Should it be that hard to remove? Of course not!!! But sometimes they are.
Mine came off with a drift, but it was a clean 2007 with low miles.
DIY spanner is my suggestion for next step as well. I would take a cheap crescent wrench and drill a hole in each finger of it (hole facing upward if the wrench was laying on the table). Then hammer a short pin into the hole. Could use a #8 screw or whatever is small enough to fit into the notch on the nut. You can then use the crescent wrench adjuster to set the width you need.
OK, my homemade spanner worked and the pinion is out. Now I'm stuck on getting the rack out. I assume you need to remove the huge nut on the passenger side of the rack. Again, stuck like a #*#. Of course I don't have a wrench that big. Tried holding the nut in my vise and twisting the tube, but no luck yet. Any helpful hints?
Which nut are you talking about? The inner tie rod ends? It's been a long time since I did mine but if you are talking about the nut that sort of looks like it is part of the rack housing, you don't need to remove that. If I recall correctly, once you have the tie rod ends off, and the pinion removed, the inner rack should just slide out one of the two sides (it will only go out one way). There is an adjuster nut/bolt near the pinion that sets the rack tension and you may have to back that out as well, I forget.
OK, found I had a socket big enough to remove the passenger side nut. Thought that would do it, but the rack still will not slide out. Do I need to press it out?
Oh ok yes I remember that one now. So interesting thing about that nut.... if it's at all like the one on mine, the nut is soft aluminum and there is a punched-in indentation on the steel rack tube that literally gouges out the large aluminum nut as you back it out. On mine, I think I re-used the nut and also filed down the little nub on the tube so it didn't do more damage on re-install, but I may have purchased a new nut from subaru.... I can't remember.
Looks like you have everything off that you need to. It only comes out one side - press from the valve side. I believe I had to use my hydraulic press. It didn't take much pressure but tapping with a hammer didn't work.
I suggest a 2x4 with a hole drilled through it big enough to allow the rack to slide through but not the housing. 2x4 should be plenty strong... doesnt take much pressure.
Success! all apart and the ring is cut off the rack. Now I just need to find someone to weld the pinion. My MIG welding skills are not good enough. Might try the epoxy method, but would prefer welding.
Metalmaker welded mine before I got a welder. He did a great job. Pm him. If you cant get ahold of him or find anyone local, I will do it for you. BTW, you want it TIG welded.
Thanks, I sent him a PM already, but have not heard back. I just may take you up on your offer. I'm wondering if I press out the pin shown in #131 if I can take it apart and then epoxy it back together. This 06 pinion seems to be more difficult then early units. Not sure if I trust anyone local not to ruin the bearing.
I would not epoxy it. There's not much for the epoxy to grab onto. Plus, if the epoxy fails and chips off, it could conceivably bind up in the spindle and freeze your steering wheel.
I can almost hear the collective "Ughs!" as I stand before this dusty carcass of a horse and give it one more kick to the gut. I read through this forum thread and my question is not more of "why depower the rack?" I can accept that it is almost necessary given the car specs but more of "How far do I have to take it?" I don't have access to machining equipment, welders, etc. I share my workspace with four kids and not tripping over a Razor scooter to tighten a bolt is a good day. SO, if I have removed the power steering lines cap the openings and loop the line on the main rack tube (as shown in the assembly manual) - am I good? It's a 2004 rack and there is still some fluid in there. I just want to make sure that this is a possible and safe option. No plans to track the car, more of a weekend driver etc. Any input is greatly appreciated- thanks.
That will work fine, but you can take it to the next level without many tools. The issue with doing it the way you stated (and via the manual), is that the seals on the rack are still in place and will create friction inside the housing. This also creates air pressures in the rack. These are equalized by looping the lines as you described, but it still creates some drag.
To take it to the next level, you just need to remove the rack from the housing and cut the seals off with a cutoff wheel (dremel or angle grinder, or even a hack saw). I have pics of it in my build thread. I think there are pics in here. It will require more disassembly and replacing the threaded end cap, but it is pretty easy. You can use epoxy to plug the holes from the metal tube. I did that with JB Weld and it works fine.
We have about 4000 miles on ours(mostly track) with just cap and looped. I left a little fluid in it on purpose to lube the gears and bearings. I want a little bigger wheel while my son want a little quicker rack. Over all the steering is very tight and responsive.
Bob
My 05 WRX rack is also 3 turns, my rack is de-powered and the seal removed. You don't need to dremel it, just remove the rubber seal. I filled the ends of the hose attachments with silicone and have about 1600 miles on mine. Steering is nice and tight. My depowering is documented at the beginning of this thread
Dan
818S #17 Picked up 8/1/13 First start 11/1/13 Go Kart 3/28/14
Bumping this excellent thread to get some feedback from completed builds as a lot of this was written before the practical results were known.
I think that de-powering the rack by removing the piston (or just the seal) has benefits in steering effort and feedback and it also provides an opportunity to clean the rack up while waiting for my kit. This thread is the definitive guide to doing that. Thanks to the 818 pioneers who contributed!
I am now staring at my 2007 pinion and valve assembly (the "quill") and I am wondering what to do absent access to a welder. I haven't seen definitive advice whether not fixing the two pieces together makes a difference. I suspect there is some "slop" at the steering wheel if they are not joined, but it would be good to hear if that's that case or not.
I like Nusiance's solution of inserting shims, but I think that is only doable in 02-05 quills.
The easiest for me would to take the epoxy route as pioneered by freds. Is this durable? If not, I will find someone to weld it.
Hello everybody, I'm finally doing final assembly on the 818, Started cleaning the power steering rack and found a really bad Upper Pinion bearing. So, I am looking for a 2005 -2007 WRX or STI rack. It has the two bushings by the input shaft for mounting. Anybody have a spare rack or a pinion with a good bearing on it?
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Originally Posted by lance corsi
