Winter Maintenance

[JonA]

Greetings all,
After 2 years of almost trouble free driving I have the old girl up on blocks for a little maintenance. There are a couple of things that I could use some help with:
I am removing the a/c as I never use it and it is out of gas. Does anyone know the size of the belt needed for the alternator when you mount it with the delete bracket?
My steering rack has been leaking forever but is getting worse. I remember conversation about rebuilt racks available. Are there any rebuilders that are better than others? Are there any rebuilders to stay from?

Thanks,
Jon

[mikepellegrini]

My son found a belt (from Clark's message board) that was an exact fit for the alternator as it sits, without installing a new A/C delete bracket.

I'm not sure what A/C delete brackets go for, but last time I checked it was a bunch.

The belt is a MicroV K050330 and costs $10-20. Just a fraction of the cost for the delete bracket.

The downside is that it is an exact fit. We used a bicycle tire tool (a small, blunt, plastic prying tool) to pry it onto the pulley - which without the expensive delete bracket is non-adjustable.

Not as elegant as a delete bracket, but it worked just great.

I'm not sure about steering rack rebuilders, although I remember seeing a recent thread where someone got a bad rebuild from Autozone. To be fair, if I recall correctly, they quickly made it right.

[Volhv]

I got a power steering rack reseal kit from rennbay for $70. I have not done it yet, but it should be fairly straight forward. I resealed a Integra rack a few years ago, so this should be just as easy.

Installing a manual steering rack could also be an idea..... I wonder if a MK1 Golf rack would bolt right in with little or no modifications. Does anyone know?
Supposedly the ball joints are the same, so... maybe the rack is also.

[Rasta Monsta]

Are you sure the rack itself is leaking? These things had a bad non-pressure hose setup that was prone to leaking and is now superceded.

Might I also suggest: remove rad and take in for service, repack CV joints, repack front wheel bearings, flush hydraulic fluid, flush gearbox, inspect brake hoses, inspect caliper dust covers, replace fuel filter, inspect coolant hoses, check heater valve for leaks, inspect/clean engine grounds, pull battery & scrub out battery box, inspect/clean battery terminals.

[JonA]

Well, the reseal is done and seems to be tight. There were a few ugly lessons:
The seal at the end of the long support tube flipped when I set it in place and ended up installed backwards. Major leak. Rack had to come out a second time to correct. too bad there is no way to bench test these things.
Also I destroyed the little flange on the tie rod that you pean over to lock the theads on the tie rod when I drove it out of the way to get the tie rod off. There wasn't enough flange left to safely lock the threads again. So I was out $300.00 for a new set of tie rods. Not a good design.
All that being said, I would probably do my own rebuild again, rather than go with a rebuilt rack. Most of the time was getting the rack in and out. the actual rebuild was not that complicated as long as you document everything as it comes apart and work carefully and check everything multiple times.
Anyway, enough mechanics. Time to drive.

Jon


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[mytrplseven]

Rennbay posts a tutorial on rebuilding these racks that is real thorough.