okay this is what i was told to do, and what i did, since there was no writeup ... im making one



thanks to pengaru and adamlewis for telling me how to do it, and you two get credit for me writing this up



motive: to convert the powersteering rack into a manual rack withOUT buying a manual rack and replacing the rack....while doing this you are able to free up room in the engine bay as well by taking out the powersteering pump, the powersteering lines, and the power steering oil cooling lines in the front bumper area



additionally: if you have no air conditioning, you can remove the plate that holds the two units onto the drivers side of the engine



parts to get :



2 (two) - M12x1.25 bolts

1 (one) - M16x1.5 bolt

some teflon tape

ratchet set ranging from 12-24mm for unbolting all the bolts you will need to

open end wrenches from 12-18mm for unbolting the bolts that have lines running through them



how to do:



there are 3 lines coming off of the top of the pinon gear, they are what are going to be replaced.....the two banjo bolts are the 12x1.25 ... and the larger going into the pump will be replaced by the 16x1.5



the powersteering pump is held onto the plate/engine by 3 bolts that are behind the pulley, you will have to remove the pulley to get at the bolts...once they are removed the pump should be able to come loose, there are also two harnesses plugging into the pump that go to the computer , disconnect them



basically since you are taking the whole system and all lines out of the car, just remove the lines in any which way order you want....there are a few bolts on the body as well holding some lines in place, which shall be removed to get it out



once the pump is out, you will have the cooler lines in the front, which will take some time to get out since the lines are bent next to the battery area and are kind of "stuck" there, i cut the line so it can just pull out since i was throwing most of the garbage away, but you can disconnect the parts of the lines so they come out normally....just harder and more time consuming



now once all that is out....all you have left is capping the pinion gear.....but before you simply put the bolts in ---- give the wheel a nice turn from lock to lock (fully left to fully right) to get rid of some of the fluid in there



now wrap the threads of the bolts with some teflon tape for an airtight seal and then cap the holes with the respective bolts



and taaaaddaaaaa.... you now have manual steering....if you have taken out the air conditioning prior to taking out the power steering, you can unbolt the big sheaves on the main pulley, that is held on by 4 bolts, and take off the big sheavs for the powersteering and AC belts, but remember to put the 4 bolts back on



additionally: there are two lines running from the rack to the pinion gear....these fittings are all the same size, so to make the fluid transfer a shorter distance, you can loop the lines on the rack to each other...and then cap off the holes on the pinion....i have no done this yet, as i do not know the size of the bolts taht are necessary to go into the pinion gear.



additionally part 2: if you also ditched the AC, there is that big plate that holds all the AC and PS parts onto the engine itself, there are now 4 bolts taht hold that on, taht are removable, thus taking off that plate



note: on S4 (86-88) there is sometime a problem about a buzzing noise going off after the pump is removed and the car is on.....to disable this noise if it occurs, disconnect the powersteering computer which is located under the dashboard near the steering wheel



- mike

 

i also want to add:



the following was performed on a 1990 rx7 turbo II, any differences are up to you to figure out on your own, i will be happy to help out but will not be held responsible for what you do to your car

 

removed my p/s and converted to a semi-manual rack (i guess thats what its called lol).



Removed my A/C first.



When it came time to remove the p/s i couldnt get grip on the bolts holding the pump to the pulley bracket/mounting plate that goes to the engine. SO i simply removed the whole plate, p/s system and everything in one shot. That was definitely a timesaver.



Everything else was basically bending pipes to fit specific exit spots and removing tight bolts.



All in all about 35 minutes worth of work, havent removed the powersteering computer yet (weightsavings monger muahah) but i will do that soon so add another 5 minutes or something.



kevin.

 

I did this also and forgot to take out the computer before driving and the buzzing was annoying me, so I just pulled the fuse for it.

 

maybe im just retarded but how is this making it a manual rack? im sort of lost as to what you are doing? just taking the p/s off and what are you putting the bolts into to seal what off?

 

With power steering there is a power steering pumo that sits next to the A/C compressor, there are also lines that run to the steering rack.

If you remove the power steering pump and lines it then becomes a "manual rack" (no power assist). The downside to this method is that the gearing in the power steering rack makes it much harder to turn without the power assist.

I just recently swaped in a manual rack after having the psuedo manual steering and it makes a world of diffrence. The gearing is much better, its actualy much easier to turn at low speed or at a stop.

 

I got a lot of slop in my steering wheel ( a lot of play ) how do I ajust it on my 82 rx7 ????? please help
thnx