"How To" grease rack & pinion

[dltalfa]

I will be replacing the rack and pinion boots this weekend, along with new tie rod ends.

My Haynes repair manual, as well as the "How To Restore Z" book both say it's a good idea to top off the grease in the rack,...but neiter of them tell me how to do this.

How do I go about greaseing the rack on a 1972

240Z?

[240260280z]

[rcb280z]

Blue, do all the S30's have this zerk fitting on the rack? I don't think I have ever greased mine. I wouldn't even begin to know how much grease either. Guess I could check the FSM also.

[240260280z]

Not sure. I thinks most have the fitting near the end of the steering column but the grease well/zerk on the passenger side is on early 240z/modded respectively.

[siteunseen]

I'm going through mine ('77) now- new outer tie rods and boots- and it doesn't have any zerks. Can't break that big screw looking thing loose. I've read to apply some type of graphite or teflon spray on the slide parts before the boots go on. I sure wish I had the grease fittings though. Maybe install them? Drilling and tapping that cast iron would be tough plus filings getting in the old grease. I need to read FSM section.

[beermanpete]

The factory manual shows plugs (screws) where the zerks go. You should be able to remove the screws and install zerks to get the grease in there. I don't know if leaving the zerks in long term is ok or not. The factory seems to prefer removing them and re-installing the plugs after greasing.

[siteunseen]

I can only find under trouble shooting in steering section #6 Noises- replenish grease but nothing else. Mine has a plastic rod that looks like it goes all the way through and of course I broke part of it off trying to pull it out. Could I drive that through or just leave it alone?

[beermanpete]

I can only find under trouble shooting in steering section #6 Noises- replenish grease but nothing else. Mine has a plastic rod that looks like it goes all the way through and of course I broke part of it off trying to pull it out. Could I drive that through or just leave it alone?

It looks like you are trying to remove a part that is covered by the bushings when the rack is installed. The grease fittings won't likely be there as it would require removing the rack to add grease for routine service.

Look at the attached pages from the service manual. The picks show how to add grease. This is from the 1973 manual.

Steering Rack Greasing.pdf

[siteunseen]

I want a 240!

[bacarl]

Bringing back this old thread to ask a question about Blue's second photo up in post #2

I tagged all the hardware I removed while disassembling my front suspension, and I have bolts and nuts for the steering rack. Imagine my confusion when I started reassembling and found the rack brackets already have weld nuts on them. I was wondering where the heck the nuts came from that I had bagged with the bolts, so I started doing research and found Blue's pic.

It looks like the nut goes on top of the weld nut?? Is this a lock/jam nut set-up? I don't remember dealing with a jam nut when I took it apart. Apparently I need to add photos to my bag & tag organization method, but that's so damn inconvenient when you're lying on your back with grease up to your elbows; not the best time to bust out the camera or cell phone.

[240260280z]

It looks like the nut goes on top of the weld nut?? Is this a lock/jam nut set-up?

Yes that is it. Or as they say on TV "You got it Pontiac!"

[bacarl]

Thanks Blue! I appreciate both the pic and the follow up

Very glad to know I'm not crazy and that the nuts actually belong to what I tagged them for.