Title: Access for steering rack gaiter replacement
Post by: Martin Tyas on November 17, 2014, 04:17:10 pm
It's been quite some time ~ but then that maybe means the the old JE0K has been behaving itself.
I needed to replace the track rod ends and axial links as both had excess play, and on both sides of the vehicle.
As the steering rack gaiters need to be removed to gain access to the ball joint on the axial link and remove it from the end of the rack I'm fitting new gaiters at the same time. The passenger side (of a RH drive) is bad enough to get at from underneath the car because of the gearbox but the driver's side should be easier after removing the heat shield that protects the rack from the heat of the exhaust.... but therein lies the problem.
One bolt that secures the heat shield goes into the front face of the subframe and there is a second that I have found and removed from above the steering rack on the passenger side but there appears to be one more that I cannot locate. With the other 2 removed the shield will pivot slightly so that is why I'm assuming that there is just one other securing bolt. I'm guessing that it may be somewhere under the exhaust but can't see it with a mirror & lamp and cannot get my hand in to feel it.
Does anyone have clue where the third bolt is located and if it accessible / removable without disconnecting the exhaust?
thanks,
Martin
I needed to replace the track rod ends and axial links as both had excess play, and on both sides of the vehicle.
As the steering rack gaiters need to be removed to gain access to the ball joint on the axial link and remove it from the end of the rack I'm fitting new gaiters at the same time. The passenger side (of a RH drive) is bad enough to get at from underneath the car because of the gearbox but the driver's side should be easier after removing the heat shield that protects the rack from the heat of the exhaust.... but therein lies the problem.
One bolt that secures the heat shield goes into the front face of the subframe and there is a second that I have found and removed from above the steering rack on the passenger side but there appears to be one more that I cannot locate. With the other 2 removed the shield will pivot slightly so that is why I'm assuming that there is just one other securing bolt. I'm guessing that it may be somewhere under the exhaust but can't see it with a mirror & lamp and cannot get my hand in to feel it.
Does anyone have clue where the third bolt is located and if it accessible / removable without disconnecting the exhaust?
thanks,
Martin
Title: Re: Access for steering rack gaiter replacement
Post by: Martin Tyas on November 23, 2014, 01:14:38 pm
I needed a few parts anyway so visited my local friendly Renault dealer and the parts guy brought up the illustration of the heat shield for me to see if it was possible to determine where the third bolt was located.
As best we could tell it was likely to be under the exhaust and so probably inaccessible without removing the front section of the exhaust from the turbo.
So I looked again at alternative ways of gaining access to the end of the steering rack to fit the gaiter and secure it with the tie-wrap.
I removed the inner plastic wing panel to get a better look and then decided to remove the engine stabiliser and see if I could then wedge the heat shield, with the 2 accessible bolts removed, far enough out of the way to get at the steering rack.
It was VERY tight and cost me a few bits of skin as well but with a bit of lube on the inner face of the gaiter it slipped more easily onto the end of the steering rack. I then put the tie-wrap over the axial link and joined it but only by few millimetres so that I could use the tail to position it over the gaiter and into the groove before pulling it tight.
Pictures attached for anyone interested
Martin
As best we could tell it was likely to be under the exhaust and so probably inaccessible without removing the front section of the exhaust from the turbo.
So I looked again at alternative ways of gaining access to the end of the steering rack to fit the gaiter and secure it with the tie-wrap.
I removed the inner plastic wing panel to get a better look and then decided to remove the engine stabiliser and see if I could then wedge the heat shield, with the 2 accessible bolts removed, far enough out of the way to get at the steering rack.
It was VERY tight and cost me a few bits of skin as well but with a bit of lube on the inner face of the gaiter it slipped more easily onto the end of the steering rack. I then put the tie-wrap over the axial link and joined it but only by few millimetres so that I could use the tail to position it over the gaiter and into the groove before pulling it tight.
Pictures attached for anyone interested
Martin
