Begin by removing the steering rack and pinion assembly.
Remove the inner and outer tie rods along with the bellows(rubber boots). Also remove the two hydraulic tubes running parallel with the rack and pinion assembly.
Remove the yoke adjustment cap.
Inside you will find a spring and the rack yoke bearing. Remove the spring. Remove the rack yoke if possible, if it doesn't come out don't worry you can remove it later.
Using a sharp object, ie a flat-head screw driver, carefully pry this cap off.
Remove the lock nut and c-clip. If the pinion turns as you try to remove the nut hold the steering u joint for extra leverage.
Remove the steering u joint by removing this bolt.
Remove the c-clip holding the pinion seal.
Remove the pinion from the steering rack assembly. Easiest way is to re install the steering u joint and while holding the joint twist back and forth and pulling up at the same time.
Remove the rack. Looking inside the drive side of the steering rack and pinion assembly you'll notice that there is no seal on the end.
Moving to the passenger side of the steering rack and pinion assembly if the rack is sticking out like this push it completely inside the assembly.
Looking inside the passenger side of the steering rack and pinion assembly you can see the sliding seal and lock ring.
Remove the lock ring. If you're having difficulty removing the ring push the sliding seal(the metal part around the rack) down so you can get a pick under the ring.
Now you can pull the rack out from the passenger side of the assembly. Note: the rack cannot be removed from the driver side of the assembly.
Now that your rack and pinion is completely disassembled it's time to inspect and replace parts. You'll notice that I even separated the two halves of the rack and pinion assembly I'll explain why later
When re-using parts always inspect for wear and damage. Always replace seals and o-rings, and replace and damaged "hard" parts. Also remember the orientation of seals as you remove them.
One of my bellows was torn and had holes all over it so I purchased a new one for $13. The picture shown is my second bellow. It's still good but upon looking inside I found it had tiny very fine copper particles.
Those very fine copper particles came from this part. This is called a rack yoke bearing. These all will eventually wear out since the rack slides back and forth against it but you can see the uneven wear on mine. The bad thing is you cannot purchase this part by itself. I checked every local parts store, GM dealers, even online and couldn't find it. I'm SOL on finding a new one so I'll see how long this one will last me.
Inspect the pinion for any damage and remove the teflon seals.
Remove the seal and bearing for the pinion. Inspect the bearing for any wear. Mine looked ok but you can buy a new one online for about $25.
Inspect the rack. Remove the teflon seal.
Remove the sliding seal from the rack and inspect. Remove the seal and o-ring. There is also a copper bushing that I wish I could have replaced but my rack and pinion seal kit didn't include one and I couldn't find one online or at the dealer.
The lower pinion bearing I did not touch because I couldn't find a new one to replace it with and didn't want to risk damaging it trying to remove it. It still looked good from the outside.
Inside the cavity where the pinion goes is a seal and a teflon bearing, remove both.
There is one more seal. The drive side seal is the hardest and if you are planning on rebuilding your rack and pinion I don't suggest even trying to remove this seal. In this picture The circled line is roughly where the seal is and it must be removed going out in the direction of the arrow.
I though I could remove the seal by using a large socket and push it out. While attempting to do so the seal would not budge and in the process the seal and teflon bearing both got damaged beyond usable. I drilled out the two tabs holding the rack and pinion assembly together and then pressed the two tube halves apart. I cleaned everything with brake cleaner and then pressed the two tube halves together. I was only off by a fraction and the assembly was still able to be installed on my TB. I made some tabs and pressed them into the existing holes. Not too bad without proper machines
For those DIY people, this can be done in your garage/backyard. I don't have fancy tools that helped with the rebuild. Those that have never dealt with teflon bearings; they are fragile and tricky to install. You can go and buy a special tool and spend $100 on it....or you can use some trash and have the same result. I use a very thin piece of plastic from an old package or maybe cut up a juice carton. Fold it into a cone and then slide it over the part to install the teflon seal, using some lube then gently slide the teflon seal down till it seats in it's groove. With Teflon seals they need to be re-sized after they are installed. Again you can use an expensive tool or you can use that same piece of plastic and some cheap clamps like this.
Rebuild is pretty simple and straight forward just reverse order of removal. Be careful of the orientation of the seals and be very VERY careful when installing new ones. A rack and pinion seal kit runs about $25 online. Grease everything very well as you install especially the gears. The gears are not lubed by the steering fluid so apply a generous amount of grease. I'm used to pro-sealing everything so once my assembly was complete I sealed all possible places.
