Steering Rack Gear Oi

[vin6635]

Hi all-

What type of gear oil do you recommend to lube a steering rack? Any other tips on performing this maintenance?

Thanks,
Rich

[Josh]

I am refurbishing my rack in the next week, I too would like to know this!

[DMCMW Dave]

Service Manual A:05:01 - 90-weight gear oil.

If you have the rack out of the car, I like to hang it vertically, pour the lube through it as a rinse, let it drain, and add the specified amount.

If you are doing in-car service, just pour it in through the tension spring cap on the driver side end. Spec is 0.3 pint (not much!) if you overfill it, the excess will run out for a while no harm done other than to your garage floor.

I've heard that using a light grease can work much better than the specified oil, but to do that you would have to clean out all the old oil by taking the rack apart. Not tested by me.

[vin6635]

Awesome - thanks, Dave! I was reading the stering section H...I'm a rookie when it comes to the manual.

Got it all apart - off to the store now.

[vin6635]

Dave - will 80w-90 work? I'm not seeing straight 90 weight.

[DMCMW Dave]

Dave - will 80w-90 work? I'm not seeing straight 90 weight.

Yes - it's not a critical application.

[Mark D]

I used the same 80/90 weight gear oil as the manual transmission. Also lightly greased some of the parts during reinstallation. I had the whole rack completely torn down.