First time doing a tranny fluid drain. So I ended up removing a wrong bolt (along the axle) that also had a "recessed square" - which is what I was looking for the transmission drain bolt. This bolt was a little behind the engine oil drain bolt and to the drivers side.. so removed it and then saw a spring pop out and no oil. attached pics. anyway, I put it back, then did a tranny fluid drain. I filled it through the filler bolt if that matters. And then took it for a spin - immediately realized that the steering wheel was not as smooth as before..





Should I put some grease or should go in some right way that will cause the steering to become normal again? Please help.. stranded without a car for now.

 

wow man,,for referance- the atf drain has ATF stamped on the block above it
Engine oil says OIL above it

was that ps fluid that came out?

 

Hey Hedwig, that bolt that you first loosened appears to have been removed from the steering rack's gearbox ? Did you have to loosen the larger lock-nut before you could get the "square" end plug out ? Besides the spring, did anything else come out upon opening these up ? Any PS fluid ?
Maybe when reinstalling the spring and bolt.....you didn't get it adjusted tight enough ?

 

My guess is there is now air in the system PS system.

 

The above pic shows everything that came out. The "square recessed" nut was right there(on the right in the above pic too and is inverted) and so (stupidly) in my excitement unscrewed it. Then was the spring, followed by the thing on the left. From the shape its clear that it sits snugly on some rod (that I could see - definitely had to do with the steering).

So I removed it, applied some general purpose grease (as seen above) and re-tightened it. The steering is WAY better now - but its still definitely as smooth as before.

Should I have not applied any grease and is it ok and to push that thing all the way in - so that it is snug with that rod inside and then tighten the bolt well?

Thanks guys!

 

No fluid came out of this bolt. Nada.

 

Then scratch my air idea.

 

what you have here from left to right is...

A guide .... a pressure spring ... and the screw to put pressure on the spring.

What I dont see that is normally there is a lock nut... but TLs may be different.



Put it all back in, and adjust it. If its to tight it may cause the rack to not move freely.

 

Hmm - my steering wheel moved much more freely after I removed it a second time and tightened it well. Hence my thought that I might have to put that "guide" in well.. in fact that guide has "small rectangular" slot on the bac (as see in the 1st pic in my original post), I could put some flat head into it and twist it so it goes tight on that rod inside (I did not really do this - just pushed it with my fingers). NO?

I have the service manual - but I had no idea where to look in that 2000 page doc.. needed some good keywords to search.

 

Sorry, I'm not proficient in PS servicing, but I've seen this in a rebuild kit.

I hope those "names" help in your search... it may not be in the manual but see if there is a power steering rebuild guide.

That should give you the torque specs/procedures.

 

So I figured out what those parts where by looking up online on acuraoemparts.com

http://www.acuraoemparts.com/delray/...All&vinsrch=no

Its the parts numbered 7,5,6 and 9.
53416-S0K-A01 GUIDE, STEERING RACK
53414-S84-A01 SCREW, RACK GUIDE
53413-S0K-A01 SPRING, RACK GUIDE PRESSURE
53458-S84-A01 NUT, LOCK

I now need to lookup how to put these back and if there is any torque specifications etc.. One step closer.

 

Do a search here for the 2nd gen TL service manual and download it. The link has been posted many times.

 

Already was looking at it.. I think its the one on Section 17-34 - power steering, rack guide adjustment.

 

Looks like I need to follow some specific torque setting, loosen and then re-tigten at a specifc torque and angle.. damn it.. I have never used a torque wrench.. let alone setting it at a specified angle. Will a regular mechanic be able to pull this off?

Thanks.

 

The instructions say:

1.) tighten the rack guide screw to 18Lbf.ft and then loosen it.
2.) re-tighten the rack guide screw to 2.9lbf.ft and then back it off to 20 degrees angle. (Specified return angle: 20degrees).


Am a little confused. I am guessing I will use the torque wrench to set at 18lb.ft and tighten. then loosen it? how much shoudl I loosen.. just loosen?
then again set torque wrench to 2.9lbf.ft and tigten. now how do I "back it off to specified angle"?

Sorry, all I have never done such specific tighten / angles before.

 

It was the steering rack guide - you guessed it right. Now I need someone to just answer my two questions in the above post (how much to loosen and what the back off angle means)... thanks!

 

This is extremely simple and you can do it yourself. You will need those small torque wrenches with the lower scale.

Set your tq wrench to 18 ft-lbs and tighten until your tq wrench clicks.
Now loosen it one turn. The previous tightening you did just preloaded the unit to 18 ft-lbs.
Now set the tq wrench to 2.9 or 3 ft-lbs and tighten until the tq wrench clicks.
Put a wrench on it and use a protractor to measure an angle of 20 degree counterclockwise from the wrench. Make a mark somewhere on the unit or use a piece of tape. Now you can slowly rotate your wrench counterclockwise until you line up with that mark.
You're done....go grab a beer!

 

That does sound very simple! I did rent a torque wrench from autozone - gotta check if it has a low calibration of 3lbs! Appreciate your response! Thanks..

 

cool, I'm glad you found the steps.

Please make sure the torque wrench is in ft lbs and not inch lbs.

 

Yeah, go with Victus1.....he's got it right !