LeoDioxide

I've got a 1980 Euro S 928 that had some steering work done on it. They replaced a cracked rack and pinion, but now when I turn to the right it clicks... I can't imagine what that would be. It's starting to bother me because I suspect catastrophic failure at any time, do you guys have any ideas?

Mrmerlin

does it make the noise while your turning the steering wheel or after the the wheel has been turned to the right??.
How did the original rack get cracked??
was the car in an accident?
was the resivour replaced as well as the other PS lines?
is the steering wheel straight?
Were the inner and outer tie rods replaced/ were the rack boots replaced?

LeoDioxide

It makes a noise the entire time the wheel is turned, not while the wheel is being turned. Think of going around a smooth bend, clicks the whole time, and what confuses me is it clicks slowely. As in, maybe 3 times a second at lower speeds (20-40mph). Speeds up with wheel speed, not engine rpm. Original part was cracked going over ****ty roads, didn't bottom out but I heard a distinctive metallic *PING* and knew something was wrong. The steering was immediately grindy. After fixing: The steering wheel is maybe 1/16pi radians off center to the right. I'm gonna call to get the specifics on what exactly they did tomorrow. Pretty sure the tie rods were left alone.

Thanks.

SeanR

Wheel torque?

Wheel bearings?

Mrmerlin

it quite possible that there are either loose bolts ( wheel, rack securing bolts, or a line hitting the bottom of the motormount stud on the side where the shaft goes into the rack) or the backing plate was bent or the air deflector shield was bent or there is a small stone caught between the backing plate and the rotor

Bill Ball

If the click noise happens even in gentle turns, maybe it will happen if you jack up the front end, turn the steering wheel to the right and then rotate the wheel, and you will be able to spot the source.

1/16pi radians (11.5 degrees) is WAY off center. Have them recenter the steering wheel. That's part of the steering rack job. Or, rather a front toe alignment is part of the job. It should be simple to fix this as I think 1/16 pi radians can be corrected simply by removing the steering wheel and moving it a few teeth on the shaft. If the alignment tech says the steering wheel cannot be centered exactly without making the tie rods unequal length, then the shop screwed up, attaching the rack to the lower steering column off a tooth from center. Unfortunately, the lower part of the shaft has twice as many splines as the upper.

LeoDioxide

Thanks for the Suggestions. To wrap this up, I pulled the wheels off and was playing with the car while it was jacked up. Turns out the brake shield behind the wheel was bent, and when the car was turned to the right the shield would deform a little more and start to catch in every groove in the rotor.

I'm going to leave the steering wheel as it is for now, because the shop is 200 miles away and I've got more problems to deal with first.

Bill Ball

It's pretty easy to pull the steering wheel and recenter it yourself if you have big socket set. Pull out the horn fuse. Then pull off the horn pad. There is a 27mm (1-1/16") nut to loosen with spring washer underneath. Remove them and the steering wheel should slip off the splined shaft so you can reposition it. The only caveat is the one I mentioned above about being off a tooth at the other end of the column, but you might get lucky.

LeoDioxide

I'll give it a shot tomorrow, thanks.