anyway, i just had my car aligned, the susp is fine also.... including tie rods and ball joints.
problem: the steering wheel has play in it between turning right and left... like the wheel is loose. it goes left or right 2in before actuallt steering the car. the alignment is fine as the car drives perfectly straight?

i found this link i my search:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=569090

i wondering if anyone has experienced the same problem?

 

Check the 4 bolts that bolt the rack and pinion to the sub frame. If they are tight, then you can try the free play adjustment; not too much tighter though.

 

aneone tried this? im sure my rack is tight to the frane wise

 

Not just the rack to frame bolts, but ALL the fasteners in the steering system, column on down. I'd also check your PS fluid level.

Check everything before playing with the free play adjustment - if it's something else, and you over-tighten the free play, you will wear out the steering box gears quickly.

How many miles? 2" of free play in an R is a lot!

For ref, I know people with 90K, and their steering is perfectly tight and never adjusted. However I see 'trackwhore' in your sig, so total miles may not be a good indicator.

 

i had a similar issue though not as bad. my R had an allignment done, and the steering wheel felt "mushy", as in i had to turn the wheel farther than i liked to get the car to turn. i got another allignment done a few days ago, and the steering is much tighter, much much tighter, like millimeter of play verses an inch before. i dont know what was done, but maybe it had something to do with the tie rod adjustment that they do on your car to straighten out the steering wheel.

basically, i dont know what the hell happeend. good luck.

 

make sure they locked down the tie rod

 

http://img10.echo.cx/img10/390...d.jpg

I scanned this from my book, maybe it could help you.

 

It 'can' be a bad alignment, with too much toe out your car can sorta wander around. But that doesn't sound like your issue.

When did it start? All of the sudden, or was it after hitting a curb, or on the track?

goodluck...

 

ok ok... so its not 2inches each way.... more like 1/2" or so...

 

well the car has always had this sort of play since i bought it @ 140km...
the previous owner was a "**** pisser" ether way, my wheel bearings, tie rod ends, upper n lowa ball jizzles are fine... so it seems to be rack related.. the alignment is within specs and i have a printout... its beginning to **** me off...
and FYI i got 165kms on er now.

 

 

I had this same problem with only 20K on the R. The dealer had my car for every. They did axles, complete bushing kit, alignment, steering nuckle, and other things that I don't remember. In the end they replaced my rack and pinion, because of some broken internal parts. Thank God it was all covered under warranty. I had the same play you do. Going straight if you moved the steering wheel left or right an inch it went straight with no responce what so ever. At a stop when I moved the wheel a inch to two left to right, back and forth you could hear a low thump. coming from the rack. After they replaced the rack and pinion the R responded so fast to the steering wheel that you could almost swear it started to turn with just the thought of you turning. Good Luck I hope this helps.

 

bump help?

 

http://img138.echo.cx/img138/1...i.jpg


Modified by Bbasso at 5:28 PM 6/10/2005

 

There is a bolt on the rack that I believe can be accessed while it is installed... it sets the guide pressure... sounds like yours needs to be tightened up a bit. Don't go too tight or you will have drag and wear on the rack. Adjustment details are in the helms.

I'll go double check cause I'm going to install poly bushings on my rack in about 10 minutes.

 

Rob has turned into a Helms wh0re

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sackdz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There is a bolt on the rack that I believe can be accessed while it is installed... it sets the guide pressure... sounds like yours needs to be tightened up a bit. Don't go too tight or you will have drag and wear on the rack. Adjustment details are in the helms.

I'll go double check cause I'm going to install poly bushings on my rack in about 10 minutes.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's on the back of the rack, where the pinion comes in. It looks pretty tough to get to, you might be able to get a rench on it... but theres two heads, a nut to lock and screw to adjust.

 

I do the steering rack adjustment on most cars that come through my work for allignments and steering work, etc. It does make a huge difference. Make sure to do it according to the manual. If you do it too tight, your wheels will not straighten themselves after a turn

Befriend a tech at the dealership and ask him to borrow the special tool/.

 

YAY I FIXED THA HOE.
it was a clamp under the steering column behind the plastic cover. just had to tighten her up... yay!. thanx Bbasso for all ur help G!!!!!

 

Ah the splined clamp.. dangerous if that got any looser

 

ya... its been like that ever since i bought the car
ive done like three track events on it like that.... good thing i got it taken care of cuz i got auto cross this weekend and a 3day event next weekend

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Freeltec &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it was a clamp under the steering column behind the plastic cover. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Congrats
Mike Laskey went into the wall once because that little clamp came off

 

H-T rocks as usual!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ill &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">H-T rocks as usual!</TD></TR></TABLE>

HA! Lots of great ideas in the post, but no one on here mentioned the clamp could be the culprit.
(I'm not complaining, because I know exactly zero about the PS system.

 

I got the same thing. My car has 128k though. I'm going to check that clamp.