Hi All, I am currently rebuilding old faithful and while it is apart I would like to fit a new/recon steering rack and gearbox (Did change a steering rack once, never again! Not without the engine out anyway).
I don't know if the diesel is that much worse that the Series 1 Quadra but I changed my power steering rack in the Quadra without too much problem - it was certainly easier than quite a few other jobs I can think of! But then the jobs these manufacturers expect a mechanic to carry out at times is unbelievable even to a professional mechanic let alone a DIY one. Also it is not always best to follow the workshop manual without careful consideration. Sometimes this is because they write these manuals whilst only thinking of their vehicle i.e. a LHD one. Sometimes a RHD one calls for a different procedure.
When I changed my rack, it said in the manual the rack had to come out through the right hand wheel arch. I took a good look and decided it was easier from the left hand wheel arch and so it proved.
As for the rack, Renault quoted over £400 IIRC but I shopped around and found one from a company in Tyneside for £115 including carriage and they didn't even want the old one back. There is presently a company in London who says that if they don't have one for your particular model they can overhaul and turn around the old rack in short time, and probably at much less cost too. Just do a search on the 'net.
As for gearboxes, I haven't had to check, but since the Espace used the same as many other Renault such as the R18, R21 and Trafic and have often been used in various mid-engined cars too, I bet you could get one or parts to overhaul one if required, but you need to ignore sometimes what people list - I have found companies listing parts for let's say the R18 or R21 but not the Espace, when in fact they all use the same item - it's just that the stockist doesn't know it! I wanted uprated rear coil springs for my Quadra and no one claimed to have any, yet several companies listed uprated coils for the normal 2WD version! Unknown to them they all use the same coil spring!! We had a similar problem with radiators.
Roy
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