stueyd

Hello guys, hope somebody can help,

Had a heck of a day, just to set the scene a bit.. MY car is a BB 2004 53 plate s2k, 73k miles in good condition. MOT was due, so took it over today to get it done, thinking of course that it would fly through, little did I know.

Failed on, steering system excessively stiff on right hand full lock, much to my confusion as I had never noticed any problems with the steering! They said it wasnt something they could repair and suggested I take it into Honda. So when I got outside I gave the steering a go on right hand full lock, and sure enough there is stiffness and noise for maybe quarter of a turn coming back in or so, not something I had noticed before.

Cut a long story short, took it to Honda, who checked it out, said they couldnt see anything and the rack is in two sealed parts, best they could do was take it out and check the teeth on the rack and pinion part, they think it could be a rack problem but its a "sealed unit" and cant investigate that. Price for the first half was £530 odd, and price for the full rack was £2000, obviously plus fitting.

I asked if they had checked everything else, bushes etc etc and they said yep and I agree, anybody heard of a similiar issue? Is anyone aware of any reputable breakers in the north of England where I could possibly track down a second hand rack?

Thanks for reading, \essay

Nick Graves

never heard of that before.

It is a sealed unit; but the rack damper, pinion&torque sensor & end balljoints are all replaceable separately, if you are so inclined.

Has it been pranged? easiest way to bend the rack.

Assuming it's not a seized balljoint, your only was is to source a secondhand EPS rack unit & swap them over.

stueyd

Many thanks for the prompt, informative response. Not since I've owned it, the occasional pothole but nothing that has affected steering performance.

I'm wondering wether it's worth paying the dealership the x hours labour to remove it and are if a problem is evident as I wouldn't be comfortable doing it myself. If it were a siezed balljoint, would the stiffness be likely to only occur when on full lock, as there is no difference in steering feel/resistance in the "normal" range left or right.

Dembo

Mine has some play, so will probably fail come MOT time. When I looked a second had rack was something like £300-£400, plus I guess a couple of hours labour. It'll be a lot cheaper than Honda.

You could try Dewsbury, or just try one of the search services like 247spares.

richmc

Might be worth doing a reset on the EPS unit, The procedure is in the PDF manual in the tech FAQ, or you can do a search on the USA forum for EPS reset. Worth trying before the expensive options.

Just found - https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/778662-power-steering/