Hi Dave,
Have you received any thoughts on this problem?
I looked into my TD workshop manual out of curiosity, as I have
absolutely no experience with such a problem. From the illustration it
appears to me that a clunk could be caused only if the shaft is moving
around (obvious) but that it could do that if the male and female ball
seats have worn so that they have slack inside the rack housing, or if
the spring damper assembly isn't doing its damping. The manual gives
diameters of the rack bar and the pinion shaft, so one supposes it
possible that they have worn smaller.
In the MGB manual's exploded drawing of the rack, there is a "rack
housing bush" that appears to be fitted at the outboard ends of the rack
housing. Maybe this was an area of wear that was addressed in models
subsequent to the TD.
If a copy of the MGB drawing would be of use to you, or a copy of the
text in the B manual, send me a fax # or a snail mail address.
Bob
On Sat, 05 Jul 1997 10:39:45 +0000 Dave Houser <mgs4dave@warwick.net>
writes:
>Thank goodness for the online help. Nothing makes me more frustrated
>than to find nothing in my hundreds of manuals, books and newsletters
>referring to a specific MG problem. The subject of this search has to
>do
>with a clunk that recently started on my TD's steering rack. I
>mentioned
>this problem earlier, but finding nothing written, have to come back
>to
>this group for any info you can impart.
>Here's the problem:
>-Pushing down on the front suspension causes the inner rack to hit the
>steering housing where the rack passes through at the inner ball joint
>
>at both ends.
>There is nothing that I have found that mentions this as a potential
>wear point when rebuilding your steering! There are no replacable
>bushes
>like the later B's have(Someone must have had a problem).
>The triangular rack rides through the circular housing contacting it
>along three areas. Grab the inner ball joint and push it up and down
>and
>you can feel a slight looseness up and down.
>Is this repairable? What would cause this to happen?
>Going over rough roads sounds as if the front end is about to smack
>itself until something breaks. Very disconcerting.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>Dave Houser
>
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