Notes on replacing steering rack in '98 V6 Camry

[uunter]

I finally got around to replacing the power steering rack in my '98 Camry, which has been leaking gradually worse and worse for over a year now. Big thanks to 73Sport for his step-by-step walkthrough of the process, and to Brian R. for posting it in his FAQ sticky. Being inexperienced as I am, I still had to figure a lot of things out as I went, and now that I'm through I thought I'd elaborate on the instructions from 73Sport, and clarify some of the things that confused me at first.

1) Before you jack it up, pull the rear O2 sensor.

For V6 engines, this refers to the rear upstream sensor, not the downstream sensor. I didn't do this part--it would have made my life a little easier when pulling the rack out, but I didn't have too much trouble as it was, having lowered the engine cradle.

3) Position the steering wheel straight and centered. Secure with seat belt.

This didn't make much difference. The steering wheel got moved anyway.

6) Remove the 2 14mm bolts connecting the body to the cradle under the apron and loosen the 19mm bolts holding the cradle. Do this on both sides.
*** NOTE *** Support the cradle in case you run the bolts out of threads and drop the cradle. There is approx 20mm of threads before it departs - BE CAREFUL -

This was the single most helpful part of the instructions, as lowering the cradle gives you a lot more room to work. I actually supported the cradle on a jack with a 2x4 in between, and took the 19mm bolts out completely, so that I could lower the cradle a little further. This made it a lot easier to remove the sway bar bolts (don't know how I could have done them otherwise, actually) and steering rack mounting bolts, as well as get the rack out and in. But it's probably not the safest thing, so I won't recommend it, and I'll echo 73Sport: BE CAREFUL. I tried to avoid actually being under the cradle while I had it on the jack.

7) Remove the 4 12mm bolts holding the swaybar to the cradle. I also removed the 4 14mm bolts holding the swaybar ends to the lower control arms.

It must be a model-year difference, but I only had the 12mm bolts.

8) Remove the line set and plug the top line with a Golf "T" to keep the mess smaller.

Oh, to have had a golf tee...

10) With a 19mm wrench, break the tie-rod adjusting nuts loose. Seat them back on the tie-rod end gently.

Re-seating the adjusting nuts is important because it will preserve the positioning of the tie-rod ends on the tie-rods, so that when you're getting ready to put the new rack in, you can make sure it has the same spacing. This will ensure that your toe-in is at least very close to what it was with the old rack. (Toe-in is the amount that your tires point inward.) I didn't understand this when I was doing it, and I just marked their position with a marker. I think mine came out all right, and I'm having my alignment done anyway, but I wish I had re-seated the nuts.

11) Remove the cotter pin and tie-rod end castle nuts (17mm). If you don't have a puller, no worries IF YOU CAN HIT WHERE YOU AIM! With a 16oz hammer take 2-3 good wacks at the End Of the Steering Arm where the ball stud pokes through. I AM NOT SAYING POUND on the THREADS! Hitting the castings end will momentarily distort the tapered hole and drop the tie-rod end. Mine popped easy. 2 swings each -- one to aim, one to smack it.

My biggest trouble in the whole process was getting out the cotter pin on the passenger side--it was completely rusted to the ball stud. After many soaks with various penetrating oils, heat cycling, and much careful hammering/scraping/pulling/pushing, I finally just broke off the separated end of the pin. Then I just took a socket wrench to the castle nut and sheared off the rounded end in the process of getting the nut off. Because I ended up reusing the tie-rod end, I then had to drill out the remainder of the cotter pin.

I also was unable to get the tie-rod ends out with a hammer--they were too rusted on. So I went out and bought a 5-ton puller ($30 at Autozone--did I get ripped off?), which worked like a charm. I hope to be doing a lot more work on my own, so I think it will end up as a worthwhile investment.

13) Twist pull and slide the leaky old rack out.

Before doing this, you'll need to actually get the steering column coupler off the steering rack--I wedged a slot-head screwdriver into the coupler clamp and tapped it with a hammer to pry it open.

14) Center the rack, Turn input shaft all the way one direction
...
You should still have the toe and alignment checked at the shop.

It took me a while to figure out what all of this meant. Basically:
1) Lay out the old rack on cardboard or something you can mark up
2) Make sure the tie-rods are sticking straight out, and that the gear assembly is centered (1.5 turns from either extreme).
3) Very carefully mark the positions of the tie-rod ends, and a fixed reference point on the rack. Your cardboard should have three marks in line with each other, something like this: | | |
4) Put the new rack on the cardboard now and line up the corresponding reference point with your middle mark.
5) Make sure the tie-rods are straight and the gear assembly is centered again.
6) Adjust the tie-rod ends so that they line up with the other marks. If your new tie-rod ends are a different length from your old ones, you'll have to adjust for the difference so that the ball studs end up in the same place.

Reverse all the them steps and youl'l be back in business.

Don't forget to reattach the steering column coupler before installing the mounting bolts! I forgot that, and had to take them out again. I would also recommend having an assisstant make sure the steering wheel is straight as you do so--I did mine alone, and ended up with my steering wheel a quarter-turn off! Oh well, I'm taking it to the shop for alignment soon anyway.

I hope this is helpful to someone. Thanks again to 73Sport and Brian R.