Strange steering wheel behaviour...

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donpulsar

South Yorkshire Regional Rep
I'm having a weird problem that none of my mechanically minded mates can solve so wondering if anyone here can suggest a solution - here goes...

I get in the car and startup, no probs. Reverse the car out of the drive and onto the road. Still no probs.

When i set off down the road the car is going in a straight line, but instead of the steering wheel being straight (in a "9 & 3" position) its in a "10 & 4" position, i.e turned to the right. I get to a junction and turn left and by the time the car is driving straight on the road the steering wheel has moved back to its "9 & 3" position :doh: If I turn on roundabouts, junctions etc the wheel moves position (sometimes to "10 & 4" and sometimes to "8 & 2", yet throught all this the steering still feels fine. I've recently had the tracking done and still no joy.

I found summat here : http://www.gtiroc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21929&highlight=steering that suggested track rod end / lower ball joints ?

Any thoughts, advice etc much appreciated cos this is driving me nuts! :der:

Thanks in advance :thumbsup:

donpulsar :)
 
Fast Guy

Fast Guy

Moderators
Staff member
I'd have thought if it was a worn rack you'd feel it jerking or something.

I wouldn't have thought balljoints would allow it to move that much and stay there, but I could be wrong.

Does it handle ok at speed? Does it do it on any road surface?
 
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rams_pulsar

New Member
i'd say the rack is worn sounds like it cud be jumping a tooth of two and its jumpig the same two (or more) every time i'd gt the rack changed mate you wouldn't like it to slip alot more when going quick wud ya??lol
 
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donpulsar

South Yorkshire Regional Rep
I have wondered if the rack was the culprit.

Any surface I've been on in the past couple of months - mainly road - have shown the same effect. The car handles fine - like nothing was wrong at all, feels solid as ever. Tyre pressures, power steering & ps fluid level are all ok.
 
antgtir

antgtir

New Member
Just make sure the person who did the tracking for you hasn't wound one of the track rod ends too far before you spend money on a rack etc.

Ant.
 
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donpulsar

South Yorkshire Regional Rep
Cheers for all the input guys ; I'll check everything out over the weekend! The 'R was doing this before i went for the tracking done but i'll still check the track rod ends etc!

Anyone got any other thoughts ? (and if it come to needing a replacement rack any suggestions where from / where to get mine overhauled ?)

Cheers,

donpulsar :)
 
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rams_pulsar

New Member
ive got a powersteering rack secondhand like but cant see there been owt up with it come off a car my mate stripped that he used to drive about...
 
davey red.r

davey red.r

New Member
don how old are your shocks?
would be worth checking this happened to me years ago,tryed everything tracking toe allighment etc,
in the end it turned out to be the bearing that sits at the top of the strut,
replaced all shocks and the prob was sorted,
not saying thats what it is but it maybe.


davey
 
Last edited:
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donpulsar

South Yorkshire Regional Rep
Had 16's on the car for the past 4 1/2 years I've had the car - no tramlining issues.

That point about the shocks is certainly an interesting one - its got GAB adjustables on and they were on it when i got it, so i reckon seeing as it's a 94 car and they're jap bits they're at least 10 years old...will add that to the check list!

Cheers davey red.r :)
 
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donpulsar

South Yorkshire Regional Rep
LOL, if aint broke, don't fix it...but as you say - after 10 years they're prob. shot to sh*t! Will keep y'all informed!

Cheers,

donpulsar :)
 
stevepudney

stevepudney

GTiROC CHAIRMAN
Staff member
Two things I would check, firstly check the worn rack mount rubbers, this is quite possible as the rack would not have to move much for your symptoms to show. Secondly, check the bolts that tighten the joint between the rack and the steering column
 
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donpulsar

South Yorkshire Regional Rep
Sorry for the lack of updates! Fitted new poly bushes (Supaflex) to the front wishbones (front and rear) and anti-roll bar and the situation has improved greatly - the car steers and handles a lot better! But when steering out of a left or right out of a jcn (i.e a 90 degree turn) the steering wheel still returns off centre most of the time, but this time only by a few degrees. Hoping to have a look at the bits and pieces mentioned by steve and steve to cure it once and for all!

Will post updates when they happen!

Cheers for all the help so far guys :)

donpulsar :)
 
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