Ok. A few lessons learned while replacing the rack.
1. Align the steering wheel as if you were driving straight down the street. Turn off the key and let the steering wheel lock, (I believe this only applies to Gen I cars).
2. Turn off the air ride switch. Loosen lug nuts to take off both front tires.
3. Jack up the front of the car using jacks. Also put jackstands as extra support.
4. Take off rims and tires. I always personally throw the tires/rims under the car because that gets them out of the way, and provides a third level of safety in case the car were to fall. You could probably get by without taking off the passenger side tire, but it just makes things easier when you are climbing in and out from under the car.
5. Loosen the locking nuts on the outboard side of each inner tie rod end. I believe that these are 22 mm, but they may be 21 mm.
6. Seperate the inner tie rod end from the outer by turning the inner tie rod end with a large pair of pliers. Be careful when the inner tie rod end seperates from the outer tie rod end, as the now-free brake assembly (without the weight of the rim and tire), will want to move away from the car, stretching the lines. I carefully allowed them to extend, but it may be a good idea to wire these to keep these from extending out all the way.
7.Disconnect the rag joint. It has two 13mm bolts, which are very visible just inboard of the drivers side front tire, that need to be removed. It is easier to remove the upper one, on the steering wheel side first, then slide the collar up, allowing you to situate the second bolt for removal.
8. Take off the two large bolts that hold the rack onto the k-member. On the driver's side bolt, you can use a deep socket through the back of the k-member. I believe the nut size was 24 mm and the bolt head was 22 mm (but I can't recall). The passenger side requires using a wrench to remove the nut, as the oil pan gets in the way for using a socket. The wrench can be inserted through the circular opening in the bottom of the k-member.
9. Remove driver's side 8mm bolt that holds down the high pressure line on the front of the rack.
10. Slide the rack toward the front of the car slightly and down about an inch (2.54 cm) to gain access to the two pressure line attachments. You will see the best access from where the driver's side tire used to be. It takes some pressure to pull the rack down, but I would not use any pry bar, as you do not want to damage or kink the metal lines. There are two ways to take the lines off. All fittings here are 18mm. I don't think I was able to use my fitting wrench here at all. You disconnect the high pressure line with a standard 18mm wrench which is between the rubber and the curved steel line. Then you may either undo the factory hose clamp with a pair of pliers on the return line, or remove the line at the rack with the 18mm wrench. I had to pull the rack twice and did it both ways. If you undo the hose clamp, you will have to pull pretty hard from the front to pop the time-hardened hose off of the line. Once these are disconnected, the rack can be carefully pulled out, making sure not to force anything to keep from damaging the metal lines.
10. Remove the metal high pressure and return lines from the rack to put on your new rack. For Gen I cars, expect to pay about $90 for a rebuilt one at an auto chain store. Your core is worth $85.
11. I also decided to replace the high pressure line. A few items of note if you do this. You have to take off all three frame mounts that hold the line to the car. All are 8mm. To take off the 18mm nut where the line attaches to the power steering pump, I got by with a standard wrench, although a crow's foot would be nice. Also, for any of the 18mm fittings, I cut a 18mm wrench in half, which allowed not only better access, but kept me from putting too much initial pressure on the fitting to keep from stripping it. You have to also remove the frame mounting brackets from the old line to transfer them to the new line. This is accomplised by first removing the metal cylinder where the 8mm bolt came out of. Then remove the rubber grommet. Finally, carefully bend the small metal tab straight and the bracket comes apart into two pieces (trust me, you'll know what I am talking about when you see these). Use the reverse precedure to put them on the new line. Also, it seems NORMAL that the pulley on the power steering pump has about 1/8 inch play forward-to-backward on the shaft. Putting the high pressure line back on the car is just the reverse of taking it off.
12. Time to put it all back together. With the new rack in hand, find the center by putting the rag joint temporarily on the rack and turning it from side to side to find the middle. The rag joint can only go on one way, as the shaft is beveled. With it in the approximate center, pull the rag joint off.
13. Put the return line metal line only on the rack. It lays between the two hard lines that are permanently on the rack. Don't worry, you cannot put the lines in the wrong holes, as they are different sizes, but both have nuts that are 18mm. Then take the high pressure metal line and attach it onto the rack, facing it toward the front of the car. Tighten both 18mm nuts snugly, but no NOT overtighten--I would guess something like 40 ft/lbs is about right (tight is tight, right?). Prepare for putting in a new hose clamp on the return line. This is where I made my mistake which caused me to pull the rack out the second time...the old clamp will probably allow the hose to leak. Take the new hose clamp and put it on the return line hose.
14. Here is the hardest part if you are doing this alone. Lift the rack back up into position to allow you to put the return line and pressure line back onto the rack. Remember, the inner tie rods go above the sway bar. It is hard to describe, but the fit is tight enough there where the rack will pretty much stay in place while you re-attach the hose lines. The best access point again is just inboard of the driver's side wheel assembly. There is an opening there which allows decent access. You should be tightening the new hose clamp on the return line, and putting the 18mm nut into the metal line on the high pressure fitting.
15. Here is the most important step (which I learned the hard way). Put power steering fluid in the reservior (sp). Once the lines are put back on and tightened, CAREFULLY start the car, being certain not to move the steering wheel. CHECK FOR LEAKS! Turn off the car.
16. Slide the rack back into place. Put on the two large bolts that hold the rack onto the k-member. You cannot over tighten these bolts.
17. Re-attach the rag joint. It is easiest to put the bottom (beveled) bolt on first, then slide the steering shaft back onto the rag joint. These bolts should also be very tight. I noticed that the factory appears to have placed lock-tite on these bolts.
18. Re-attach the 8mm high pressure line bracket that is on the driver's side of the cross member.
19. Using a large pair of pliers, attach the inner tie-rod ends to the outer on each side. Since my steering wheel and rack were both already pointed straight ahead, I tried to get the front wheels as close to straight as I could so I would be able to drive to get an alignment. The way I accomplished this was to turn the inner tie-rod until about 3/4 inch was inside the outer tie rod. I then put on the rims and tires, putting the lug nuts on as tight as I could with the tires off of the ground. I then measured with a tape measure the distance between the first groove the inside of the passenger tire to the first groove on the inside of the driver's tire. I checked the distance on the front of the tire and compared it to the distance at the back of the tire. I then turned the inner tie rod on the tire that looked like it was sticking out too much until the distance was the same. I then tightened the large locking nut somewhat (since I knew the alignment guy was going to get my car in 5 miles). It turned out I was off by 1 degree!
20. Lower the car. Tighten the lug nuts. Start the car, turn the steering wheel a few times lock-to-lock. Add power steering fluid and check for leaks again. Be amazed at how tight the steering now feels!
It is going to help you because not only does it have the correct procedures for just about everything on the car, it gives exploded diagrams on components and most of the steps along the way. It takes some getting used to find what you need sometimes, but is a great resource.
