News

My Honda City's steering feels tighter after steering rack repair

Another thing that stood out was that if I turn the steering slightly to the left or right, it just stays in that position and doesn't seem to center itself like it used to.

BHPian slyspree recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Hello! So I just had my 2015 Honda City's steering rack repaired a few days back as it had developed some play causing a slight clunking noise and my mechanic suggested getting it repaired.

It cost me about 4k for the repair which involved opening up the rack and changing out the bush kit which had developed play for a new one and regreasing it to pack it up again.

When I got my car back, the sound was gone but I immediately noticed the steering was much tighter than before. Another thing that stood out was the stickiness of the steering wheel, in the sense that if I turn it slightly to the left or the right the wheel just stays in that position and doesn't seem to center itself like it used to.

It does however center itself when I take U-turns and give it some gas which gives me some relief but I definitely think the stickiness of the steering is cause for concern. I notified my mechanic about this the same day I got my car back and he assured me saying as the bush kit has been replaced inside the rack there will be some friction and tightness initially which will free up as you use and drive the car. I don't know how true this is and wanted your opinions if anyone has gotten their car's rack repaired before and faced similar issues.

I regret getting the rack repaired. If I had known that the steering feel would get affected in this manner then I definitely would have lived with the play/sounds coming from the rack!

Here's what BHPian freelancer6202 replied:

It's always best to replace the entire rack. Repairing a rack is a gamble. You don't want it giving out all of a sudden. I would still suggest getting it replaced by an experienced mechanic or Honda service center. It could be a little expensive but it will be worth it.

Here's what BHPian Jeroen replied:

I have worked and overhauled several steering boxes on quite a few cars. Depending on the box, I might have to rely on a steering box specialist.

Steering boxes are not that complex but require special knowledge and tooling to overhaul properly, you need to be familiar with or have access to the workshop manual on exact specifications on how to adjust the steering box properly.

Many mechanics, all over the world, will do it by feel and experience. In all cases a recipe for additional and quick wear.

You would be hard-pressed to find a single Mercedes W123 without substantial play in the steering box. For no other reason, everybody seems to believe it just needs an Allen key to adjust the play. The truth is you need to lift the front wheels off the ground and you need a very special torque wrench that can measure Ncm (that is Newton centimeters, not Newton meters) on the circumference of the steering wheel.

On my Alfa Spider, again you need the front wheels and you need to add A 12 kilogram weight to the pitman's arm, whilst adjusting the play with shims. You need a special tool to be able to measure the play.

I can go on for all the cars I have owned and worked on over the years. You can find numerous jobs I did on steering boxes in my “fiddling with cars thread”.

You will also find the stories of steering boxes I replaced with officially overhauled boxes that did not work either (e.g. On my Jeep).

So again, working on Steering boxes, in my opinion and experience is a highly specialised area. Few car mechanics and workshops seem to recognize that. My experience is mostly in the Western automotive world. I don’t want to offend anybody, but I strongly suspect it is not going to be any different in India. Probably worse!

The fact that your mechanic says your new bush will free up over time is a sure sign it hasn’t been adjusted correctly. And it will quickly wear and develop a lot of play. A correctly adjusted box will not require to be worn down.

Sorry to be blunt, but it looks this is a shoddy job, done by an incompetent mechanic.

Here's what BHPian AMG Power replied:

Most rack bush replacements by FNGs in India usually result in the steering being tighter and the castor effect (steering self-centering) missing for some time. The push from the castor angle will not be sufficient at this stage for the steering self-centering to happen.

The reason that they put in the tightness is the bush will last longer under Indian road conditions. I have had several replacements done and this is exactly how it will be.

With use on our bad roads the steering will break in and get back to its original slack and the castor effect will return. And with further use on our bad roads, the noise will also return.

If the steering bush play is set to the OE position, the bush will go sooner because of our bad roads.

So just continue to use your car, be aware of the missing castor effect for some time and you will be fine.

If this is a lot of inconvenience, the only option is to replace the entire rack which is not really required. Just use the car and the rack will return to its original slack with time.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

 
Got BHP?