How to remove steering rack on Fiat 500
Jack up car and remove 2x front wheels
Release 17mm bolt from steering knuckle, keep the steering straight. At this point you could clean and regrease the universal joint. It goes up and down like a bike pump. Just keep going up down and all the old grease will come out just use lithium grease to regrease.
Remove front bumper 4x t30 screws at the top 3xt30 screws at the bottom 2x t30 corners of the bumper going into the wing. 4 times Philips screws On the wheel arch of the bumper under the t30
Remove 8x 16mm bolts on the lower cross member
Remove support bracket for subframe 2x 15mm bolts both sides
Remove the 16mm bolt holding in the cross member
Now remove the support bracket, slides straight out, on the drivers side you'll need to remove the 10mm bolt holding in the washer fluid bottle. You can then lever the bracket out by swaying the washer bottle. And aircon pipes.(if you have ac)
Remove 2x18mm bolts either side just from where you remove the support bracket.
Remove 1x 18mm bolt both sides going in to the vehicle body near where drop link is.
Remove top droplink 16mm nut and track rod 16mm nut. Will have to jack the strut to release the droplink. Both sides
Remove 2x 13mm bolts both sides holding the sway bar.
Remove the 18mm bolts both sides holding the steering rack into place
Remove 19mm bolt from gearbox mount 1 on both sides. I removed the one bolted to the subframe
Remove 4x21mm subframe bolts. These maybe really tight so be gentle taking them out. You don't want them snapping inside.
Also disconnect the red rubber exhaust link.
At this point all the weight willbe on the wishbones and exhaust.
In my case i have a 1.3 diesel so i had the dpf in the way and dpf pressure sensor and wiring, and the nuts holding the exhaust were that badly rusted they would've snapped. So i let the weight rest on both points. You can remove the pinch bolts and drop the ball joint and split the exhaust. Remove the entire subframe which will make things easier.
I removed the steering rack by pulling down on the subframe abit and pulling the rack out by pulling towards the front end of the car. You'll also need to lift up the track rods to give you that extra leverage. Takes a few minutes to pull out.
Remove the steering rack from the passenger side.
Inserting the new rack literally goes in the same way. Try pulling down abit on the wishbones end which will sort of tilt subframe and give you that extra few mm's. The rack literally slides in.
Getting the subframe back on is difficult on your own. Best way is to push up on the back put in 2 21mm bolts the start putting in 18mm bolt one going into the body where the drop link is. I sort tightened all the bolts slowly and evenly. I'd recommend changing the sway bar if yours is rusted as it's really easy at the point.
Once you've got most of the weight of the 21mm and 18mm bolts just finger tighten all bolts
Refit support bracket. Do the gearbox mount bolt at the end. I imagine it'd be easier getting the subframe back up with somebody else. Everything else literally goes in reverse order. I did the steering knuckle right at the end. Its up to you. Hope this guide helps someone. Took me around 5-6 hours doing everything on my own and on the floor.
Jack up car and remove 2x front wheels
Release 17mm bolt from steering knuckle, keep the steering straight. At this point you could clean and regrease the universal joint. It goes up and down like a bike pump. Just keep going up down and all the old grease will come out just use lithium grease to regrease.
Remove front bumper 4x t30 screws at the top 3xt30 screws at the bottom 2x t30 corners of the bumper going into the wing. 4 times Philips screws On the wheel arch of the bumper under the t30
Remove 8x 16mm bolts on the lower cross member
Remove support bracket for subframe 2x 15mm bolts both sides
Remove the 16mm bolt holding in the cross member
Now remove the support bracket, slides straight out, on the drivers side you'll need to remove the 10mm bolt holding in the washer fluid bottle. You can then lever the bracket out by swaying the washer bottle. And aircon pipes.(if you have ac)
Remove 2x18mm bolts either side just from where you remove the support bracket.
Remove 1x 18mm bolt both sides going in to the vehicle body near where drop link is.
Remove top droplink 16mm nut and track rod 16mm nut. Will have to jack the strut to release the droplink. Both sides
Remove 2x 13mm bolts both sides holding the sway bar.
Remove the 18mm bolts both sides holding the steering rack into place
Remove 19mm bolt from gearbox mount 1 on both sides. I removed the one bolted to the subframe
Remove 4x21mm subframe bolts. These maybe really tight so be gentle taking them out. You don't want them snapping inside.
Also disconnect the red rubber exhaust link.
At this point all the weight willbe on the wishbones and exhaust.
In my case i have a 1.3 diesel so i had the dpf in the way and dpf pressure sensor and wiring, and the nuts holding the exhaust were that badly rusted they would've snapped. So i let the weight rest on both points. You can remove the pinch bolts and drop the ball joint and split the exhaust. Remove the entire subframe which will make things easier.
I removed the steering rack by pulling down on the subframe abit and pulling the rack out by pulling towards the front end of the car. You'll also need to lift up the track rods to give you that extra leverage. Takes a few minutes to pull out.
Remove the steering rack from the passenger side.
Inserting the new rack literally goes in the same way. Try pulling down abit on the wishbones end which will sort of tilt subframe and give you that extra few mm's. The rack literally slides in.
Getting the subframe back on is difficult on your own. Best way is to push up on the back put in 2 21mm bolts the start putting in 18mm bolt one going into the body where the drop link is. I sort tightened all the bolts slowly and evenly. I'd recommend changing the sway bar if yours is rusted as it's really easy at the point.
Once you've got most of the weight of the 21mm and 18mm bolts just finger tighten all bolts
Refit support bracket. Do the gearbox mount bolt at the end. I imagine it'd be easier getting the subframe back up with somebody else. Everything else literally goes in reverse order. I did the steering knuckle right at the end. Its up to you. Hope this guide helps someone. Took me around 5-6 hours doing everything on my own and on the floor.
