Steering - not quite right...

[fearofweapons]

... well more like left! 

The steering relay was recently replaced but the steering had not been setup properly as per the work shop manual. That is when wheels are straight ahead the arm to the top of the relay should be at 81 degrees. 

The thing now is that I can not get full left lock. The arm to the top of the relay hits the panel, not the stops but the panel, that the radiator grill is attached to. 

This is a SIII SWB petrol. 

Any suggestions please? 

[Romahomepete]

Go to the Series 2 club forum, there are clear diagrams on there showing how the steering should be set up

[David Sparkes]

Quote

Any suggestions please?

Yes.

Start by resetting the steering correctly, ths is easier with both wheels off the ground.
Because there is a known fault related to the steering relay, disconnect the steering box from the relay. Preferably that's the end of the  longitudinal link from the steering box drop arm, although it may also be necessary to disconnect it from the relay itself, so you can ensure both ball joint threads are free, the joints themselves are not worn, and the rubbers are not split. Just in case, be aware that the longitudinal arm has a LH thread at one end and a RH thread at the other, this is so you can adjust the lengh of the arm without disconnecting the ball joint tapers, but merely by releasing the clamps at each joint, then turning the tube. Note that there is no facility (flats) for gripping the tube, it has to be the bodgers delight, stillsons or a self grip wrench.

I'm understating the difficulties here; the clamp bolts will be rusted tight, and may shear, the TREs will be rusted in place, and the tube will not be in the mid position, Rather one joint will have been screwed fully home and the length adjusted by the mechanic breaking the ball joint taper at the other end, screwing the TRE out to the position he wanted.

Now turn the steering wheel from lock to lock, counting the turns. Divide by two and turn the shaft to the central position. With a felt tip pen mark the end if the steering column with a mark, centre to 12 o'clock or centre to 6 o'clock. If the wheel is in the position you want it, remove the nut holding it in place and put a matching pen mark on the steering wheel boss.
If the wheel is not placed where you want it, remove the wheel, rotate and replace it as required, always ensuring the steering column mark is vertical.
After this is done, recheck (full lock to full lock, counting the turns, then counting turns back to the mid position).
A piece of masking tape around the rim in the 12 o'clock position makes it easy to check if the wheel has moved, being visible through the windscreen.
Now the alignment of the wheel will show the mid position of the steering. If the steering wheel ever becomes misaligned (not where you want it) NEVER change the position of the wheel on the shaft. Look for the fault in the steering linkage and repair / adjust as required to get the steering wheel in the mid position.

Now look at the position of the drop arm on the steering box; it should be pointing directly (vertically) downwards. If it doesn't, reposition the drop arm. HNJ make a reproduction special puller to help removing the drop arm, if this is too expensive look for 'pitman arm pullers' to do the job. Space is at a premium, so don't go too bulky.
With the drop arm vertical recheck the steering wheel is still in the mid position.

Now ensure the relay arm is in the place you want it, and reattach the longitudidal link, adjusting the length so it is a drop in fit. Recheck the steering wheel hasn't moved.
Note that the figure of 81 degrees is a clerical error, dating back to when the book was written. There are 44 splines on the steering relay shaft, with both sets of splines being in alignment with one another. It is impossible to arrange the relay arms so they are 81 degrees out of alignment. If you choose the 'not 90 degree' setting the relevant arm is moved one spline.

With a S3 the radiator grill panel should have slight protrusions on the lower corners, these provide space in the rear of the panel for the relay arms to be set to 'not 90 degrees' and still achieve full lock without the relative TRE striking the panel.

Once you have set the relationships of steering wheel to steering box drop arm to relay arm correctly, the rest is relatively straight forward.
The snag here is that you cannot rely on previous mechanics getting the original settings correct. People tend to take short-cuts, introducing mistakes.

Regards.

[Snagger]

I did it as above.  One exception, though - with the steering box drop arm set vertical when the steering box is in mid-range, the drop arm hit the foot well before I got full travel to the right.  I think the drop arm should be one spline forward of vertical, and suspect this may be why the relay arms are set at 81 degrees, the top arm being slightly forward of perpendicular to the car axis.

[fearofweapons]

All,

many thanks for replies and pointers. This is, obviously, one of those times when doing it by the book is wrong 😞 

I'll go take a look in the SII forum as well. In the mean time I have a question...

If I choose the 'not 90 degree setting' is there any advantage to the arm leading or trailing the chassis? i.e. create an acute or obtuse angle with the drop arm on the bottom of the steering relay? Or is the 90 degree setting the correct one and the manual is just plain wrong?

The rest of the setup instructions above I had pretty much followed including the checking for fouling of the pedal box for a right turn - I don't 🙂

Once again many thanks.

Rich

[steve b]

There should be guide pre-set lengths for each link rod in the factory manual - these are all between ball joint centres :

Track rod 45.68"

Box to relay 24.50"

Drag link 30.875" 

it helps to have these near right to get the right angles . The lower arm of the relay should be at 90 deg. to the track rod and the top arm is at 81 deg. to the lower arm .

cheers

Steve b

[Snagger]

The relay top arm should point slightly forward of 3o’clock, and I suspect that change was to match the box drop arm being a similar amount forward of vertical, so the longitudinal rod and both arms operate as a parallelogram, retaining a steady ratio their range.
 

The rod lengths above are a good starting point, but fine tuning will need to be done once assembled to allow for vehicle tolerances.