2013 XC-60 Steering rack centering

[Tingmaestro]

My exhaustion continues.. sent back the off brand rack and sourced a "maval" unit from a different supplier with hopeful resolve. This brand is sold by FCP (expected to be solid, they generally don't sell crap), so I was more confident in the quality.. it's still out. Does anybody know if there's some other adjustment in missing or is factory just not perfect? I'm ready to set this car on fire..

[Tingmaestro]

UPDATE:

I HAVE THE SOLUTION.. extremely ridiculous that it had to come to this, but I want to save anybody who finds themselves at this point the trouble..

The pinion has to be separated from the rack and clocked to the desired position for your column/yolk to rack connection. Kind of a pain in the ass, but the procedure is as followed:

1. Lock your steering wheel TDC with the seatbealt before disassembly and unbolt the rack from the steering column (you may have to rotate the wheel to get the bolt, then put it back TDC and lock in place).

2. Pull the wheels off, fender liners, and brush guard

3. Disconnect the swaybar end links from the struts, disconnect the tierod ends from the nuckle, disconnect the two lower engine mounts (total removal is the easiest), and unbolt the swaybar.

4. Disconnect the PS lines, unbolt the rack, and remove the heat shield (make sure you've got a drain pan)

5. Drop the rear half of the subframe via the 3 bolts either side (get the exhaust support right out of the way). The subframe will hang on its own, but support it with a jack for the decent and I personally just left the jack there to keep a bit of tension off the front mounts.

6. Rack comes out from the drivers side. Pull it out a bit, then the cavity by the transmission offers just enough space for the dust boot to be worked off. Once removed, the rack needs to occupy the space the swaybar was in and will just rotate forward enough for the top of the pinion shaft to fit out (if you opted to just fold the fender liners.. at this point you will be cursing).

7. Center the new rack out of the car. (Look up how to do this on YouTube, it's pretty easy.. just mark a point on the pinion shaft, mark each lock point, and line up in between)

8. HERES WHERE THINGS GET TRICKY.. now you need to look where your steering column yolk wants to bolt up.. if your new rack and that position are the same, congrats your life is 1000x easier than mine has been.. if not you need to do the following: unscrew the bottom cap that has 4 slots (not the hex). Remove the snap ring on the top side of the pinion shaft. Grab channel locks or visegrips and secure the top of the pinion shaft. Unbolt the 17mm nut that holds the pinion shaft in place. Gently tap out the pinion shaft (take extra precaution to make sure the rack does not move or mark it in a way that will allow you to recenter with the pinion shaft out). Clock the pinion shaft so the indexed point matched the bolt on the steering column. Reassemble the rack.

9. Complete steps 1-6 in reverse..

DISCLAIMER:
This is only required if your rack is out by a position that is not a multiple of 60. If you're out 60, 120, 180, 240 degrees there is an easier solution for you.. my first replacement was out 90degrees and the second 30 degrees.. this required me to take the more drastic action aforementioned and avoid a $1,600 oem rack. I would not attempt this, if you're not confident in your mechanical skills. If anybody has any questions I'm more than happy to answer them here or via PM. The amount of time and energy I have spent on this project warrants sharing the information to help someone else as I could not find a single thread of information or person with experience on this issue. I might even make my first youtube video this thing was such a monster.

Thanks to all who previously offered input on the situation!

[MoVolvos]

.
I'm wondering if the steering wheel assembly has a true center position due to the auto turn signal return shutoff mechanism? Never examine the function closely.

If it doesn't then one could find the center of the rack without removal and just remove the steering wheel and center.
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[Tingmaestro]

The directional is triggered by the angle sensor that does have a true center. That was one of the hurdles. The column has 6 points that can act as TDC. The only thing that can be adjusted to rectify the fixed mounting points is the pinion. I was extremely hesitant to even attempt going the route I did until I disassembled the original rack and carefully examined the possibility of it working. I was honestly going to give up and just use the spring from the replacement unit.. but inspecting the pinion splines proved the failed spring had damaged the spines. I'm still like a tooth out from a perfect lock to lock, but after making two adjustments I accepted it. I've now had the rack in and out at least 10x and have looked at the situation from all angles.. I have like 1.53 to 1.47 turns either way from TDC. My inner tie rods are like 1/8" different at TDC. We'll see if I have the motivation to pull it one final time and get it prefect the next time I can work on the car.. even in the current configuration it feels like a win. I learned some stuff and saved $1200 in parts cost.

[Tingmaestro]

My final update..

The method I devised still does not get this thing perfect.. I am out by a couple degrees after four separate attempts to clock the pinion (came up shy the first two, went too far on the third, adjusted back to the second position on the fourth). Albeit the lock to lock is better than either replacement rack's original locations, but it is still not perfectly dialed. I suppose somehow that means both remanned racks listed as non speed-sensitive and non R, are still not for my base 13' XC60. I have cross referenced every sales site, oem parts breakdown, and model year. Aside from FCP telling my they don't have this rack listed for my VIN, I am left completely clueless where the difference lies and utterly defeated. I ultimately landed that 1/8th inch out on inner tierod length that will have to be made up in the alignment.. I simply cannot justify a $1600 rack for a car I paid $8k for that I will be actively looking to get rid of in about a years time.. another prime example of what one may called designed obsolescence with this spring loaded plastic cap that clearly allowed water ingress and disintegrated..

Thanks to everyone who read along the way and I'd suggest going OEM for anybody who's seriously considering keeping their vehicle for a longer duration.
:sigh: