K,

I have a 4ws prelude, sometimes I'll be driving and the steering wheel will be straight and I'll be going straight, if I hit a bump in the road I have to have the steering wheel angled a bit left and I'll be going straight ... this fluctuates.

This is with my 4WS disabled so my back tires should be locked in straight ahead position ....

What gives? .. This also happened after a wheel alignment @ Honda ..

 

why is your 4ws disabled?

 

I had my car aligned at a shitty place and they didn't have the steering wheel straight when they did it. could be the way your alignment is set.

 

I pulled the fuse on my 4WS because my back tires aren't aligned quite right, I'm waiting to get a new subframe after I curbed the car.

 

When my 4WS isn't working, the same thing happens to the steering wheel too. Driving becomes a bit nervewrecking. Not sure what causes it.

Oh, my rear wheels don't lock when the system isn't working.

 

hmm... hopefully this time around I'll get the proper alignment from the dealership then..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by yohan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hmm... hopefully this time around I'll get the proper alignment from the dealership then..</TD></TR></TABLE>

I already did. It won't help that problem, I GUARANTEE it.

 

yes but when the 4ws IS working (which rarely it is not in my car .. actually it only ever happen once when I was against a curb in a poor effort to parallel park) then it should be ok with the proper alignment.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AndyD &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I already did. It won't help that problem, I GUARANTEE it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Ditto. You have other problems. Mine don't lock in place either, but the ignition trick fixes it every time. I'm just too lazy too lazy to solder my ECU. I've got the seat pulled out but can't muster up the energy to pull the computer.

 

its because of either worn ball joints on the tie-rod ends (most likely) or worn centering springs in the actuator. The hit could have knackered one of the springs you know.

 

yea i got that and idont have 4ws. one min my car goes to the left theother min if goes to the right ...
ive had my algnment done about 5 times and no difference..
i found out it was the upper ball joints well that what most people said so **** it im leaving it and just hack the **** it doesnt wear out my tyres so i got no prob with it.

 

You will have turning problems like that until you get your subframe fixed. The reason why the alignments arent working is cause you subframe is shifted. I just got done with the same process. I had it aligned 4 times after my car started pulling to the left hard from when I hit a curb pretty bad. The alignments never worked. I finally took it to a very prestigious suspension shop. They shifted the subframe back into the right position.... adjusted my camber and caster.....aligned it and presto! Good as new. So get your subframe fixed to get rid of your problems.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by five-0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Ditto. You have other problems. Mine don't lock in place either, but the ignition trick fixes it every time. I'm just too lazy too lazy to solder my ECU. I've got the seat pulled out but can't muster up the energy to pull the computer. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I did the ECU fix. It worked perfectly for 2-3 months. One day I was running errands so I had to start and stop the car a lot that day. Ever since, it stopped working.

It's back to working if the car sits for 15 minutes after I drive it. It works when I start it in the morning but if I turn the car off and start it again, it doesn't work. If I wait 15 minutes, it will work again.

What's the ignition fix??

 

If I remember right did you post on PO.com that you hit like a pole or something and messed up your car? Was after this incident did your problems start happening?

 

This is why I left out the part about the incident in the original post, this happened before the accident and AFTER a wheel alignment from Honda. I'm just wondering what else would contribute to funky steering ..

So which ball joints again? ... Luckily I can get another actuator.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AndyD &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What's the ignition fix??</TD></TR></TABLE>

If you start the car and the 4WS light is on (inop), this is what you do..... while it's running, turn the ignition off and then on again in one motion. Doing this surges the 4WS ECU enough for electricity to jump the "cracked" solder points.

I swear it works every time. No more white knuckles on the highway. Please let me know if it works for you.

 

Bump for feedback.

 

what i got told it was,was the upper ball joints. its commen in honda's they say..
my cars never been hiot and its doing that.

 

If your 4WS light is on and your steering wheel is shifting from left to right, I highly doubt that the problem is worn ball joints. Like mentioned previously, it is most likely the centering springs.

It seems as if the problem is magnified with wider, aftermarket wheels. Probably because they tend to grab the ruts in the road a little more. Perhaps this is what over-rides the centering springs in the actuator since they were intended to operate with stock wheels.

From my research... the origional problem lies in the 4WS computer as decribed by Sephro. (SEARCH).

You cannot safely eliminate the rear wheels from moving just by pulling the fuse. You'd have to somehow lock the actuator. I've seen bars that replace the racks in 240sx's with 4WS to eliminate the rear wheel steering action, but those were hydrolic and not electric like ours(4th gens). I'm sure something could be fabricated though.

I for one, enjoy my 4WS and would never remove it, but for those that want it gone need to be warned that it cannot be immobilized by simply pulling the fuse.

 

I only pulled the 4WS fuse for the time being because I need an alignment after having replaced lca, tie rod etc. on the rear pass. side.

It's at Honda now, totaly feels like the 4ws grabs ruts in the road and they move the springs though.

If you look at the differences of parts, all you need to do to remove 4WS is pull the plug, put in a 2WS sub frame and get the control arm A (or B?) which are basically a tie rod that stabilize the knuckle ..

Hopefully they do my alignment right this time around.

 

OK I dont have 4wssteering and my steering does that..it goes from left to right an now what would that be the problem then...

 

And another. I think i have the same problem.... only my way of describing it is that when im making a turn, if i hit the littlest bumps, i feel like im losing control of the car. does this seem like the same deal? I'm awaiting a definate fix for this cause its rather annoying and i feel like the car could handle much better than it is! thanks for the info everyone.

-adam

edit: I do NOT have 4ws... 93 prelude Si

 

hmm well i got the best handling on my car i recon. but when im going straight and some times when turning my steering wheel turns bit to the left and the car starts drifting to the left and if ihold it some times and i hit a bump and the car goes with the road some times to the right some times to the left.i can just feel the steering wheel trying ot turn to those directions..
any know what it could be .

 

You better solve that problem sooner than later man, especially if you're planning that long road trip still! Last thing you need is that car pulling to the left or right when you're at high speeds!

 

ok well thats why its posted up here to find out hte problem
most places dont know what it is and most places make up bulshit to charge me money