Steering column won't go back in....

[Supervinnie40]

Well, its been a long night. And yes, I said I would write stuff done and obviously I forgot.... It's not easy being my brain

I think it was 1.75 turns in each direction to go from lock to lock. I forgot what it exactly was, but I tried it 4 times, and I kept concluding that I found the perfect center position.
I then took the steering wheel off (to prevent the rotary coupler from turning to much while I'm working). And I engaged the steering column lock (I'll explain later).

I got back under the car, and screwed both tie rods exactly 10 whole turns in. Both wheels where facing the same direction. Slightly off, but not to bad. Both where off by the same amount.

I got back in the car and connected the steering column to the steering rack (the pointy bit from page one). There is only 1 way to put this one, so I couldn't mess this up. Seeing as the steering wheel was off and the rotary coupler can't spin while I'm working I can rotate the steering column as much as I want. By putting it into steering wheel lock, I could put it in 1 position, so it would line up with the pointy bit from the steering rack. This makes it a bit easier to slide it over and put the pinch bolt back in.

At this stage I knew the steering rack was in dead-center position. Both tie rods where screwed in the exact same length (I checked it with my tape measure, and it was the same for both sides). Both wheels where also slightly off by the same amount.




This would mean that everything is perfectly centered, and everything should be perfect.
Surely, if I would look at the steering column, the small mark in the steering wheel would line up perfectly with the small mark on the steering column end.

Not really...


I turned the wheel to verify, and I get 1.75 turns to the left, and 1.75 turns to the right. So the steering rack is perfectly centered. I then re-checked the position of the CV joint (where the steering column meets the steering rack). And I can't turns it 180 degrees, because the pinch bolt doesn't fit that way. After checking various topics on the subject, I verified that there is only one correct way to connect the CV joint with the steering rack. And I did it correctly the first time.

So, to sum up:
- Steering rack is dead center
- Tie rods are equally screwed in at both ends
- Both wheels are off by the same amount (which it should be if I did everything right)
- The steering column is connected to the steering rack in the only proper way
- All the bolts line up, and are screwed in normally, as they should (nothing forced or crooked)

But:
- The steering wheel won't line up. The mark on the steering wheel won't line up with the mark on the steering column anymore.

Now, I've read a bit on the subject. And it seems the steering column can spin freely, so in theory it shouldn't matter if the marks don't line up. But.... Rover didn't put those marks on there for nothing. They did this with a good reason. And I am now in the position where I am slightly forced to ignore the mark they put on the steering column and the steering wheel.

So I'm kinda at a loss at the moment....

[slovcan]

Originally Posted by Supervinnie40

Well, its been a long night. And yes, I said I would write stuff done and obviously I forgot.... It's not easy being my brain

I think it was 1.75 turns in each direction to go from lock to lock. I forgot what it exactly was, but I tried it 4 times, and I kept concluding that I found the perfect center position.
I then took the steering wheel off (to prevent the rotary coupler from turning to much while I'm working). And I engaged the steering column lock (I'll explain later).

I got back under the car, and screwed both tie rods exactly 10 whole turns in. Both wheels where facing the same direction. Slightly off, but not to bad. Both where off by the same amount.

I got back in the car and connected the steering column to the steering rack (the pointy bit from page one). There is only 1 way to put this one, so I couldn't mess this up. Seeing as the steering wheel was off and the rotary coupler can't spin while I'm working I can rotate the steering column as much as I want. By putting it into steering wheel lock, I could put it in 1 position, so it would line up with the pointy bit from the steering rack. This makes it a bit easier to slide it over and put the pinch bolt back in.

At this stage I knew the steering rack was in dead-center position. Both tie rods where screwed in the exact same length (I checked it with my tape measure, and it was the same for both sides). Both wheels where also slightly off by the same amount.


This would mean that everything is perfectly centered, and everything should be perfect.
Surely, if I would look at the steering column, the small mark in the steering wheel would line up perfectly with the small mark on the steering column end.

Not really...

I turned the wheel to verify, and I get 1.75 turns to the left, and 1.75 turns to the right. So the steering rack is perfectly centered. I then re-checked the position of the CV joint (where the steering column meets the steering rack). And I can't turns it 180 degrees, because the pinch bolt doesn't fit that way. After checking various topics on the subject, I verified that there is only one correct way to connect the CV joint with the steering rack. And I did it correctly the first time.

So, to sum up:
- Steering rack is dead center
- Tie rods are equally screwed in at both ends
- Both wheels are off by the same amount (which it should be if I did everything right)
- The steering column is connected to the steering rack in the only proper way
- All the bolts line up, and are screwed in normally, as they should (nothing forced or crooked)

But:
- The steering wheel won't line up. The mark on the steering wheel won't line up with the mark on the steering column anymore.

Now, I've read a bit on the subject. And it seems the steering column can spin freely, so in theory it shouldn't matter if the marks don't line up. But.... Rover didn't put those marks on there for nothing. They did this with a good reason. And I am now in the position where I am slightly forced to ignore the mark they put on the steering column and the steering wheel.

So I'm kinda at a loss at the moment....

Well done - rack centred, tie rods centred, steering wheel centred. Nuts and bolts on and tight. Button it up. Job done. Marks? What marks? They obviously are no longer needed. You don't need no stinkin' marks!

Cheers,
Glenn

[Supervinnie40]

Lol, I do want to wrap this whole thing up, but to be honest... I don't good about the marks not lining up...

[tourer]

I fitted a new steering column for a left hand drive car to my right hand drive car.
The marks didn't line up on that either.
Never a problem though.

[Supervinnie40]

Thanks tourer. I guess I'll have to live with a 90% perfect job. Only thing left is to connect the battery, start her up and bleed the system a bit.

[rustymotor]

Well done that man..if you had to do another one it would a breeze, it's a learning curve but, you will have great satisfaction knowing you did it yourself..now for a bit of brick line tracking and off you go..

[Supervinnie40]

Thank you . I already did the brick line trick. Wheels look pretty good. Only need to clean up a little bit and I should be good to go.

The next time (I hope it'll never happen again....) will be much more different. I'm fairly confident I can do it in a few hours. Next job: timing belt change.

[Mike Noc]

Originally Posted by Supervinnie40

This would mean that everything is perfectly centered, and everything should be perfect.
Surely, if I would look at the steering column, the small mark in the steering wheel would line up perfectly with the small mark on the steering column end.

Not really...

The steering racks on the V8 models are reversed as the hub arms are forward of the wheels and not trailing as on our cars, so a left hand rack fits to a right hand drive car and vice versa.

Looking at the picture you could have a V8 rack - if you were to turn it through 180 degrees the two marks look like they would align.

As far as I know the mark alignment would be the only difference, so box it up - it should be fine.







.

[Supervinnie40]

So there is a chance I got a V8 steering rack for a RHD car, which would fit as a LHD steering rack on my 1.8 car? That theory would explain why the mark is 180 degrees wrong.

[Mike Noc]

Well I'm only guessing, as you said earlier that the lower clamp for the shaft to rack only goes on one way.

It does look 180 degrees out so unless the clamp will fit half a turn round then I can't think of anything else it could be.

Quick edit: Just read Post #34, and Tourer has come across something similar.


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