Steering rack overhaul

[iMacThere4iAm]

I'm changing the worn passenger side bush in my steering rack but I can't get the track rod end off. There is a locking washer bent out of shape to prevent it unscrewing, and it's so mangled I can't get behind it to flatten it out. Any ideas?

 

[Tripyrenees]

aha...check out my thread om the 1983 runabout.

Stick it in the vice. Wind the rack right out and pull that rubber stopper down to the main rack. Get a blow torch and heat the hell out of that end. Get some decent plumbers pliers or large mole grips and unscrew it. The heat melts the locking compound inside that thread.

http://www.renault4.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=6150

 

[iMacThere4iAm]

Thanks for that! Darn, I haven't got a vice here and I'm not certain my mole grips are quite hefty enough. And I can't buy supplies because France is closed for the rest of the week.

Time to improvise!

 

[Tripyrenees]

lol - 5 day weekend, tell me about it.

Screw it into the bench (temp), undo it, take it to your gas ring cooker, heat it up and then screw it back to your bench and just use anything to unscrew it - mine were unturnable but when I heated them slightly they were easy to get off.

 

[iMacThere4iAm]

That's pretty much what I planned :P
But wait, doesn't the bent washer have to be moved out of the way before I worry about thread lock compound?

 

[Tripyrenees]

Mine just un bent itself as soon as I start to unscrew it with any force. I think it is just there to stop vibratory unscrewing itself syndrome

 

[iMacThere4iAm]

OK yes, that looks like it ought to work

 

[iMacThere4iAm]

Another question! Doesn't heating it melt the ball joint seat as well?

This is academic for the moment since I've put everything back together. I haven't got the right tools and I'm driving back to Britain tomorrow so I can't risk any silly mistakes! But I'd like to know what I'm doing for next time.

 

[Tripyrenees]

Don't need to heat it that much. The Ball Joint rubber is 30cm away from the heat point.