In midst of swapping out an 01 rack (dealer recall work not done properly and beyond 12mo work warranty period). Everything is pretty easy except for those 2 electrical connectors buried way up there with little room by the firewall. Does anyone know if the 2 connectors both use a squeeze tab to release? Hard to get 2 hands in there (1 to squeeze and 1 to pull a fairly tight connector) Thought I check before going back to battle these 2 connectors again. They won the last hour long battle. Perhaps removing the bolt (lower arrow on pic below) that holds down the bracket the connectors are mounted on would help to lower the connector a bit and more room to get fingers from 2 hands on it to disconnect?
Yes, and they face in opposite directions, with opposite sides of the shell attached to the bracket. It's just nasty. Probably. That's actually a two-piece bracket, and removing that bolt allows it to separate. The instructions for the "RECALL B0G" on the pinion shaft locknuts actually say to unhook the rest of the stuff first, lower the whole crossmember partially, only 4 inches, then fight with those connectors. They also give the part number for a kit of all the replacement parts you would need for that recall: 04001-31147, which you can buy online around $72, and it includes not only the pinion shaft nuts (which you wouldn't need unless actually rebuilding the gear), but also brand-new replacement subframe bolts, the rubber seal where the column shaft goes through the floor, tie-rod end cotter pins, and exhaust pipe gasket, all the stuff you'd need anyway. What it doesn't include are the "crossmember hangers", a nifty tool made out of threaded ends (same size as the crossmemeber bolts), what looks like about 4 links of proof coil chain and big washers. After you take out the crossmember to body bolts, you thread those puppies into the body through the crossmember holes, and they let you lower the crossmember I guess somewhere past 4 inches and have it hang there. Those don't have a part number, they were just "provided to the dealership" as part of the recall campaign. I say "somewhere past 4 inches" because you're supposed to pause when the crossmember is 4 inches down, to unhook the evil connectors, then lower the rest of the way onto the hangers. -Chap
Thanks, pulling the bracket indeed helped. Gave more room. There are 2 bolts on the bracket, driver side one is a ground strap bolt and need to be removed first followed by the bolt (passenger side) securing the bracket. I also had to use bare hands rather than latex gloves just to get a better grib on the connectors in the tiny awkward space. Here are few additional notes to supplement Toyota's rack removal/install directions. - Got the replacement rack in (same year (2001) with 100k miles with recall work done properly). But this rack's pinion shaft key is 180 degrees off from the old rack when both are centered. All the u-joint linkages are also keyed so I have to pull the steering wheel to center properly + reset clock spring. - No need to remove the exhaust pipe. Main engine mount is on the subframe and only a dog bone mount is attached to the subframe. There is no load on the exhaust assembly as the engine doesn't shift when subframe is removed. Toyota's recall effort also didn't remove the exhaust pipes, it was clear the very rusted exhaust pipe bolts were not touched. However, if the catalytic converter is removed, there is a bit more room to get to the 2 electrical connectors for the rack. - The whole subframe kind of floats on control arms which is then attached to the wheel hubs and struts. The special Toyota tools to hold up the subframe are unnecessary. Just need to put a jack or other support below the subframe to prevent it from dropping too far. This whole floating subframe assembly moves around a lot once the bolts are off and almost slipped off my jack when the steering rack was coming out and all the weight was towards the rear of the subframe. - When putting the installed rack + subframe assembly back... have a helper jack up the subframe while you carefully center the steering rack pinion shaft into the hole to avoid ripping the dust boot. - I didn't buy the recall kit and just reused all the bolts. I know quite a few are stretch bolts but I've never had reuse problems on other cars in the past. Just need to avoid cranking it down ultra tight and snap the already stretched bolts. You can get them pretty tight... probably just a little less than spec.
I've never done the job myself and I don't have my own opinion, but Toyota's take on that is printed in red in the recall instructions (which are not otherwise colored): STOP: Failure to install the crossmember hangers could damage the lower ball joints and steering gear wire harness, and will cause a safety concern. Be sure to fully install the crossmember hangers. -Chap
Yes, I can confirm the reason for the hangers is to avoid dropping the crossmember too far. The most obvious damage would be breaking the steering rack's wiring harness. Harness is attached to the engine/tranny assembly which doesn't drop and the rack is mounted on the crossmember getting lowered. Therefore, lowering the crossmember too far would break them right where the torque sensor wiring goes into the rack. I could see my old rack's wiring harness getting tugged on pretty good when I was dropping it. 2nd issue would be the lower ball joints but you probably have to drop it really far to damage those due to the angles. Alternatively, I saw another Toyota manual (SSCY005 new steering Rack installation) call for disconnecting the ball joints and stabalizer links to drop the cross member completely off the car. If ball joints and sway links aren't disconnected. Probably good idea to put a stool or sturdy box of the right height under it. As I said, it moves around a lot so a larger surface than the lift point on a jack would be nice. ==== Just test test drove the car with donor rack... success! steering wheel self returns after a left hand turn which the previous rack didn't due to improper recall work. Now onto my home toe alignment job (sticks+strings to make parallelogram around the car).
The worst part about removing gen1 steering rack is the 2 electrical connectors. If you can unbolt and lower the subframe a couple of inches it's easier to get them off. I also use this tool for helping with ALL the pesky electrical connectors on Japanese cars. http://amzn.com/B002P90NCY
