I am trying to figure out what could be the possible problem.
For the last month there has been alot of snow and I actually had to run into a snow bank/curb to avoid an accident. At the time snow had been deposited and I removed it all which cured the shaky steering. For a few days now it seems that my steering wheel does not return to center after turning and I have to do it myself which is a bit of an annoyance but now biggy at the moment.
I check the tire pressure and it is ok but have not went under the car as the weather is crap. I have one new ball joint (from the summer), practically new winter tires, new suspension(shocks, bushings, springs) and new axles.
Anyone with any suggestions?
I did a search but uncovered nothing.
Thanks in advance.

 

how hard did you hit? i'd be looking into the alignment.

 

I hit it about 10km/h but it was through snow. I did hit it a bit hard though. The problem did not start until about 3 weeks after that. And my tires have seemed to have gotten a bit noisier in the last month also. Just a few more hints.
I am going to bring it to the garage tomorrow as I want it fixed.
Just want to be prepared.

 

check your tires for uneven/excessive wear.

 

I rotated my tires 2 weeks ago and the wear seemed pretty even. My car is only on a prokit so the drop is mild.

 

sounds like an alignment problem

caster generally is the major factor in the steering wheel returning to center....

 

That sounds pretty odd, even without power steering the wheels should return to near-center if the car is moving forward. Do you notice anything out of the ordinary just looking at the car, like maybe one of the wheels isn't centered in the wheel well or something?

*edit* heh I just noticed that the thread title is exactly the same word-for-word of one of the symptoms listed in the troubleshooting section of the Haynes manual. Did you look at that before making this post?

The possible causes it lists are:
Lack of lubrication at balljoints and tie-rod ends.
Binding in balljoints.
Binding in steering column.
Lack of lubricant in steering gear assembly.
Front wheel alignment.

 

I would also suggest the hub bearings

 

the tires seem to be in the center and look pretty normal to me. I only wish there wasn't so much snow(and the fact that my girlfriend is over and the carport is blocked because my lazy *** roomates couldn't make it up the unshovelled driveway-they are chicks!) so I could jack the car up. Only thing is I don't know what I am looking for.

 

Yeah I looked at the manual before hand

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by [626 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">96-GSR]I would also suggest the hub bearings</TD></TR></TABLE>

pretty sure hub bearings don't affect the car's steering.

 

Does it return to center the same way if you make a right turn vs. a left turn? Or does it return closer to center making a right turn as opposed to a left?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">pretty sure hub bearings don't affect the car's steering.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Agreed. Though he stated he's been getting alot of road noise in the past month.

 

Its an alignment problem, you need to readjust your tie rods, your caster and toe are way off i bet you. Take it to a shop that do alignment that should solve the problem, if not then it could be some bents suspensions/control arms after you hit the curve, it'd be a good idea to rebalance your tires as well if you havent done that yet.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sPaRk’iT &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Its an alignment problem, you need to readjust your tie rods, your caster and toe are way off i bet you. Take it to a shop that do alignment that should solve the problem, if not then it could be some bents suspensions/control arms after you hit the curve, it'd be a good idea to rebalance your tires as well if you havent done that yet. </TD></TR></TABLE>

If his caster angles are off, then he's got bigger problems, because almost no car has adjustable caster, certainly not Hondas. If caster is out-of-spec then there are for sure damaged suspension components.

 

Just came back from the garage and it is very hard to diagnose. We separated the tie rod ends and it seems that one wheel is much stiffer than the other(not to bad though) and it should be either the upper or lower ball joint. We sprayed some lubricant in the joints(put a small hole in the boots) and it seems to have helped a bit. It just could be the cold and ice. Only time will tell. So I am leaving it as the car is safe to drive to see what happens. I am probably going to change both the upper and lower ball joints as the lower is warrentied so I would only have to pay for the upper plus labour.
Still to be determined.
And the noise could be either the tires or a wearing wheel bearing(rear). The front susupension is tight.

 

It was actually the lower ball joint. It has been changed and everything is perfect again.