I have play in my steering wheel, about 2-3 minutes either side on 12noon if you picture the wheel as a clock. I pulled out the rack to replace the worn passenger side bushing and noticed a real rough, "notchy" sorta feel when turning the pinion gear on the bench before I took the rack apart. I inspected all of the parts when I had the rack apart, the pinion gear machining seemed a little rough but otherwise everything looked ok. I reassembled the rack and adjusted the rack bearing adjuster plug per the manual but it still felt "notchy" and rough when I turned the pinion on the bench using a wrench. With the rack back in the car, I still have the same amount of play int the steering wheel. Can I run the plug tighter? do the pinion gears wear? I've done a lot of power steering rack work when I was a buick tech in the mid 90's repairing the "morning sickness" issue GM had, I don't remember the pinion/rack mesh feeling so rough.

If it's any comfort, I've rebuilt mine as well and it doesn't turn like a hot knife in butter either. It's a little notchy but I "rack it up" to the small diameter, square (rather than helically) cut gear.

I've had at least one 88 rack that had excessive play "on center".
You can try tightening up the adjustment on the plug, but I think you'll discover that it binds when you turn. (At least mine did.)

I believe it's because the rack is worn in the center. I don't know if it wears where the teeth mesh, or where the back of the rack slides in the housing.
If it wears on the back, it occurs to me that the ends may be able to be machined down to match the wear in the center.
(I've never had a rack apart beyond removing the plug, so if I'm wrong, don't be surprised.)

I ended up replacing my rack.
FWIW, I've heard that many "rebuilt" racks will still have the excessive play.

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Raydar
88 Formula IMSA Fastback. 4.9, NVG T550

Praise the Lowered!

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 03-09-2012).]

I bought a rebuilt Fiero store one and it was notchier, with more play, then my original. I ended up having to find a low mileage 88 rack. If I were to guess, I'd say the 88 racks develop more play (looseness) because they dont have that little shock the pre-88s have, so you prob feel the slop much easier. 3 88 racks I had all developed that inch ot so of play in the steering wheel. tightening down the nut didn't help me either.

Update: After a little more checking, I found that the rag joint in the steering shaft had excessive play. I didn't realize there even was one in there. I removed the shaft from the car, took apart the joint, and replaced the rubber disk with a solid disk I fabbed up out of some 1/4" stainless. I can't believe the difference! The slop is gone, steering inputs are instant, and it feels like the steering wheel is connected to the wheels. It feels like I'm driving a different car now.

I'm definitely interested in the fix. Did you, or can you take some pictures of the modification?

Sorry, didn't take any pics. It's a pretty easy mod to do, the hardest part is getting the steering shaft out of the car, I had to unbolt the rack to get the u-joint off of the pinion gear as the rag joint hits the bulkhead inside the rubber dust tube before it clears the pinion shaft. Once I had the shaft on the bench, I marked the both halves of the joint/shaft to keep the orientation correct when reassembling things. I used a cutoff wheel to remove the rivet heads and knocked out the rivets. You can use the old rubber disc as a template for the solid replacement. The holes are 8mm, accuracy is the key here, there is no room for error on hole placement, you don't want the holes larger than the bolts. I started with a square piece of 1/4" thick stainless steel, center punched and drilled the holes first, double checked the fitment, then made the disc as round as I could with my limited metal working tools (I'm a woodworker, metal is a new medium for me). Put the new solid disc where the rubber one was, 4 new 8x35mm hardened bolts and nylon lock nuts replace the rivets, and your done. It's important to get the metal disc the same diameter as the rubber because there isn't much room inside the rubber dust tube. It's VERY important to use only top quality fasteners and a proper thickness of steel for the disc for safety sake. ( that's my CYA disclaimer)

I too had a bit of play on my 88. I replaced the rack as well, which was REALLY shot, for a salvaged one in good shape. Did the Rodney bushing, and a full suspension rebuild... and it STILL had play. Turns out that the problem was inside the column, the universal joint ball has a spring inside it that had snapped in half. The joint had no tension inside it. I replaced the spring, the joint then had a nice preload on it. It was like night and day.