I have recently been noticing some strange steering movements while driving.
I'm wondering if its my rack and pinion.

I notice that when I am driving on the freeway it feels as though the wheels have taken a mind of their own. They act as if they are moving in different directions (left/right motion) and can be felt through the steering wheel and is quite unsettling.

I also notice that when I turn the steering wheel that there is a slight pause or catch up if you will at the wheels themselves.


Please help..

 

inner tie rod balljoint, outer tie rod balljoint, and rack end bushing (only if you have manual steering) will all cause problems if any of them are bad.

if you have a power steering rack, im unfamiliar with them except that they get more complicated with all the seals and whatnot. if you find the rack has a lot of play in it, first try to tighten the gearbox. if thats not good enough, then i would replace the whole thing with a rebuilt unit.

i dont recommend replacing the manual rack with a whole new rebuild unit because its so simple, that its not worth the price ($100+) when theres really only 2 possible rebuildable parts, about $12 total worth of parts from the dealer.

put your car on jacks, get underneath, have someone hold the wheel and turn it side to side. feel for play. put your fist over the outer tie rod balljoint(s), on the inner tie rod, on the rack. play will be obvious.

 

I figured it out, through my mechanic. He suggested the simplest of repairs.

ALIGNMENT!


Thanks for the reply and help. Oh, by the way..I had all that done a couple years ago, not manual...full power steering rack.

 

hmm get that alignment and tell us if everything works ok after that.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hmm get that alignment and tell us if everything works ok after that.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

definitely. I put both inner and both outers in my CRX, then had it aligned and it still did it. Might have to replace that last bushing.