Are the height to the ground the same?

Yes. Standard heights.

I have now had a look at the cars. They was put on stands and the steeringwheel turned with the front wheels off ground. There was a difference. One has hardly no resistance at all, the other one slightly more. It is not much difference, but it is there.

I removed the wheels and slackened the adjusting nuts in the end-pieces of steering rods. No difference. The kingpins turned easy when they was changed a couple of months ago, so I dont think they are the problem.

Is there anything in the steeringrack that become worn and make the steering heavier? Remember when I say "heavy", it's not like "flat tires heavy" or "broken frame heavy", just a slight difference between two cars. They are both easy on the steering, but one is lighter than the other and I just wonder why. I want the steering as light as it is possible to get it.....

The king pins have been greased since a couple of months ago?

The ball race on the pinion that Viking shows wears/corrodes and could make the steering heavier, as could slight differances in alignment of the steering column

In the rack there is a spring loaded bearer that pushes the rack on to the pinion if the grease inside the rack has become old and dry or of the preassure springs are at different tensions...or dirty sliding dust cover etc

sean

Seem to remember from years ago that the early cars had a different steering ratio? Is this the pinion or steering wheel? Anyway, no two cars are ever the same from a factory which employs humans...

Yes, that's true. Think I've read somewhere that it changed in -76?
They changed the ratio, so they could fit a smaller steering wheel. I have driven a 80's 2CV with a early 70's steering wheel from a van. The big diameter wheel. That car was almost too easy on the steering.

And yes I agree about 2CV's have different personalities, even from factory

Regarding my question about this steering issue, I think I got the answer although I havent done anything to prove it yet.
Couple days ago, I talkt to a earlier owner to/of(?) my car with the easy steering. He's an old Citroën-mechanic, having serviced a lot of 2CV's during the 70's and 80's.

I told him about the difference between the two cars, and he told me that the rack on that car was overhauled 8 years ago. With all new original Citroen-parts and loads of quality grease. The dealer where he worked was throwing away old parts , so he took'em home and jused them on his own cars.

He told me (it have been mentioned here too) the problem with my other car's steering is probably that the bearing on the steering pinion might be damaged from water and the rack it self probably need new grease all over. So, I guess I know what have to be done before summer!

Cat's have it covered:
http://www.cats-citroen.net/citroen_features/2cvsteering/index.html

Old thread, but haven't done anything with it during winter. But now I have been working on a solution. I got a second hand complete steering rack/front tube/suspension arms/driveshafts during winter. It's from a car that was only 5 years on the road from new and very low mileage. Been sitting in a shed since and finally vent to the scrapper this winter. The yellow paint on the drivshaft-nuts was still there. Probably never been touched!

So I decided to check and grease this, and just swap with the on in my car.
When turning the pinion it felt light and smooth. I thought I'd better dismantle it, clean it, check it and apply loads of new grease.

A few pictures for visual improvement:







After everything was cleaned, I painted the "tube". I had some oil-based paint I needed to use, and it happened to be white AC088. Why not.



Then time to put everything back with loads of new grease







Then, finished and looking forward to put it in the car, I tried turning the pinion and moving the steering from side to side, and F***?! The steering "laggs" when turning the pinion by hand. Like there is some "hard" spots on the travel from left to right. WHAT?!

I have never done this job an a A-model before, so have no experience to compare it with.
But it doesn't feel as smooth as it did before I dismantled it. But there is no reason why it shouldn't, cause I have only cleaned it and re-greased it. Every part looked "as new" so didn't change any parts.

If I loosen the pressure-thing pressing the rack against the pinion, almost fully, then it's as smooth as can be, but when tighten it, it feels weird. I took it out again and re-checked the teeth's on the pinion and rack but the seem just fine. So does the bearing on the pinion. Even tried to engage the pinion in different positions, to try and change what teeth that goes against each others. But seriously, it can't be that sensitive?

Appreciate any views on this, as I'm not sure what to do. Should I worry about this, or will it be just fine once in the car and there are "load" applied to it?

Eirikj,
is it possible that you've made the same mistake as a customer of mine did recently when rebuilding his rack?
He'd struggled for most of a weekend trying to set the correct pressure of the slider which adjusts the contact between the rack and the pinion, because he thought that the split pin went into one of the slots in the castle nut.
Once he'd brought it to me, it took about 5 minutes to show him that the hole for the pin was through the threaded section...

ken.
( Btw, I usually fit grease nipples to the pinion housing and also on the cover plate, immediately in front of the sliding bearing. when rebuilding a rack.
Giving those two a shot of grease every so often should extend the life of a rack considerably.)

Well, I 'm not sure what you mean. The pin goes through the hole in the "housing" and do not need to be in one of the slots in the castle nut?
And how do I set the right pressure of the slider?

I just put the slider into the hole with plenty of grease then the spring, then the cap. Tightened the cap, then turned back 1/6th - 1/4 turn.

Eirikj,
afaik, I don't think that the 'fully tight, then a fraction of a turn loosened' rule applies to this castle nut.

Instead, it should only be tightened far enough to feel a tight spot in the movement of the rack, then backed off 'slightly'.

Since you haven't fitted any new parts, I'd suggest that you remove the cap and find the original hole in it for the pin.
That will be located in the threaded section.
Its position should give you an idea of how much the cap was tightened originally.

ken

Thanks for "working with me" here, Ken

I've been out in the garage again, and first off, I cant find any holes in the nut. There are just the 4 slots. It's an original nut.



I realized that it can not be the tension of this that is causing the problem anyway, cause the nut will have to be far to loose.
Then I noticed the "tight spot" was always when the the pinion had the same position, let say "at 12'clock". When turning it was ok until it got to 12 again. I marked the spot on top of the pinion and out with it, again.....



Then cleaning it and carefully inspect it. Bearing is good, and that was what I cared most about first time it was out. This time looking for any wear in the area where the tight spot was. Using a sharp tool "feeling" one tooth at a time, I found ONE tooth with wear?! I could definitely feel a "bump" between the place where it contacts with the rack and the place where it is not. Hard to explain, see picture:



The tooth beside it had a little of the same wear, but the rest of the 8 teeth had no feel-able wear at all. Totally smooth.
Now that I know it's there, I can actually see the wear on the one tooth compared to the others.

So, is it really this little wear that causes my troubles?! If it is then it must have been there from the start, I just didn't notice. It might be more noticeable now with all the grease, I don't know.

If we assume I have found the problem, then I have two choices, just use it like it is and HOPE it's not something I will feel in the steering-wheel. After all, I'm just turning it with my fingers now.

Or, I could order a new pinion. And hope that will do the trick, and NOT reveal any similar problems with the rack? Or if this is not the problem, I've wasted some roadtrip-money on a pinion. Is it likely I've found the problem?