Steering racks and kickdown cables

[jseabolt]

I got my Brava out of storage the other day, cleaned it up and have been driving it around these past couple of weeks. I hadn't really driven it since spring of last
year! I was afraid the gas had went bad or the float valve was going to stick
shut but maybe I put some Stabil in it. It required some starter fluid but
runs fine otherwise. So this got me thinking about a few things.

Steering racks:

The power racks installed on 80+ Bravas have the same ratio as the non powered
racks of 79 and below. This means if you remove the pump, the steering is not
any harder to turn than without the pump. I discovered this one day while
turning the steering wheel with the engine not running. Then did some asking
about and learned the ratios were the same.

I removed the P/S pump to free up some space and a few HP. The main reason I
did this was to get rid of the air pump. Problem is without the air pump, you
cannot set the belt tension on the power steering pump because they share the
same V-belt. Unless you replace the air pump with something like an A/C
tensioner pulley.

I had NAPA make me some new hoses to create a loop from one side of the rack
to the other. Then added a tee from the reservior. That way the rack get's
lubricated.

The question is could I get rid of this setup and install a zerk fitting where
one of the hoses connects to the rack, leave the other end off for the
meantime and pump the rack full of general purpose grease which will
eventually push the Detron ATF out of the rack. Then cap off the other end.

I mean, is there anything special about this type of steering rack where it
needs automatic transmission fluid as a lubricant? I believe it's a ZF rack,
not a TRW rack.

The seals are a bit worn and it leaks and makes a mess on my garage floor. I
suppose I could put some of that White Shepherd stop leak in it which has
worked well on my 68 Ford and my Trabant's transmission seals.

Kickdown cables:

The kickdown cable on my Brava's transmission is broke. I have another one but
I got to looking one day to see where it connects to the transmission and it
seems it goes into a black hole (so to speak). It appears it goes into the
transmission in the driveshaft tunnel. I'm not sure how to get to it.

Is the only way to get to it is to drop the transmission?

Kind of like the only way to get to swap out speedometer gears on a 124 Spider
manual transmission is to drop the transmission. Or as someone once told me,
they cut a small access hole in the driveshaft tunnel in order to remove it.
then made a patch to cover the hole.

Any advise on that?

[131rally]

Dont know about the kickdown, neither the powersteering.  But, I have fast steering for sale, its not powersteering, you would get out from the hazzle with it. See forsale section.

Marko

[skumandeth]

My manual rack in my '75 calls for engine oil. And that seems to work fine.   Grease would be too thick (especially in colder temps) . Make sure the bushings that internally support the rack arn't worn out. As far as the cable I'm not sure.

[ZFA16V]

If you remove the auto pan,you should be able to see the other end of the
cable from inside the box.
I don't think it's very hard to change if your mechanically minded.
See how you go from there,....if you have to drop it a tad.....so be it.