found the mysterious front end clunk/rattle

[jimcrazy]

was changing my oil today and while it was draining I jacked each side up to check for wheel bearing play,i have had a slight shake in the steering at about 70mph,and the clunk some times.. blamed it on tires out of balance checked them twice all good, wheel bearings tight, all new ball joints,inner,outer tie rods last year,sway bar bushing all tight, lower control bushing tight, had a little play in the steering shaft going in to the rack manual steering,,,loosened up the jam nut, about 1/16 of a turn in no more play in the steering wheel, no more clunk/rattle on pot holes and bumps on the road,,,went on a 200 mile run to the city and back was like driving a different car no shakes and steered tight

[xirdneh]

i wonder if my clunk might be caused by that but i am not sure what jam nut your talking about, maybe a picture would help?

[jimcrazy]

couple of pics,, was reading in the manual says to torque the spring cap to 18 foot pounds sounds like a lot, I know I am not that tight, the head of a 5/8 bolt fits the hex hole in the cap, one tap on the lock nut loosened up

[dlb]

so you loosened the lock nut, tightened the spring cap, and then snugged the lock nut back down again?

which was loose initially, the lock nut or spring cap?

[xirdneh]

i will have to try that
thanks

[jimcrazy]

dlb I turned in the spring cap about 1/16 of a turn or about 10 degrees, I would say the rack guide wears after 30 years of rubbing on the rack and it just needs to be preloaded again were it has a spring to keep pressure on the rack shaft. my still had the factory blue paint line on the rack housing and jam nut so I am sure it has never been readjusted, such a little adjustment made such huge difference, I chased the slight shake in my steering wheel all last summer it was only there above 60 mph and now its gone, made me a happy camper

[jimcrazy]

and you have to be carefull not to over tighten the cap and put to much drag on it and the rack will be to tight and your steering wheel will not self center itself after turning

[ARCHINSTL]

Look at pages SR45-6 in the FSM for adjustment.
Tom M.

[Jonymoto]

Jim, how come the rack is so badly covered in oil when it's manual steering? Is that from an engine leak? Could be the half moon shape seal at the back of the engine under the valve cover needs to be replaced. My guess is that with LH drive Tercel, the rack would be directly underneath.

[jimcrazy]

its under coating jony, buddy that did it put lots on even though I don't drive it in winter

[Jonymoto]

Thanks Jim. Not used to see undercoating here apart from what the car came with.