How do you remove the rack and pinion on a 2001 Saturn LS?

Answer 1

I originally asked this question but got the answer myself,by actually taking on the task myself,difficulty being a novice I would say,its about a 7 outta 10.Jack the car up and secure on jack stands with tires removed,use your club to secure the steering wheel so it does not move,remove both outer tie rod end,remove the 17mm and 14 mm bolts that hole the rack in place.Remove the plastic covering revealing the coupling,Use white out to mark the relation of the steering coupling to the pinion extention inside the car,then loosen the 10mm nut,the rack will fall out.twist and wiggle rack out.HINT: the rack is set in a tight place I removed the shock absorber fork,then turn the long pinion piece on the rack to shorten the rack on the drivers side,this makes the job easier.It took me an hour till i figured it out.Installation was more difficult,you need another person to line up the pinion extention to the steering coupling while its being installed and make sure the steering is bolted back on tightly to the pinion,I might have used words not professional but I guess you can pick up on what im talking about.Good luck to anyone who attempts this on there own...oh by the way mine was not a power rack and pinion.

Answer 2

remove both tires. romove tie rod ends from hubs. then unscrew tie rods form rack. then remove all fluid lines from rack as well as any electrical sensors that may be on it. then unscrew all large bolts holding rack onto the car. Pull rack out which ever side has the most room. Not easy and requires large tools AND LOTS OF STRENGTH.

Answer 3

HEy man, I am in the process of doing this very job right now. So far, everything has been easy. I 1st loosened the lugnuts jacked the car up on jack stands, pulled the tires, then I proceeded to remove both outer tierod ends from the steering knuckle. make sure you very carefully examine the tie rods and ball joints, because if you re-use these and they fail, they can cause you to have a bad accident. Anyways, on the passenger side, readch in thru the wheel well and you will see a bolt holding the rack. Use an 18mm wrench or socket to remove the this bolt. after ward, get a 5/8 open end wrench, preferably a flare wrench so you don't round the corners of the Power Steering lines off. you will see a steel line going into the rack just above the bolt you just removed. Remove the line with said 5/8 flare or open end wrench. next, crawl under the car and remove the other steel line with same wrench, be careful with both lines, as they are easily damaged and hard to replace! Ok, now the fun really begins. While still under the car in the same general are as the line you just removed, you will see a single nut connected to a bolt running thru the cross member, you will have to remove the nut, it's not fun, unless like the car I am working on, the rack was broken on the pass. side mount and I could remove the other nut with my fingers!!! I could not believe they drove the car to my shop, afterwards, the older couple had been letting their son drive and he hit some serious speed bumps at about 50 mph. They were lucky that he crush the oil pan. The reason I went rambling on, I am currently stuck trying to remove the bolt I just told you to remove. The bolt comes out and runs smack dab into the sway bar! Talk about a pain in the ass! Well I put the jack under the wheel and jacked it up and twisted the sway bar enough that it is just a hairs width from coming out, but won't. I worked on this problem for 2 hours before I walked away, I was contemplating violence to this car. Tomorrow is a new day and I guess I have to take off the sway bar at least on the drivers side and loosen the pass, side a little too. As soon as that bolt is out from the frame, you can just slide the whole rack out the drivers side. Oh, I did forget to mention, while on the drivers side removing the tie rod, you will have to disconnect where the steering shaft comes into the rack. Push the boot up and remove the 7/16 bolt and use a small pry bar or screw driver to push it off the splines. I will let you know how the rest turns out.

Answer 4

Well, apparently you don't ask this web site!