Just came across this Delco rack (£170) for the XK8. Lots cheaper than the original ZF.


I'm going to buy one and try it out as the one I put on from the salvage yard has too much free play.

 

Regarding the free play on the salvage yard unit, have you tried adjusting the pinion preload? If I recall, you re-used your inner tie rod ends, and presumably they are not the cause of the free play.

 

That's right, the free play is coming from the worm mechanism, I wasn't aware that it could be adjusted, I would appreciate if you could point me to some instruction on this.

 

Put the front of the car on jackstands, crawl under the car, loosen the locking nut on the preload adjuster on the bottom side of the rack, turn the adjusting screw in (clockwise). I recall the adjuster is a hex or allen. I beleive the adjuster has a rubber cover which was a pain to remove. I am sure you can check on your old rack. Now, how much to turn the adjuster is where I can't give you definitive information. Official documentation (non Jaguar) that I have read typically says turn the adjuster until it bottoms out, then back off the adjuster 1/8 turn and check for binding through full deflection. The process I have used to take up slack is to turn the adjuster clockwise a little at a time while someone "rocks" the steering wheel left to right back and forth - keep turning the adjuster until it seems the slack is all gone. You should be able to see the steering shaft turn, and correspondingly see either the tie-rods or wheels turn. Tighten the locking nut. Then, and this is important, while still on the jackstands, you should rotate the steering wheel full to left and full to right a few times checking for any binding or roughness, which would indicate preload is too tight. Turn the steering wheel slowly paying attention to the feel, then faster a second time to be sure the restistance is the same across the range. Do this with the engine off. If there is any binding feeling, back off the adjuster slightly. Sometimes there is too much wear, espessially on-center, and tightening the preload to eliminate slack when on-center results in binding when the rack of not at center. However, if this is the case, typically a compromise is better than having done nothing. I personally have had excellent success adjusting preload on several cars. Just FYI, the adjuster mechanism is spring loaded. This helps maintain proper adjustment as the gears wear, but it isn't perfect. It also helps the adjustment process as the spring can allow for less precise adjustment than if it was a direct solid adjustment.

 

Great, I will try that before ordering a new rack, I was not aware that it was possible to do this on a rack.


I have done something similar on the steering box on the old SL which worked perfectly.

 

Yup,,same,general theory.

Here are a couple of you tube videos showing preload parts...they aren't for our car, but you get the idea here.

 

Here is a closer look.





I pulled out the grommet, but couldn't see an adjuster inside.





Removing the cap revealed just a spring and no adjuster.





Playing around with the cap tightness either locked up the rotational movement or released it.


I will try pinching up the cap nut on the car on Saturday morning to see if it makes a difference.

 

I managed to find the correct procedure.








The full repair manual is here http://forum.bmwland.ru/index.php?ac...=post&id=26966

 

This thread needs to be added to the 'DIY Sticky' above.

 

Done!

 

Bummer, tried to tighten up the nut this morning, failed, the nut is made of aluminium and immediately rounded off, I should have loosened it first. Anyway I have ordered the Delco Remy unit, I'll report on that later.

 

Did you ever get the Delco rack and pinion installed?

 

When it arrived, it was not a Delco unit but a refurbished ZF, so I sent it back.