The rag joint looked ok in the picture. You have a tilt column right? Wasn't there an issue with that?
Progress Thread Let's try this again...
- Thread starter Alldegree
- Start date
1 more thing. The power steering fluid coming out of the cap is due to the steering being turned without the pump running. It's a non issue. Just make sure reservoir is properly filled.
Yes, but I fixed it. As for the power steering fluid, I'm planning on picking some up on my way home from work tomorrow. It's good to know that I didn't pop a gasket somewhere, it really spat out a lot.
I also want to mention that the steering wheel being off-center isn't due to play in the wheel. If I try to correct it, the car steers left. Don't know if that changes anything.
I think I'll do that and just hope it fixes it. I've only driven the car a grand total of maybe 15 miles since I've gotten it. It's possible the off-center steering wheel is unrelated to the other problems (if they're problems at all) and I just didn't notice them until now.
I think from the box, yours may be different, but BBK makes a cold air that gets the filter into the fenderwell and out of the hot air on the engine bay: https://lmr.com/item/BBK-1557K/1986...MI2dONnofG6AIVFYzICh3GYwaiEAQYAiABEgJ8bfD_BwE
They do, I cheaped out a little bit and got the open one. I probably can't return it now that I've installed it, right?
What do you guys think of this?
https://lmr.com/item/MCH-1410/1986-93-Mustang-March-Ram-Air-Kit
It's a little different from the bbk kit, and it looks pretty cool. I'd be a little worried about puddles, though.
Find out from your mechanic if he took the steering loose from the rack. It is splined and may have jumped a few teeth,
The consensus on here is going to be that the best air intake is the stock one, with the silencer removed from the fenderwell. I have the BBK because it was mostly there when I bought it (I had to add the adapter piece to get it set up right). If my original that I got with the car was in better shape, I would have put that back. But, yeah, I do think the chrome looks cool !
I really need to do more research before buying this stuff. I’ve been reading this everywhere that the best intake is the stock box and maybe a k&n filter unless you’re making absurd amounts of power. Live and learn, I guess. I still like the look and the sound it makes, so I may hook it back up later if it doesn’t hurt anything, but I think it’s going back into the box for awhile. At least until I can get this steering thing figured out. My car already has the silencer removed, but the filter looks pretty dirty.
+1 my guess is they unhooked the steering shaft maybe to install the header...
That would be the cheapest option, and it makes sense. I‘ll give them a call a little later. If it’s not them, then I guess I’ll have to suck it up and take a look under the car.
Boostedpimp
20+ Year Stangneter 
Few things,
Just use the new intake since you can't return it. It'll be fine I've driven with an open filter in the engine bay for years back during the highschool days. It's just not ideal if your looking for the most out of your setup and some people have pointed to cool fan wash causing erratic idle issues. Obviously you'll notice that if it's a problem and if it is just make a shield or purchase one to block the air from the cooling fan from hitting the filter.
As far as the march ram air kit you posted about, skip it.. the filter and box is really good but the scoop mounts low under the bumper and although it is fully functional and works it picks up every piece of dirt and leaves possible. Plus you wouldn't really see the power increase from ram air until after speeds of 80mph or more which you don't strike me as a person at the track every weekend. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Concerning your steering issue i'm assuming the car tracks fine so most likely they shop had to disconnect your steering shaft from the steering rack to install that driver side equal length header of yours. They most likely reconnected it a tooth off as it's splined. You would need to loosen the bolt and enjoy the pleasures of backing that bis off the pinon and turn the wheel to the correct position then tap it back down onto the splines and tighten bolt... but I would just take it back to the shop who did the header install and explain the issue and that it wasn't an issue until the header was installed. They should take care of it if they are a reputable shop
Just use the new intake since you can't return it. It'll be fine I've driven with an open filter in the engine bay for years back during the highschool days. It's just not ideal if your looking for the most out of your setup and some people have pointed to cool fan wash causing erratic idle issues. Obviously you'll notice that if it's a problem and if it is just make a shield or purchase one to block the air from the cooling fan from hitting the filter.
As far as the march ram air kit you posted about, skip it.. the filter and box is really good but the scoop mounts low under the bumper and although it is fully functional and works it picks up every piece of dirt and leaves possible. Plus you wouldn't really see the power increase from ram air until after speeds of 80mph or more which you don't strike me as a person at the track every weekend. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Concerning your steering issue i'm assuming the car tracks fine so most likely they shop had to disconnect your steering shaft from the steering rack to install that driver side equal length header of yours. They most likely reconnected it a tooth off as it's splined. You would need to loosen the bolt and enjoy the pleasures of backing that bis off the pinon and turn the wheel to the correct position then tap it back down onto the splines and tighten bolt... but I would just take it back to the shop who did the header install and explain the issue and that it wasn't an issue until the header was installed. They should take care of it if they are a reputable shop
Yeah, this isn’t really a track car. I’ve toyed with the idea of autocross, but for right now I’m happy with just driving it around.
So it’s not possible I caused this when I was trying to turn the wheel for the flatbed? It’s off in the direction I was turning. Could the rack have come loose from the pinion and skipped or (god forbid) stripped a couple gear teeth?
I called the shop, they didn’t disconnect the steering rack, and I believe them because the thing is so filthy I think I would see hand marks if they touched it. This is something else.
When I was trying to steer to get it on the flatbed, the key was out of the ignition initially (I forgot to put it in) Is it possible the locking mechanism did this? I corrected my mistake after a few seconds and I think the pop that I heard came after that. It almost felt like I yanked something loose, and steering the car suddenly got a lot easier. That’s also when the car started leaking steering fluid.
Boostedpimp
20+ Year Stangneter
If it's possible it skipped a spline the locking bolt would need to be loose and even at that point I don't think it's possible but their have been stranger things to happen. Eitherway you are going to have to clean that shaft and both sides of it and inspect the area. See if the locking bolt is loose or not in and make sure the steering shaft is fully seated on to the steering rack spline area. Rule that whole scenario out then move on to next possibility is what I would do.
Attachments
I’ll do that, thanks. I kind of figured it would be difficult for it to skip a tooth, but if the problem isn’t the rag joint then I don’t know what else it could be other than the wheel itself slipping on the column.
I was too tired after work to really get into cleaning things up, but I did manage to get a couple more pictures of the rag joint. I freely admit I have no idea what’s typical for these, but it looks like it might be twisted or spaced out or something.
I’ll have to do that tomorrow, I’ve kind of locked everything up for the night. Assuming the rag joint is the problem, would it make sense to upgrade to a u-joint steering shaft at this point, or would it be better to just rebuilt the joint and leave it for now? I know the rebuild is cheaper, but if I’m going to have to take everything out anyway, I might as well upgrade stuff as it breaks, right?
That could be a ct but yours is pretty good too!!
Now that you have those pretty headers in there of course something goes bad, hard to see from a pic. I can't reach down there and grab the steering shaft to move it around, of course remember to unlock the steering wheel!
If it is the rag joint I would consider swapping to a u joint type, unless welding is involved, the only welding experience I have is on wood and that did NOT go well.
