Sterring Wheel Has way too much give!

[candydandy]

My son owns a 89 Festiva. The main problem we are having with it is that he has way too much play in the wheel. I think the suggested play amount is 1 inch, but he easily has 10 inches of play. How do we adjust the steering so he can drive this thing safely? I don't want him to even drive it right now until we can get this problem fixed.

[David88]

The steering does not really have an adjustment. Your problem is most likely worn or damaged tie rods or other steering or suspension parts. You are right to not drive it. It does not sound safe at all with that much play. Lot of thing can be at fault here. First off what history do you know about the car? How many miles on the car? Any signs of previous accident damage repair? Any recent work done on it? Maybe something was left loose.

[candydandy]

The history on the vehicle: is one older gentleman bought it new in 89, and owned it until 2004. He babied it too! I know him personally and he is known for taking good care of his vehicles.

He sold it to a guy who let his teenage son drive it for the three years. This kid was really hard on the vehicle, but no accidents that I'm aware of.

We bought it a few years back and let our oldest daughter drive it. No accidents, and she was good on the vehicle. No racing, or rough housing with it.

Our daughter then bought herself a different car, so we parked the Festiva last year. We just recently put it back on the road about a month and a half ago. My daughter doesn't remember the steering being so bad, but she can't be sure.

My husband recently had to put in a new radiator, new brakes, and a new master cylinder. (Which by the way, the brakes are really bad even though him and my son have bled them three times since he replaced the master cylinder.)

Not sure on the exact mileage, but somewhere around 160,000 miles.

It has a few dents in the back, but nothing major and this I think was caused by the other guys son and his friends horsing around with it.

[MONSOON]

Yeah tie rod ends may be the problem. Steering rack a possibilty as well. How are the tires? That wouldnt give you any play in the steering wheel.But sitting for a year may cause issues with the rubber.
As for the brakes. Did he bench bleed the MC before installing it?

[candydandy]

Not sure what you mean by bench bleeding the master cylinder.

The tires are actually in pretty good shape. We had bought four new ones shortly before my daughter parked it after buying her own vehicle.

[batstiva]

10 inches of free play is a lot!! I agree with the others who have suggested tie rods as a potential problem. I suspect most of your problem is going to be in the rack itself. Just my hunch.

I might also suggest adding your location to your profile. Lots of knowledge on here, I'll bet someone on here close to your location would be more than willing to help you out.

Oh, and welcome to FF.COM!!

[David88]

This is kind of unlikely, but does the car have power steering? Some festivas did as it was an option, but relatively few. Look for the pump and hoses going to the steering rack. If it does have it though and the belt belt is off, that could cause the play you mention. Aside from that I would recommend having someone move the steering wheel back forth while another watches for the play or looseness on the parts under the car.

[candydandy]

We're in Southeast Alabama. About 1 hour south of Montgomery.

Actually the car DID have power steering, but the power steering belt was cut off when we got it. Could that have caused this extra play in the steering wheel?

By the way, thanks so much to everyone for all the great feedback and help!

[MONSOON]

Read this thread.

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22231

This post by mattswabb

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showpost.php?p=34091&postcount=9

And this

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_howto_bleedbrakes.shtml

The pump may be shot and thats why the belt was cut. Id put 1 on though and find out myself.

[David88]

We're in Southeast Alabama. About 1 hour south of Montgomery.

Actually the car DID have power steering, but the power steering belt was cut off when we got it. Could that have caused this extra play in the steering wheel?

By the way, thanks so much to everyone for all the great feedback and help!

OK. This is defiantly narrowing it down with the play issue. Yes the missing belt could cause the play. Now, as monsoon mentioned you'll need to determine the reason the belt is off. Possibly a leak or bad pump, or if your lucky maybe the belt just wore out. It is a desirable option to have P/S. Parts should be available If you need something post here in the For sale Wanted section. Someone may have what you need. I do believe that it would be easiest to fix the P/S. Diagnose and determine whats needed and cost. The other option would be to replace the power steering rack with a manual rack. It can be fairly involved to change them out, but I would do that as a last resort.