Hard Steering with wheels off ground???

[Mook]

Well I recently nailed a curb and am still in the process of fixing my MSP.
the Tie rod was not bent wich supprised me quite a bit, but when the car was in the air getting ready for an alignment, i noticed that the steering wheel felt like the wheels were on the ground and even disconntected the tierod ends and it still felt stiff. when driving the car with the pump running, it made no funny noises or anything and drove fine.
Does the MSP just have a extra high pressure hydraulic system or somthing, or is my Steering Rack screwed up?
anyone notice hard steering without pump running and off the ground in their MSP?

 

[Mook]

well after finally getting it aligned i took it on the street today and noticed that once i make a turn, the steering wheel does not return by itself!!!!
wherever I put the steering wheel it sticks.
so im gonna drive it for now untill i can find a steering rack for sale.
im going to take it to a parking lot this weekend and see if i cant pop it back to normal with some agressive driving.

 

[susamafone]

i had this problem too after i hit a curb. the housing covering the steering gear had actually sheered itself in half. im not exactly sure what they replaced, but i know they did replace the entire steering gear

the last thing i would suggest is aggresive driving. since mine had cracked itself all the way around, the only thinkg keeping my steering going were the two bolts holding the two halves to the sub-frame. had the housing moved at all, my steering would have locked itself and there would have been no way for me to turn the steering wheel

 

[Mook]

Is the steering rack in a MSP the same as one in a regular protege, MP3 or P5???

 

[Mook]

I have heard that the MP3 has a tighter ratio. Will the MP3 rack fit on my MSP without any modifications?

 

[susamafone]

it should

 

[Mook]

I cant find an MP3 rack anywhere, and having trouble finding a MSP or regular protege rack for a reasonable price. any ideas??

 

[Mook]

ordered a new steering rack from ebay for $114 shipped.
it came off of a totaled out titanium MSP with 37k miles on it

 

[susamafone]

where was the damage on the totalled car? do you know?

 

[Mook]

head on damage hood was crumpled up and such
i saw a picture of it, so the rack should be good