There was a small play on the steering rack. Initially I thought it was the rack end but after removing the steering rack and on closer inspection, the movement was lateral and not longitudinal along the axis of the rack. The small play was a result of a worn out bush in the rack housing and not the ball joint on the rack end. It was my first time having a look at the mechanics of the manual steering rack and I was surprised that the bush was made of plastic. I had no problem in getting the replacement part and since it was plastic it was cheap too.

I had no clue on how to remove the cylindrical cover of the pinion without hurting it. It was not the problem so I left it alone
Now the small problem with the steering rack had been fixed, I’m on the next agenda that is to make the steering of the old car more firm. The handling of the old car is not as good as the handling of new cars of today. While the control arms are solid, it doesn’t have a front anti-roll bar. Aftermarket front anti-roll bar for the old car is not easy to find. At least what I can do is to install a strut bar to improve it.
Monday, 29 October 2012 at 9:11 am
Fren, I was just told by my Mechanic my 6 yr old Avanza 1.3A Steering Rack needs replacement. I asked around and an ori cost RM1.5K while Taiwan made at RM650! Any chance I can get it repaired? and how long can it last before the whole steering got bust. For now, steering wheel feels very heavy. Pls advise. Thanks
Monday, 29 October 2012 at 4:24 pm
That will be hydraulic steering rack. Sure it can be repaired, there is a shop that I came across that specialised in repairing steering rack and drive shaft but unfortunately I can’t remember the name. You can try search for it. But it is best for you to search at mudah.my, I saw a few hydraulic steering racks from scrapped cars on offer. Hope this will help. How long will your present steering last? I don’t know, it depends on the leak.
Monday, 29 October 2012 at 5:32 pm
Also you can check if it is similar to myvi, since they are in the same group. My plastic bush was actually from Kancil, they were exactly the same.
Monday, 29 October 2012 at 7:50 pm
Yea, never thought of that before. Will check with Perodua. Thanks a lot for the advise.
Monday, 29 October 2012 at 8:38 pm
You’re welcome.
Monday, 23 April 2018 at 6:07 pm
Hi, Can you please tell me where can i find the plastic bushings from the steering rack ? I have a Daihatsu Materia in Europe which is sharing the same platform as your myvi.
Thank you
Sunday, 29 April 2018 at 12:58 am
Hi there eugene, I got it from the local auto supply shop. What you can do is basically try to look at all the small car models with manual steering by Daihatsu, like the Mira which is known as Kancil in Malaysia. My guess is that is should be the same as in my case.
PS: Try seaching on Ebay for “Perodua Kancil (or Daihatu Mira) Steering Rack Bushing.” Perodua is 49% own by Daihatsu which is 100% own by Toyota. So don’t be suprised if some bushings from Toyota models are the same.
Wednesday, 25 September 2013 at 11:42 pm
fuhh.. nice post bro. I cracked my head to spent few hundred ringgit for new rack.
Thursday, 26 September 2013 at 1:23 am
Thanks for the comment. That will be the last resort. I try to fix it first and I’m was lucky to be able to rectify it.
Friday, 27 September 2013 at 2:46 pm
“worn out bush in the rack housing”
Not outside one?
How much was that cost?
Friday, 27 September 2013 at 5:04 pm
A few Ringgit.