DC Integra, power steering rack with no power steering pump. Been that way for years. Just looped.

All of the sudden, while driving, my steering wheel had a big "dead spot" where the wheel could turn around 3-4" without the car's direction changing, and was very loose within that range, which was basically with the wheels straight forward... So I stopped, was close to home, so drove it home like that. Park it, decide I'll look at it later.

Well, "later" comes around, and I screwed with the wheel while it was parked, and all the sudden, it's back to normal. I don't want this to happen to me while at freeway speeds or anything, so I'd appreciate some help/someone point me in the right direction. It has a NEW right outer tie rod (Old joint was squeaking), and I can't really tell that the inners or the other outer are bad at all. everything looks fine. Dirty, but fine. I jacked one wheel up and pushed it in/out, the rack doesn't feel to have play in it at all (The wheels did push in/out slightly, but the steering wheel also turns slightly, but that's normal.) The car has had a bad alignment for years, due to cut springs (I didn't do it.) but it's recently fixed a couple months ago.

So where are good places to look? I know very little about steering.

 

i haved that same issue where it feels loose. i read an article where you can adjust the linkage to the rack because of wear. thats what i think would be a good idea im going to try to do it myself

 

Symptom got to the point where the "dead spot" was there, only when wheels are centered, and 100% of the time, even at a dead stop... So I pulled the rack, and it looks fine! Pinion looks amazing, all the teeth on the worm gear look good, no chunks or metal pieces... Sad part is, I can't replicate the dead spot with it out of the car.

 

...New symptom: When driving in the rain, hitting even the slightest puddle causes the car to jerk...REALLY hard. Not being a princess about it either, like HOLD ON. lol. So I had to drive home SLOW in the rain, and dodge puddles like the plague... ALSO: I'm pretty sure I have a bearing going out, and to me, it seems like a wheel bearing, HOWEVER, the noise doesn't sound like it's coming from one side or the other, really. *shrugs* anybody else with bad wheel bearing, were you able to tell which side it was on by the sound?