Background to this one;
I was feeling a small jolt through the steering wheel, barely noticeable, after letting the clutch up. While it has turned out that my steering rack was actually worn, I did adjust the guide and it helped for a short while and Honda do regard this as a maintenance item though not as a routine service item. So if you steering does feel a bit loose and you think there is slop there or a knock, this may help, but as my own experience has proven, sometimes the rack is just ******ed and needs replacing.
Just one word of warning on this one though, the adjustment is quite simple but you do need to get under your car and setting the grub screw just right is a real pain in the ,,,,,,.
SAFETY STUFF
So while the guide is here, only do the job if you think it needs to be done, don't experiment because it can take ages to set back right. If you are not working with a safe lift, pit or ramp, use good axle stands on level hard ground, not gravel or grass, DO NOT get under your car if you're using a jack, ever. I used a set of steel car ramps I got for €50, well worth the investment.
TOOLS
Car lift, pit, ramps or axle stands
3/8th inch ratchet with a minimum 200 mm long handle and a 6 inch extension piece (Honda would say to use a torque wrench capable of a 3.9 - 25 Nm range, these are like hens teeth though)
40mm wrench (but you can do the job without it, just easier with one. Get a cheap bicycle headstock wrench, it will work fine)
small tube of threadlock.
Small amount of general purpose grease (for a new rack guide only)
Safety glasses (you're under a car and ***** will fall into your eyes)
PROCEDURE
So raise the car, put it on ramps or whatever means you're using to get access underneath. Again I used a small set of ramps.
The steering rack is easily identified, the end you are interested in is the drivers side where the steering shaft connects to a worm wheel gearbox. The rack is mounted on top of the subframe.
Looking from the wheel well through you see this
Before loosening anything, I advise cleaning the head of the grub screw and the40mm locknut around it. Then get a felt marker and draw a line accros the screw and nut. You'll see where and why later, but it is important and will save you time.
The rack guide is held in with a large grub screw that takes a square ~14mm key. I used the end of the 3/8th inch extension, it's a bit loose but won't slip.
The Honda way of loosening this is to loosen the 40mm locknut around the grub screw first. This is awkward without the correct tool though. It you use the 3/8th extension on the grub screw it will come loose, it might take a little effort but it will loosen. When it does loosen, you'll probably be able to take it out by hand, try not to move the locknut on the grub screw too much, if it is reasonably secure there don't worry, it's probably just old threadlock. When you remove the screw and nut, a small spring and the guide may well fall out. Try not to get them dirty. They look like this
The reason for taking the screw fully off is to replace the guide. If you are not changing the guide and are just adjusting it, don't bother taking the grub screw off.
Remember marking the grub screw and lock nut? You do it to provide yourself with a reference, the adjustment on these things is very small, 10 degrees is often enough.
At this point I took the lock nut off the screw, cleaned it and applied some new threadlock. If you are fitting a new guide, you need to take the nut off and fit the new guide with the grub screw only and compress the spring a little. Remember to apply a thin film of grease to the new guide.
I put the nut back on the screw and left it just a few degrees anti-clockwise of the mark on the screw. This is important. If you want to tighten the rack guide, then you want the grub screw to turn into the steering rack a little more, thus the lock nut will be slightly anti-clockwise of where it was before. If you find the rack is too tight when you're done, the lock nut must turn clockwise relative to the grub screw. This is the pain in the azz bit and for me, without a torque wrench, it was trial and error.
Place the guide and spring back in the rack, you will feel it twist to sit against the actual rack bar, use a little grease so it all sticks in there.
Place the grub screw and locknut on the rack and hand tighten it, make sure the lock nut stays fixed on the grub screw. By this time, the threadlock should hold the grub screw reasonably securely.
Use the 3/8th extension and ratchet to tighten both onto the rack. There's no need to use a breaker bar or anything like that, the threadlock will hold it. Be careful if you are using ramps or stands, don't get excited and rock the car off them!!
Now if you are using a lift, your task will be much simpler, you need to spin the steering wheel and see if it feels tight. It shouldn't. It must turn freely so it self centres when you are driving. If you turn it rapidly from side to side and it's loose and you hear a small knock, then you have the grub screw is not in far enough.
If the steering is too tight, the grub screw needs to be loosened, the locknut turned CLOCKWISE relative to the grub screw by a small amount and the grub screw and lock nut tightened back in the rack. If you have the 40mm wrench, you can do this easily without taking the grubscrew off the rack.
If the steering is too loose, the grub screw needs to be loosened, the locknut turned ANTI-CLOCKWISE relative to the grub screw by a small amount and the grub screw and lock nut tightened back in the rack. Again, if you have the 40mm wrench, you can do this easily without taking the grubscrew off the rack.
I unfortunately was not using a lift and had to take the car for a short drive each time. The first time the steering was too tight, it would not self centre. It took me 6 goes to get the adjustment right, the adjustment versus the original position of the lock nut was a matter of about 10 degrees. Do take time to get this right. There is a Honda test where you use a spring balance to pull the steering wheel and test its resistance to twist, but I don't know what the resistance is supposed to be.
A word of caution when you do bring your car out for a test drive. Drive slowly on a quiet road, after all it is your steering and if it is so tight you feel it before you even move off there's no point in going for a drive, just adjust it again. If it's a bit loose, you will be able to steer, it will just make noise, but again, if it's obviously loose, no point in test driving.
Finally, in my case it turned out that the rack itself was simply worn, though this DIY did give me a few more thousand miles. So the moral of the story is, if your rack is also worn, adjusting the guide isn't a permanent fix. Sorry for the long winded description and just to mention one other thing. The Honda method is more specific on how the guide is tightened, they tighten it to 25 Nm, slacken it, tighten again to ~3-4 Nm and turn 10 degrees then fit the lock nut. As I said though, I didn't have a small torque wrench.
Best of luck if you give it a try.
I was feeling a small jolt through the steering wheel, barely noticeable, after letting the clutch up. While it has turned out that my steering rack was actually worn, I did adjust the guide and it helped for a short while and Honda do regard this as a maintenance item though not as a routine service item. So if you steering does feel a bit loose and you think there is slop there or a knock, this may help, but as my own experience has proven, sometimes the rack is just ******ed and needs replacing.
Just one word of warning on this one though, the adjustment is quite simple but you do need to get under your car and setting the grub screw just right is a real pain in the ,,,,,,.
SAFETY STUFF
So while the guide is here, only do the job if you think it needs to be done, don't experiment because it can take ages to set back right. If you are not working with a safe lift, pit or ramp, use good axle stands on level hard ground, not gravel or grass, DO NOT get under your car if you're using a jack, ever. I used a set of steel car ramps I got for €50, well worth the investment.
TOOLS
Car lift, pit, ramps or axle stands
3/8th inch ratchet with a minimum 200 mm long handle and a 6 inch extension piece (Honda would say to use a torque wrench capable of a 3.9 - 25 Nm range, these are like hens teeth though)
40mm wrench (but you can do the job without it, just easier with one. Get a cheap bicycle headstock wrench, it will work fine)
small tube of threadlock.
Small amount of general purpose grease (for a new rack guide only)
Safety glasses (you're under a car and ***** will fall into your eyes)
PROCEDURE
So raise the car, put it on ramps or whatever means you're using to get access underneath. Again I used a small set of ramps.
The steering rack is easily identified, the end you are interested in is the drivers side where the steering shaft connects to a worm wheel gearbox. The rack is mounted on top of the subframe.
Looking from the wheel well through you see this
Before loosening anything, I advise cleaning the head of the grub screw and the40mm locknut around it. Then get a felt marker and draw a line accros the screw and nut. You'll see where and why later, but it is important and will save you time.
The rack guide is held in with a large grub screw that takes a square ~14mm key. I used the end of the 3/8th inch extension, it's a bit loose but won't slip.
The Honda way of loosening this is to loosen the 40mm locknut around the grub screw first. This is awkward without the correct tool though. It you use the 3/8th extension on the grub screw it will come loose, it might take a little effort but it will loosen. When it does loosen, you'll probably be able to take it out by hand, try not to move the locknut on the grub screw too much, if it is reasonably secure there don't worry, it's probably just old threadlock. When you remove the screw and nut, a small spring and the guide may well fall out. Try not to get them dirty. They look like this
The reason for taking the screw fully off is to replace the guide. If you are not changing the guide and are just adjusting it, don't bother taking the grub screw off.
Remember marking the grub screw and lock nut? You do it to provide yourself with a reference, the adjustment on these things is very small, 10 degrees is often enough.
At this point I took the lock nut off the screw, cleaned it and applied some new threadlock. If you are fitting a new guide, you need to take the nut off and fit the new guide with the grub screw only and compress the spring a little. Remember to apply a thin film of grease to the new guide.
I put the nut back on the screw and left it just a few degrees anti-clockwise of the mark on the screw. This is important. If you want to tighten the rack guide, then you want the grub screw to turn into the steering rack a little more, thus the lock nut will be slightly anti-clockwise of where it was before. If you find the rack is too tight when you're done, the lock nut must turn clockwise relative to the grub screw. This is the pain in the azz bit and for me, without a torque wrench, it was trial and error.
Place the guide and spring back in the rack, you will feel it twist to sit against the actual rack bar, use a little grease so it all sticks in there.
Place the grub screw and locknut on the rack and hand tighten it, make sure the lock nut stays fixed on the grub screw. By this time, the threadlock should hold the grub screw reasonably securely.
Use the 3/8th extension and ratchet to tighten both onto the rack. There's no need to use a breaker bar or anything like that, the threadlock will hold it. Be careful if you are using ramps or stands, don't get excited and rock the car off them!!
Now if you are using a lift, your task will be much simpler, you need to spin the steering wheel and see if it feels tight. It shouldn't. It must turn freely so it self centres when you are driving. If you turn it rapidly from side to side and it's loose and you hear a small knock, then you have the grub screw is not in far enough.
If the steering is too tight, the grub screw needs to be loosened, the locknut turned CLOCKWISE relative to the grub screw by a small amount and the grub screw and lock nut tightened back in the rack. If you have the 40mm wrench, you can do this easily without taking the grubscrew off the rack.
If the steering is too loose, the grub screw needs to be loosened, the locknut turned ANTI-CLOCKWISE relative to the grub screw by a small amount and the grub screw and lock nut tightened back in the rack. Again, if you have the 40mm wrench, you can do this easily without taking the grubscrew off the rack.
I unfortunately was not using a lift and had to take the car for a short drive each time. The first time the steering was too tight, it would not self centre. It took me 6 goes to get the adjustment right, the adjustment versus the original position of the lock nut was a matter of about 10 degrees. Do take time to get this right. There is a Honda test where you use a spring balance to pull the steering wheel and test its resistance to twist, but I don't know what the resistance is supposed to be.
A word of caution when you do bring your car out for a test drive. Drive slowly on a quiet road, after all it is your steering and if it is so tight you feel it before you even move off there's no point in going for a drive, just adjust it again. If it's a bit loose, you will be able to steer, it will just make noise, but again, if it's obviously loose, no point in test driving.
Finally, in my case it turned out that the rack itself was simply worn, though this DIY did give me a few more thousand miles. So the moral of the story is, if your rack is also worn, adjusting the guide isn't a permanent fix. Sorry for the long winded description and just to mention one other thing. The Honda method is more specific on how the guide is tightened, they tighten it to 25 Nm, slacken it, tighten again to ~3-4 Nm and turn 10 degrees then fit the lock nut. As I said though, I didn't have a small torque wrench.
Best of luck if you give it a try.
Cheers!