egvtec

I had recently removed my steering rack to paint my engine bay, after reinstalling it i had the car aligned yesterday, my friend does the alignments and he said that the steering alignment wont hold. He would set it take it for a drive and the steering wheel moves off its setting slightly to the left cause the setting won't hold. What could i check over to make sure that it will stay when i go get it realigned?
I didn't think it could be the steering column itself because it is splined so it cannot move.
BTW the rack is securely tight, i checked the bolts last night. could there be something loose in the column still? Tie rod ends and ball joints are fine he stated.

Tyson

i have no idea what you mean "steering alignment wont hold".

why dont you ask your friend who does alignments to align your car?

you can double check the tightness of the ujoints at the bottom of the steering column.

otherwise, you took the steering rack off and back on, i would expect it absolutely necessary to realign the whole car.

egvtec

To be specific, the toe settings and everything stay to spec, my friend did align the car at his work yesterday, but my steering wheel wont stay centered when he adjusts it.
Its like something isnt tight. But the steering column is keyed so i wouldnt think it would be at the column fittings. Maybe i over looked something, thus causing the wheel settings not to stay tight where they are adjusted. The wheel moves to the left after he aligned the steering and drove it.

Tyson

have him check for play. bad balljoint or something.

and yes, you DO need to recheck the ujoints for tightness.

egvtec

He stated that ball joints and tie rod ends were good, so im assuming the problem is elsewhere, but im not sure exactly where to check, i re tightened all my bolts in my steering rack under the car. that would just leave the u joints to check correct?

Tyson

correct, but i would double check everything and not take anyones word.