Power Steering Not Returning to Center

[Hoffman5982]

Let me first start by saying this shit is exactly why I've run manual steering for the past year and a half. Since putting power steering back on in September my car hasn't been driven on the road at all due to issue after issue.

I'm on my 3rd pump and now my second rack. The first rack worked for a day of track driving and promptly died. I got this new rack, which was remanufactured and pulled off my friends car working. I put it on mine, fill the system, and it works just fine. It turn nice and smooth with no vibrations or noises. The only issue is it does not return to center. Like at all. It's not my alignment which is what everyone seems to point to when someone asks this question. The newest pump was pulled off a perfectly running car. What the fuck is going on? Could it be the rack even though its assisting just fine? I tried adjusting the preload answer can feel the steering get lighter but it still doesn't return unless I'm doing a u-turn, but even then it never goes back to center. Why is power steering so shitty?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

[FaLKoN240]

That rack is fucked up.

I'm replacing a rack on a coupe I have because it is terrible at recentering itself after the PO drove around with no PS for who knows how long.

There's a terrible dead zone in the center.

[Hoffman5982]

Damn, that's what I was afraid of. My friend didn't drive around with power steering but yeah there's definitely a dead zone

[CompleteXen]

Definitely sounds like a rack issue. Just in case check the rack bushings and make sure the ball joints are good and tightened down all the way.

[Hoffman5982]

Do you know what could cause it internally? If I ordered a rebuilday kit and replaced all the seals do you think it would take care of the issue?

[CompleteXen]

Do you know what could cause it internally? If I ordered a rebuilday kit and replaced all the seals do you think it would take care of the issue?

Worn out teeth in the rack can cause the rack to skip.

[silviaks2nr]

Sounds like a bad worm gear in the rack.

[Hoffman5982]

Definitely sounds like a rack issue. Just in case check the rack bushings and make sure the ball joints are good and tightened down all the way.
Ball joints are good, rack bushings are PBM solid so no movement there.

Worn out teeth in the rack can cause the rack to skip.
It's not skipping. Like I said, it turns smoothly. By dead zone I just mean there's a section of turning where it just sticks. If I make a 90 degree turn it starts to re-center but then just stops.

Sounds like a bad worm gear in the rack.

So You wouldn't waste your time on a rebuild?

[KiLLeR2001]

I feel so bad for you I almost want to sell you my mint condition HICAS steering rack... almost.

[rawgarage]

Worn out teeth in the rack can cause the rack to skip.

this is the reason...

[CompleteXen]

Ball joints are good, rack bushings are PBM solid so no movement there.


It's not skipping. Like I said, it turns smoothly. By dead zone I just mean there's a section of turning where it just sticks. If I make a 90 degree turn it starts to re-center but then just stops.



So You wouldn't waste your time on a rebuild?

I wouldn't deal with a rebuild as it would just fix the seals. Its pretty rare the teeth to wear out, but I guess it wouldn't be too crazy as these are old cars.

I struggled with the same issue on both my S13 and S14. Both different problems.

Go to a parking lot, go counter clock wise in a circle. When it recenters is it more to the left? Then go clock wise, is it recentered more to the right?

If so your issue can be one of many,

1.) The PBM Bushings are not properly seated or mounted correctly. (Make sure they are bolted down completely as the bolts on mine wanted to back off. Not too tight though as it can puncture the rack.)

2.) Although the balljoints might be good you need to just make sure the nuts on them are tightened all the way. Set the car on the ground and turn the wheel to the left and check to make sure the nut is completely tightened on the joint, then repeat the opposite way for the driver side.

If its neither of those then its most definitely the rack, but if you know the rack swapped in was a good rack then this shouldn't be the issue.

[LockOn!]

For me it was rack bushings and rack. My wheel would stay 90* to the left or right of the direction I last turned.

Energy Suspension rack bushings and a re-man rack from Autozone did the trick.

[FaLKoN240]

I hated the way the PBM bushings made my car feel, got rid of them after multiple attempts to get them to get seated.q

[CompleteXen]

I hated the way the PBM bushings made my car feel, got rid of them after multiple attempts to get them to get seated.q
Same. Was an absolute pita. Will forever stay poly after my experience with them.

[Hoffman5982]

Hmm, I've changed racks on this car about 5 or 6 times now and never had a problem getting them to seat. I'll unbolt it and reinstall them and make sure that isnt the issue. I may even throw on my old ES bushings I have to make sure.

[LockOn!]

If your still messing with used racks just pony up and get a re-man from a retailer. They are "lifetime" so if its screwed up just bring it back and get a replacement.

[Hoffman5982]

This one is a remanned that only has a couple thousand miles on it. Friend bought the car from another friend so idk if I can get the warranty info

[Persona]

Curious to see how this ends. Mine has a similar issue, when turning right it wants to stay right until I whip a left then its in the center nice and straight. Not an alignment issue either.

[NISR20MO]

I have replied to several of these threads in the last few years. I went through a similar issue and it came down to the aluminum rack bushings in my case and several others I have seen. They allow the rack to slide back and forth a small amount and essentially the rack will sit on one side or the other depending on which direction you just whipped your shit. Ususally your alignment is performed with that bushing sitting on one of its two sides so half the time you drive it is perfect and half the time it sucks.

I use a thin strip of rubber between the rack saddles and bushings for a little extra clamping grip to keep them from shifting and I scuff the fuck out of the bushings where they sit against the rack using whatever I have at hand. Honestly you could even scuff and use a thin layer of rtv or something to encourage it to stay.

I have used ES, Yanack, and PBM. My current set up uses my gripped-up Yanack bushings with the crossmember modded/rack moved forward an inch.

[Hoffman5982]

I ordered some ES bushings because I couldn't find my old ones, but there was no change. I'm putting a different rack in next week after finals. Sucks, having a remanned rack would have given some peace of mind. I may take it apart and see if I can find anything obvious that's wrong like I did with my other rack.

[Hoffman5982]

Well guys, it was a bum rack. I don't know how I didn't notice when installing but when I got it off it was impossible to turn without vice grips on the input shaft. Once you got it past a certain point, though, it moved fine. While looking at it I noticed where the shaft comes out on the drivers side, it wasn't at all center in the hole. I took it completely apart, got the shaft out, and found that it's bent. So when it gets to a certain point it gets extremely tight and that's when it would stop returning to center. I thought it was a pretty crazy find lol.

The old rack that I "fixed" still doesn't work. So I think what I'm going to do is take it apart too and swap that shaft over along with the seals from the bent one since they are new(er). They are blue seals, I don't know if that's any indication of who remanufactured it? In any case, the problem is somewhat solved. Thank you guys so much for the help and suggestions!

Edit: Swapped the shaft over from another rack and it's working perfectly so far!

[95se]

I may have the same issue. My rack doesn't come back to center after I turn and its more pronounced when turning left. The steering wheel will be about 20deg to the left of center after turning left. After turning right a couple of times it will be centered. The alignment place said it was the pinion in the rack and I could have it sent off to be rebuilt under lifetime parts warranty. Haven't done it yet and that was 2 yrs ago.