hold the rack in. Half of that stuff is most likely unhooked on your car right now. Replacing it after the engine is in is usually a 6 hour cussing fest. Best to do it while the engine out.

 

[oh_SHO]

When (or if) I do my 3.2 swap the rack is getting replaced regardless...