anthonyg956

Hello everyone,

After having my car put away for quite a while, I recently pulled it out of the garage & took it out for a drive... To my dismay, I noticed my steering wheel had some slack... Specifically, it would take about 3/4- 1 inch turn of the steering wheel in either direction before my car would react... After reading many threads & checking whether it might be either the steering column or the steering coupler I ended up meeting the real culprit.

Anyways, long story short, I traced back the problem to the rack & pinion & saw where it had been spewing out power steering (circled in red)... After looking at some good threads that fellow members have done regarding similar issues, I am even thinking of adding alongside of the rack & pinion a Derale power-steering cooler.... That is if I can figure what rack & pinion I need first...

I know previous years of firebirds & T-A's have different part #'s for the rack & pinion... Also, I have read that on several years the particular suspension on the Ws6 required a different part # (e.g., FE4); however, after taking a look at rack doctor, it only states that the different part #'s (e.g. FE2, FE4, & FE7) are only applicable for 98-99... Then for 2000-02 it only lists 1 model & doesn't give an option for the WS6....

So my question is do all 00-02 T-A's have the same rack & pinion (regardless if it was the base or WS6) or is there another part # that I should be looking for? Thanks in advance for the help.

Here is one of the threads i referenced: https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...-question.html

anthonyg956

Also, while rack doctor has it listed for roughly $150, O'Reilly has part # 22-185 for $241.99 w/ a $163.00 core charge... Anyone have any advice?

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

LT1's and V6's use the same rack and LS1's have there own rack, the only difference I'm aware of was 00-02 all LS1's got the power steering cooler where on 98-99 only the WS6 got it, but that part goes in the radiator hose and doesn't determine which rack to use.

LT1/V6 use the 22-150
LS1 use the 22-185

the price difference between online sites and the stores is staggering on the 22-185, Rock auto has it for like 127 plus core (another 150) and shipping and the parts stores are around what you have except advance auto's core charge is only 90 bucks.

these part numbers are of course for the A-1 Cardone reman units (the most popular ones), when I installed mine last year I lost some range in the lock to lock, not much but enough to make where in the driveway at work I have to back up before pulling forward most of the time to make the turn I always made before without backing up.

anthonyg956

Daniel, thanks a lot!... Agreed, upon looking on different sites, I noticed a great disparity in prices... So I appreciate all the input & advice... & yeah, it is sad to lose some range, but at this point it is scary driving this thing down the road... Kind of feels like my 78' Ford F-150 driving down the road (which is next up for a steering & suspension upgrade) =/... I will definetly take a look at the cardone reman units & hopefully get an order in soon.

Chaotic Deconstruct

When I had my 02 Formula I too had a rack failure and purchased an O'Reilly's rack. It barely lasted over a year. It never felt as correct as the original one. I put another replacement rack in it again before I sold it, but if I really wanted to keep the vehicle I would see if GM has a new rack you could purchase. If they do I would go that route because changing these things twice in a year is a great annoyance.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

GM offers it as a rebuilt unit but it'll cost ya a bunch. Part number 26062311 and it's like $570 + core + shipping.

y2k_ta

iTrader: (80)

My '00 was an early July 1, 1999, build, so I am guessing they hadn't started putting the cooler on all the LS1's at that point.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

If your F-body still has the original PS cooler, get rid of it now before it causes all kinds of havoc.

Unless you're road racing, a PS cooler isn't needed. If you must have one, a small plate cooler is all that's needed, stay away from tube type coolers.

njsteve

My 2001 WS6 has an appointment at the dealer on Wednesday for a leaky rack in that same spot. Since the car has an extended GM warranty until winter of 2016, I am bringing it to them (otherwise I would do it myself). We will see what they say about replacing it with new versus a GM remanufactered unit since it is a warranty issue and they can't exactly use aftermarket parts for their own warranty repairs.