Power to Manual Steering question

[ShiRuBiA]

Hey guys, I have swapped out the power steering in my EXY10 Sera to an NP80 manual steering set up. Now when I turn the steering wheel, its not perfectly smooth all the way around. It doesn't feel like its catching on anything, its smooth but seems needs a little more effort every half turn. It hasn't been road tested because the car isn't running so not sure how it feels while moving.
The knuckle operation appeared to be smooth before I put it in.
Any ideas what it could be? Is that what it feels like when its worn out? Will it affect going for cert (the whole car needs cert-ing)?
Cheers!
Andrew

[Stott69]

As a side remarke, did you change the colum over too? I have seen the conversion on a MR2 snap the power steering colum.

[ShiRuBiA]

I changed the inside of the column because the spline at the bottom wouldn't be long enough to reach through the firewall. I didn't change the outside though because the mounting points would have made the steering wheel sit about groin height... Not ideal.

[Mr Revhead]

Are you saying the effort needed to turn it increases the further you turn the wheel?

[ShiRuBiA]

No, it stays constant from lock to lock but if you imagine you're spinning the wheel with one hand like you do with power steering, its gets a little harder to spin then loosens then gets harder then loosens, about every 180 degrees.

[ShiRuBiA]

But obviously you cant do it with one hand anymore because there is no power steering... it kinda feels like a knuckle angle is too steep and its being forced through a tight spot, but the angle has actually been reduced.

The rack (????, bottom bit where the splines and knuckles connect to) was from a wrecker, so may have been sitting for a while, would this affect its operation and it'll loosen up or is this how it would feel if it was worn out?

[Mr Revhead]

Maybe you need to check again it's not fouling on something.
Mark the steering when with tape. See if it's always the same place it's getting harder.
Sounds to me as if something is binding/hitting something or the rack is poked

[85AW20v]

Could be the pinion shaft that the column is connected to is slightly bent....

[ShiRuBiA]

Cheers guys, will pull it apart tomoz and try figure it out. Had a thought that maybe the knuckle bolts need to be undone and slid up or down a little, I think the lower one was already done up when i slid the upper spline in, so maybe need to undo them both and find where it wants to sit nicely.. Although Im not sure if that will work.
Will update tomoz

[allencr]

Bad U-joint, or shaft pushed to far into it.[/b]

[touge_ae101]

Def shaft or u joint for being every 180deg. can you be sure rack was in good cond that went in? Possibly of has a bend in it though unlikely.

[RunningRich]

Are there two universal joints in the system? Remember they have to be phased correctly to work as UJ's don't turn at a constant rate when on an angle.

[ShiRuBiA]

Ok, pulled it all apart and still not sure.
Yes there is 2 u joints in the system, the top one is fixed and the bottom one is semi adjustable, and by that i mean the length at which the splines go in. They can't go in so far as to clash with the moving u-joint (well the bottom cant, cant remember about the top, off the top of my head). The spline has a flat edge which when inserted into the u-joint, allows a bolt to go across the opening of the u-joint and tighten the two together. It cant go in any other way because there is a flat spot which will only allow it into the u-joint at one point.
I pulled the u-joint out and pulled on the wheels to steer them to see if it was smooth and it was, if the u-joint is in there, its not smooth when i do this. Spun the column and it too is smooth.
I turned the u-joint unside down, the top side is longer than the bottom and still no difference.
Getting frustrated now...

[sergei]

Ok, pulled it all apart and still not sure.
Yes there is 2 u joints in the system, the top one is fixed and the bottom one is semi adjustable, and by that i mean the length at which the splines go in. They can't go in so far as to clash with the moving u-joint (well the bottom cant, cant remember about the top, off the top of my head). The spline has a flat edge which when inserted into the u-joint, allows a bolt to go across the opening of the u-joint and tighten the two together. It cant go in any other way because there is a flat spot which will only allow it into the u-joint at one point.
I pulled the u-joint out and pulled on the wheels to steer them to see if it was smooth and it was, if the u-joint is in there, its not smooth when i do this. Spun the column and it too is smooth.
I turned the u-joint unside down, the top side is longer than the bottom and still no difference.
Getting frustrated now...

sounds like a phasing issue, check if you can rotate top one around the splines 90' degrees...

[ShiRuBiA]

Top u-joint is fixed, cant change it.

The spline on the bottom of the column which feeds into the top of the bottom u-joint has a flat spot which runs the length of it allowing a bolt to go across to tighten it. It doesnt have any splines on it but its not flat like the bolt groove, its round and allows it to only go in 1 way

[Mr Revhead]

I changed the inside of the column because the spline at the bottom wouldn't be long enough to reach through the firewall. I didn't change the outside though because the mounting points would have made the steering wheel sit about groin height... Not ideal.

Somewhere here could be your issue. Something isn't phased or lined up right.