Tight Steering

At low speed everything seems OK up to 30-40 MPH but as you speed up over that the steering becomes tight and sensitive in other words there seems to be no center feel, or neutral, you either going right or left and just adjust a little and need to adjust the other way and gets worse the faster you go. Front end has been aligned and is the same..

sounds like a steering gear problem.......

Abaddon wrote:

sounds like a steering gear problem.......

Hmmm.... do you think the rack might be off-center -- that is, car is aligned but rack is not centered properly.

Albertj

Was the front cradle loosened for any reason lately.?
If it was it's possible to tighten it back a little off, and the car will react as you explain.
Also, I had similar symptoms after I installed new front struts, mounts and springs.
The first shop I brought it too to have the alignment done, adjusted the camber a little to bring it back in spec, but told me the Caster was out of spec and this car didn't come with adjustable caster.
I had left a copy of the procedure to adjust the caster on the passenger seat because I knew if he needed to adjust it he would possibly look at it. Especially after i had talked to him about the possibility.
Well, he didn't bother looking at where it says to drop the strut, elongate the holes in the strut tower to allow for forward and aft movement of the strut to adjust the caster.
Needless to say I left there with a half of an alignment done and brought it to the dealer and asked them to do it for the same price as an alignment - no extra charge for elongating the holes and they did.
So, to make a long story longer you need to be sure about the caster and also be aware of the cradle causing a problem.

albertj wrote:

Hmmm.... do you think the rack might be off-center -- that is, car is aligned but rack is not centered properly.

If the rack was off center, an alignment would still correct the problem. However, there are 2 mounting bolts on the rack that aren't elongated to allow the rack to be off center....it only bolts into one place. In order for the caster to affect the steering this much, you would have to be in a BIG front end wreck and twist the body or cradle. Sounds like maybe the Magnasteer is malfunctioning or one of your power steering lines may be kinked. Also, there is an intermediate shaft that connects the gear to the column, if one of the knuckles in it is severly rusted/corroded, it could cause the same effect.......from what he's describing the car has "memory steer". Hell, it could be a lot things....blown out strut mounts could be causing the binding also. But given he says it's ok at low speeds, I would have to say the gear is to blame.

Abaddon wrote:

albertj wrote:

Hmmm.... do you think the rack might be off-center -- that is, car is aligned but rack is not centered properly.

If the rack was off center, an alignment would still correct the problem. However, there are 2 mounting bolts on the rack that aren't elongated to allow the rack to be off center....it only bolts into one place. In order for the caster to affect the steering this much, you would have to be in a BIG front end wreck and twist the body or cradle. Sounds like maybe the Magnasteer is malfunctioning or one of your power steering lines may be kinked. Also, there is an intermediate shaft that connects the gear to the column, if one of the knuckles in it is severly rusted/corroded, it could cause the same effect.......from what he's describing the car has "memory steer". Hell, it could be a lot things....blown out strut mounts could be causing the binding also. But given he says it's ok at low speeds, I would have to say the gear is to blame.

When were the current struts installed, and has this been a problem since then?

One problem I'd seen more than once was mechanics mis-assembleing the Riv sturts - for instance putting the strut bearings in upside down, whcih will make the spring mount cups bind on the (plastic) bearing.

Albertj

lol....silly mechanics. It deeply disturbs me to say this, but not all of us "mechanics" should be doing mechanics....... that make sense?

Abaddon wrote:

lol....silly mechanics. It deeply disturbs me to say this, but not all of us "mechanics" should be doing mechanics....... that make sense?

Yes and no. I respect folks who're working as mechanics for a living, it's not that simple. That said - over time I've noticed some issues:

1) Dealer mechanics are somtimes forbidden from doing certain things due to GM or dealership work rules. For example: replacing a supercharger coupler.

2) Aftermerket parts that are satisfactory or even excellent replacements for the OE parts but are configured differently or require additional parts not packed with the item. For example, the strut rod bellows on our cars. If you replace with aftermarket you also need a metal cap that's not packed with the aftermarket bellows. I can understand how a mechanic might miss that, although I don't like it very much at all.

3) Sometimes the training mechanics get in local/regional trade schools is not sufficient to face what they see in the field. For example: the time i had to re-do a brake job because mechanic did brush scale off hub faces but not enough to get back to the flat surface (have to scrub them shiny with a scotchbrite, preferably with that cup-shaped gadget by Ate). A wire brush is not enough anymore given the tight tolerances. Granted the mechanic was probably taught the right way to do it - but did not for whatever reason.

4) Sometimes shop rules or other factors encourage certain independent mechanics to use inferior parts. Which increases my net costs because then I have to bring my car in for service more.

5) Some mechanics prefer not to read manuals or refer to drawings - takes time from the job at hand and they "know" what to do already anyway. For instance the strut bearing thing I mentioned previously.

6) Some mecahnics are ill-informed. For example, a mechanic that uses uncoated clip-on wheel weights on (my) alloy wheels when spinbalancing them.

By the way, the off-center rack thing. What I meant is that the rack itself is mounted correctly and centered, but the alognment is off thusly: the steering wheel was not centered right (maybe the car really needs new inner and or outer tie rods--that is is WON'T center) -or- carelessness on the mechanics's part - the rack is installed/mounted right, the mechanic does nto center the wheel correctly - as a result, the toe is off say 2 turns of the inner on both sides - when the rack naturally centers, then, the car will tend to pull the direction of the bias, maybe not at city speeds where caster is the bigest factor, but at highway speeds where the Magnasteer tightens up.

Albertj

hmmm. It's sad.....as a mechanic I make sure I know what I'm doing and stay trained. If I don't know, I ask. Schematics and diagrams are my best friend, parts that don't come with are no excuse for improper repair, and I will never know it all.....I see it every day, and it sickens me that less-than-adequate mechanics are potentially "ruining" (y)our vehicles.

Back to his issue.....I suppose excessive, but even toe in or toe out would cause memory steer at the higher speeds, much like improper camber causes bump steer.

.....hub faces ALWAYS get done with a "cookie", WTF is a wire brush?