Steering Pinion Questions
Hello all!
I usually just lurk here, but now have a question re: play in the steering in my Z600 .
I have a
very annoying amount of play in the steering
– with
those flat-footed Yokohama tires, it makes it a bit twe a ky at freeway speeds .
Well
– I was checking where the play might be by looking under the dash at all the u-joints and such and saw the pinion shaft had
a
significant amount of elliptical wobble as I turned it within the
“ play range ” , that is to say be tween
when
the pinion seems to be move the rack .
I figured that the pinion is shot
– AM I RIGHT??
I
thought it was shot well enough to pull the steering shaft off and dismount the rack/box housing from the firewall and try to pull the pinion out.
I tried to follow the shop manual, but
it
seems a bit vague as to good details . I was able to remove the 2 sets of adjustment screw/lock nut setups and take off the retainer o n the bottom end of the pinion, but the thing won ’ t come out
– oh, it slides way up and way down in its hole ,
but … . Is there another hidden retainer? Does it come out the
top or the bottom? Is it press fit in
what seems to be a bushing?
Now that the day is
over and I ’ m thinking about what I ’ ve done, I think I made a mistake pulling the thing down. Have I been a bozo because I should have just tried some adjustments as the elliptical wobble is normal for an out-of-adjustment pinion???
Or am I right in thinking that I have a
worn pinion or some bushing??
Help!!!!
Vance in SoCal
Steering Pinion Questions
Re: Steering Pinion Questions
If I'm reading your description right - there is a trick to getting it
apart. Took me a while to do mine, but I don't remember the details -
someone here will post the exact solution.
As for the bushing, Miles has made them in the past - hopefully he has
a few in stock or time to make another set. The set I bought made a
huge difference on my car - pretty smooth to over 100 mph.
(Don't try that part at home. ;-)
-Eric
apart. Took me a while to do mine, but I don't remember the details -
someone here will post the exact solution.
As for the bushing, Miles has made them in the past - hopefully he has
a few in stock or time to make another set. The set I bought made a
huge difference on my car - pretty smooth to over 100 mph.
(Don't try that part at home. ;-)
-Eric
Re: Steering Pinion Questions
Hi Eric;
I have an article in the ANZhonda600owners group site. In there I speak of
using different items to bring the thickness of the bushings back up to the
original level. One not listed is a piece of conduit. With some checking
you can find a section that will fit over the original brass bushing (after
removing what is left of the rubber, sliding the conduit section over brass
bushing and then putting it back into housing.
The article even tells you how to remove the steering rack without removing
the engine.
Bill
I have an article in the ANZhonda600owners group site. In there I speak of
using different items to bring the thickness of the bushings back up to the
original level. One not listed is a piece of conduit. With some checking
you can find a section that will fit over the original brass bushing (after
removing what is left of the rubber, sliding the conduit section over brass
bushing and then putting it back into housing.
The article even tells you how to remove the steering rack without removing
the engine.
Bill