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wont steer

94grandprix

94grandprix

New member
ok i recently bought a 00 pontiac grand prix gtp for 425$ at a auction,i got a key made today and overall it runs good,the trans shifts good and no knocking or smocking just a bad hose and alternator and something with the steering,its very hard to turn and isnt drivable cause of it,it makes no popping noises or grinding or anything,what can it be?
 


its not whinning,and i found the cap but it dosent look like a regular one,its hot a square in the middle of it,how do i take it off?
 
the cap is under the alternator, turn it left to take it off. it is round.

could be also a bad rack and pinion when they go bad its hard to turn one way, and easier to turn the other. but will get hard both ways sooner or later if driven with a bad rack for long.


425 sounds like a good deal. even if it needs a few hundred to fix it up.
 
ok i was googling and this man said his got vacumed and he took the cap off and it popped and then his started working again and ya mine is hard to turn both ways
 
the only thing to do is throw parts at this. change the pump first, cause its cheaper. ( 70 bucks) if that dont fix it, then the rack is dead.

theres really no way to tell with zero history, and your not going to get any at this point. as you got it at a auction.
 


ok i put some in it but it may not be enough to help because i ran out and if its the rack and pinion,how hard is it to put in there and does it go on both sides,i looked up the part and it didnt say a pair or anything,exsplain it to me
 
this what your rack looks like.

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its one piece, the thin rods are the inner tie rods, the outer tie rods screw onto them.

you need to jack the car up on to jack stands, take off both front wheels.

pop both tie rods off.

remove the bolt that holds the steering shaft to the rack, lift the boot with the wheels straight and 12 inches of extensions and it comes right out, its an 11 mm i think.

get a floor jack under the middle of the rear of the sub frame, hold it up with the jack, then loosen up the two rear bolts to the sub frame like 2 inches, and lower the jack to the bolts, dont let it hang on the bolts, just lower it.

then remove your sway bar,

then the 2 lines from the power steering pump, 18 mm line wrench is needed, and you can get to them from under the car.

at this time you should see a plug with wires that lead to the rack, un plug it.

you have 2 bolts left that hold the rack to the sub frame, remove them, (18 mm bolts ) lift the rack out of the mounts, and now it needs to be twisted through the driver side wheel well. and its tight. but it will fit.

when you start this job, lock the steering wheel and dont play with it, ( leave it locked) if you spin it around the clock spring will break.

when its time to hook up the steering shaft back to the new rack, what i did was lay the new and old side by side, and matched up the position of the gear on the rack then had a friend wiggle the steering wheel a bit to get it back on the rack, this is about the hardest part for most people.

this job will take 3 to 4 hours easy to complete. but can be done with nothing more than simple hand tools and your time.
 
Logan541 said:
I know the 97's were recalled for rack and power steering pump replacement
Click to expand...


the recall is for the rack, in cars made in 2 plants. you need to call your local dealer with your vin # to see if its been done or if the recall even applies, lord knows i tried.
 


It's not a rack problem, there is a replaceable bearing inside the rack that fails....it was a recall on damn near every fwd gm product....if you look underneath the rack driver side, you will see a small dust cover, behind that is a bearing...it does require a special j tool to remove...
 
ok GTX would a bad bearing cause a leek and i got under there today and theres power steering fluid every were and i couldnt tell were it was coming from
 
you need to get the car up on ramps, or how ever, and start the car, with it running get under it and watch where its leaking from, if you have someone there who can turn the wheel back and fourth that will make it leak more.

if your leaking from the boots, (at the ends of the rack) just get a new rack.

could also be from one of the lines as well.

or the pump its self.

if need be, clean the engine top and bottom,( and the rack and trans) then start looking again. and a clean engine is nicer to work on too.
 
might not have to pull the sway bar if it is the rack. I never did on mine and had it swapped in about an hour and a half.
 


mine sway bar was broken, so i took it out, and left it out till i got a new one. but every write up said to take all the bolts out and slide it up out of the way.

its a chunk of room at the end day by removing it. and its tight under there.
 
yeah it's definitely tight. I had just enough clearance to pull the bolts out but I've seen some where there isn't as much clearance so you'd probably be better off taking the sway bar out.
 
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