Steering Issues

[mikemounlio]

I have not had time to look at the car about this issue yet.

1. When i shift gears the car feels like it disconects from the wheels. 2. When you go fast enough that the front end drops down when you shift the steering wheel looses control of the wheel for just a second.

Under slow driving condictions the car if fine. The faster i got the worse it is.

Any ideas on what to look for?

[Safety Guy]

Not sure, but it could be your stabilizer bar bushings are rotted/worn out. My Aqua car pulled to the left when accelerating and pulled back right when coming off the gas when I first drove her home. PO thought it was worn motor mounts (the rear transaxle mount was real worn and could have made the problem worse I suppose).

Karl

[denguy]

Replace all front end rubber bushings and control arms. Possibly steering rack assb. and tie rod ends too. Might as well do the 3 motor mounts while you're under there. Did I leave anything out? O yeah........struts.

[batstiva]

Put the front end of the car in the air. Grab the wheel and shake side to side. Any play? Now try to shake top to bottom. Any play?

Check LCA to stabilizer bushings, check the rubber boots on the tie rod ends (outer) and the ball joint. Check to see if you even have boots left at the inner tie rod connection. Tho, if I had to guess by your description, I'd say you have very weak/worn struts/shocks. Probably your backs are worse than your fronts, allowing your front end to wander. Just my opinion, tho.

[mikemounlio]

i wil be home in a bit to take a loot at it. Thanks for the help tho.

[mikemounlio]

I took a look at the hole steering setup today. I saw that i had a bad (boot). If you are standing at the very fron of the car looking at the fire wall the part in question is on the passengers side. Their is a (pipe) that has a bar in it. That bar connects to the passengers side front wheel assembly.


Well the pipe i talked about has what looks like a bearing in it with that bar going through it. the Bearing looks like it is/is very bad. Would that one bearing be the reason y my wheels wanna get so off track when shifting?

Sorry i dont know the names of the parts. I have been very busy and didnt have time to look at it but for about 2 minutes. Please any help would be great guys. I dont want something to break and i wreck while i have people in the car.

[mikemounlio]

I will take a closer look at the car in about 1 hour. Can u guys give me something i should check. I will raise the car up till the tires r off the ground. I will then try to move the wheels. What else should i do to trouble shoot the front end?

[htchbck]

One thing to try before you raise the car is lock the parking brake and try pushing the top of each front wheel forward and backward (toward the front of the car then toward the rear). If you can rotate the wheel even an inch or two without the car moving then it is most likely the bushings from the control arm to the sway bar. Could be one side or both. But if it is those bushings it will definitely cause the symptom you described of the car being kind of floppy when you shift. Basically as long as the car is in gear its pulling the whole suspension forward from the front tires. As soon as you mash the clutch it stops pulling and the car pushes on the suspension and the wheels move toward the back of the wheel wells. Pretty scary and kind of dangerous. I've never had it on both sides at once, but I have had it do that on one side like what Karl described. If it is those they are pretty easy to replace.

[Safety Guy]

Are you talking about the tie rod end? Here is a pic of a left side one that is not connected to anything because I hadn't installed the knuckle yet:



Here are two tie rod ends on a table:



Yours probably don't have blue boots on them.

Anything look familiar?

Karl

[perucho]

...
1. When i shift gears the car feels like it disconects from the wheels. 2. When you go fast enough that the front end drops down when you shift the steering wheel looses control of the wheel for just a second.

...

Sounds like torque-steer probably exacerbated by worn parts and misalignment. Usually you would feel the car wonder when you go from full throttle to letting off the gas pedal (and vice versa).

[mikemounlio]

Yes percho you r right. The part i am talking about in under the hood. I think it would be the tie rod. I have not had the time to look at the tie rod ends yet. I am sure they suck anyway.

[Safety Guy]

Here's a "word diagram" for you:

tie rod end/inner tie rod/STEERING RACK BODY/inner tie rod/tie rod end

Is the "pipe" you are talking about black rubber with bellows? If so, that would be the boot that covers the ends of the rack and most of each inner tie rod.

Karl

[JoDan]

I just had the same problem with mine. It was the sway bar bushings at first, but then it started happening again so I raised it up at work and the inner tie rod was really loose so I changed the tie rod and aligned it and now its fine. Raise it up, move the wheel side to side and feel for play in the inner and outer tie rods. Also check the sway bar to control arm bushings for wear and cracks.

[perucho]

Changing the tie rod ends is easy. But you need to do an alignment asap after changing them. The "string method" will get you pretty close to where it needs to be. Do a google search for string method alignment.

[mikemounlio]

Thanks guys.


I have a good idea as to what to look for. I will get back to you guys as soon as i know what is bad.