My brother in law replaced my 95 civic rack and pinion. But when I took it to get the wheels aligned the tech said they couldn't make any adjustments and rejected it.
They thought it was possible the rack was not the right one or defective. I double checked with the place I got the rack from (rebuilt) and they confirmed it was the correct one. So we checked to see if it could be defective. While the car was running he opened the power steering reservoir and saw that the fluid was not moving. Prior to replacing the rack the power steering was working, it was leaking thats why we had to replace it.
This leads us to believe the rack is defective. It feels like a manual steering. A Honda mech. told us that both the power steering and the manual racks look identical. Even will have connections for the lines on the manual rack.

Is this correct? When I called the place where i bought the rack, they didn't believe me when I told them what my the honda tech told me. I'll be out $300 if they don't take it back plus I'll need to get another one.

Thanks
J

 

Was the PS hydraulic system bled after installing and refilling with fluid?
Is the PS belt loose or slipping?
You might want to double check the rack installation.

 

Yes the sys was bled and the fluid was replaced. Not sure if the belts are even moving. When I drive it feels like manual steering.

Does anyone know if a manual rack looks exactly like a PS one with the line connections all?

 

It's pretty easy to check whether the power steering pump pulley is turning. Why not have a look?

 

Just went to Checker and got another rack. I'm returning the first one. It was either the wrong one (they looked indentical but the first one was maybe 1/2" longer) or it was defective. Either way the 2nd one went in without a problem. Power steering pump kicked in right away too. Going to get the wheels aligned today.