I have a pretty good leak in my steering rack, fluid is mostly gone after a month and its making a mess under my car. I've been cleaning and refilling but at some point I'll replace it and i was wondering if i could replace it with a sport steering rack and if it would help. I have an 11 awd non sport sedan.

 

Based of my findings, I was under the impression the shorter turn ratio "sports" rack were all the same. Though sharing external similarities and part numbers it appears based off on many searches that it's only the 6mt the rack that is truly the shorter ratio. Unsure how this will pair with the AWD.

 

Hmm. I'll have to look into this more i guess. I don't thing a rwd steering rack would work right. I wished awd sport models are fairly rare from what I've seen. Was looking for an awd sport coupe and a week after i bought mine one popped up for $11k. I'm happy with the sedan though.

 

https://global.infinitinews.com/en/r...edan-press-kit

"The INFINITI G37 Sport 6MT and G37 Journey RWD models with Sport Package include a sport-tuned suspension and 14.7:1 sport-tuned steering gear."

 

Pictures, real data, older broken parts inspected and aftermarket replacement specifics point to that not being true to ALL RWD G37S.

You're for sure guaranteed to get it with a 6mt rack however expect to pay more just for a name. Some folks including myself believe just like many times Infiniti used this rack on other vehicles and or different trims and was not specific about the " cool feature"

Example: Almost all SPORT V/Z chassis come with 2 types of PS pump. The pressed pulley Jk02a and removable pulley "sports" pump jk01a. That "sports" pump thats about $300 is just a Nissan Titan, Pathfinder, Armada and QX56 pump which is a mere $45 dollars in the chinesium market. A pump that I have been running for 3 years with no concern.

Future ownership and getting some owners motivated into the documentation of these fixes as well as our encouragement to diagnose the WHY it failed will help with many things in this forum. One of these will be internal documentation of a 6mt rack.

We will get to the bottom of it thats for sure.

 

Good points. I guess we can't always take these things at face value. Are there visible differences between the Sport rack and standard version? I also seem to recall that a different "upgraded" higher volume PS reservoir was recommended to me at some point when there was slipping/noise in my steering. I ended up declining replacement and just having the dealer do a drain and fill of the fluid and the noise/slipping has been gone since.

 

No physical difference and according to diagrams, body part number for the rack is the same across all RWD trims.

The dealer should have never recommended a bigger reservoir since it's not OEM.

 

I had assumed at the time that the part they recommended was OEM. I was told that part of the issue was that the reservoir was too small and this sometimes caused the pump to starve. Perhaps the recommended replacement was simply from another Nissan/Infiniti vehicle?

 

Maybe a truck part or so but in all honesty if it was actually legitimate, in 15 years it should have been documented online. I've had experience with both Non-sport and sport powersteering systems of these cars and they are pretty stout when you run it correctly.

When these cars were coming out Nissan/Infiniti was in the process of switching PS fluid from clear hydraulic fluid to ATF which is just red hydraulic fluid. This switch saved Nissan plenty of money.

Quite possible the OEM PS fluids back then were of higher viscosity.

Thats the only thing that comes to mind. I've used Prestone Clear fluid in some cars and ATF in others including my own.

 

So i take it there's no real benefit from a "sport" steering rack?

 

If you drive them one after another, you would absolutely prefer the one with the shorter steering ratio.

It's been a long time for me since I drove a different G, but I distinctly remember thinking that about the steering the couple of times my car was in for warranty service and they gave me another G as a loaner.

 

Well i guess when i replace mine I'll trt the sport rack and see if there's a noticeable difference. Spl tie rod ends helped my steering a lot too.

 

I did the same years ago when I thought it would be fun to pick up a Journey G37 while travelling for work. Suspension/handling/steering was quite a bit different from my G37S.