Lotus Elan Central

by **Oliver** » Thu 22.11.2007, 10:28

Thanks Neil, i`ll have a look. Your ECU is still running well. Sorry to go off topic but i`m still grateful. You don`t have a steering rack by any chance ?

Oliver

by **Enright** » Thu 22.11.2007, 17:48

Just the one I'm afraid, and I rather prefer the way my wheels both point in the same direction so you're not having it!!! :lol:

If I were you I'd look to convert to PAS. Other than access, it should be a relatively easy bolt-on if you get the rack, pump and pipework from a breakers (or someone who's breaking one on here).

There are a couple of eBay auctions at the moment for a red one and a white one. Just DON'T consider Douglas Valley rip-off merchants.

by **rip** » Thu 22.11.2007, 21:07

I am not a very big fan of PAS. I have had cars without it and they were no problem at all. Getting that sweet spot to spin the wheel easily is just a matter of timing, and easy to get right as well.
However, I recently read that cars with light non-assisted steering are light because their steering geometry is poor for handling and that the reverse is also true. So maybe the Elan does benefit from it after all.

Now I am not too sure.

by **Oliver** » Fri 23.11.2007, 23:08

Hi Neil,

I have considered it, and it`s basically a bolt on job, but i cant be bothered. I`m not saying i`ll never do it, but i quite like the manual steering, and all the PAS bits are quite expensive added together. (And having an N/A, i don`t really want a power-sapping hydraulic pump, and the extra weight!), sorry Clemo, i know your N/A has PAS !!!

Anyhow, i`ve decided not to remove the rack for the time being. I`m going to pack it with grease and cross fingers.

Oliver

by **Peter Cliffe** » Sun 25.11.2007, 11:53

My M100 had bad play on nearside rack ball joint, managed to buy S/H rack and found that it was easy to do.
I cut my gaitor clips with wire cutter and refitted with tie wraps. Very hard to remove correctly.
You must be careful with locking tab as this is not washer but actually thin part of ball housing material. You can not see location but is at top, I ground old screw driver to make drift to minimise damage and ensures tab is fully free of grove or force to free may be excessive. Difficult to hold actual rack to prevent damage to bearing surface but I found ball loosened without major effort. Do not try to undo without holding rack as you will damage shaft pinion gear.
When refitting I used some loctite as I could not apply that much torque to rack and ensured lock tab was well engaged.
This was over 1 year ago and no problems since.

by **Oliver** » Mon 26.11.2007, 18:26

Hi Peter,

Thanks for that. I`m not sure if the inner balljoints are the same part, manual as opposed to PAS rack, Lotus don`t list part numbers for comparison. The outer balljoints are the same.

Regards

Oliver

by **Steve_P** » Sat 08.12.2007, 11:11

Had the same problem a couple of years ago on an SE and decided to have the rack changed as Lotus had a good deal on the S2 rack.

An independent Lotus specialist changed the rack and said it was a pig of a job. Had to replace some of the hydraulic pipes as the old ones were corroded in! I have the old rack and they are still in solid! :evil:

Good news is that the new S2 rack gave a real improvement is steering accuracy and feel.. so it was money well spent..

by **GeoffSmith** » Sat 08.12.2007, 15:16

Steve_P wrote:Had to replace come of the hydraulic pipes at the old ones were corroded in!

So was mine when I replace the pump to rack pipe. At least Oliver's is not PAS.

by **Oliver** » Sat 08.12.2007, 19:15

I`ve chickened out of having the rack rebuilt for the time being. I have stuffed the o/s inner joint & rack end with lithium grease. MOT looming Jan 15th, so i might be forced to bite the bullet. I`ll have to do it sometime, as unless a cheap norfolk mustard S2 with no miles, or a mint Esprit X180 come along, i`ll be keeping the NA forever.

by **Oliver** » Thu 20.12.2007, 19:00

Just had it tracked up, i asked the garage to check for play, and they couldn`t detect any. Maybe the new outer joint and all the grease i whacked in there has done the trick. I`ll let you know.

Oliver

by **Paul.P** » Thu 20.12.2007, 19:22

Well done Olly, hope it all works for you !

by **Oliver** » Tue 15.01.2008, 18:04

Just passed MOT, no advisory. (Same garage+tester).

If you have play reported in your rack, pack it with grease!

Regards

Oliver

by **GeoffSmith** » Tue 15.01.2008, 18:57

Keep an eye on it though.

by **Candles** » Wed 27.02.2008, 20:12

I've just taken out my steering rack. Here are the stages:

1) Consider whether you want to bother. Read below for persuasion!
2) Climb in driver's footwell and release steering column from upper mounting and from bulkhead.
3) Undo and separate the steering column to intermediate shaft UJ by undoing the bolt.
4) Remove both wheels and free the track rod ends.
5) Remove the cross member.
6) Remove RH shock absorber and spring as complete assembly (I had to remove the yoke at the bottom to get it out).
7) Securely wire upper wishbones to chassis high-up to support weight of raft. Undo bolt that secures top of RH suspension raft to chassis. Allow to drop onto wires.

From RH wheel arch, undo hydraulic feed and return pipes. The sizes aren't one of my metric spanners and they will be corroded in. I spent three days of cleaning and WD-40ing to free them.
9) Allow fluid to pour out everwhere.
10) Undo both rack-chassis retaining bolts. The gearbox end bolt is long enough to just touch the gearbox when fully undone, which I think was a trick by the Lotus engineers to provoke swearing. It came out eventually!
11) Lower rack down at RH side to free the pinion housing from the chassis orofice and remove to either side of car (NB for single garage workshops).

Sit back, clean cuts on knuckles and ponder how you are going to get it back together! This is where I am now.....

Candles.

by **Beats** » Wed 27.02.2008, 22:28

Respect.

Any pics? or were you a bit busy?

by **lotusgirlmarie** » Wed 27.02.2008, 23:07

it took me 12 or so hours to remove and refit a new rack in my car. Definitely
not easy to do. :roll:

I ended up building some of my own tools to get some of the randomly sized fittings off.

by **Oliver** » Thu 28.02.2008, 07:57

Well done Candles / Marie, i bottled out at step five. Packing it full of lithium grease worked for my manual rack. I`m only staving off the inevitable though. Timing belt is about my limit.

Oliver

by **Dico** » Fri 29.02.2008, 18:17

Good effort Candles :-)

by **Candles** » Fri 29.02.2008, 22:57

Here you are:

Makes for really good access to many tricky parts: Alternator, starter, oil filter etc!

Parts for those needing them:

I bought this from the Lotus Sales.
Collie that watched attentively throughout the process:

Candles.

by **Monty** » Sat 01.03.2008, 00:11

I`ve also got the S2 rack from the surplus sales and haven`t got round to fitting it yet. But i didn`t realise you had to take one side of the suspension apart :shock:

Don`t think i`ll be fitting that before Donny lol :roll:

Good luck with the refit

Lotus Elan Central

Steering Rack Removal - Help !!

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