Thread: Steering wheel play causes?

Just bought an 00 GTP knowing it needed an alignment. Got the alignment done and found out that the front struts are bad. They were able to get everything into spec though except for the front left camber could not get adjusted into spec because of the bad strut. Also, the PO told me that the rack was replaced within the last year.

So my question is this; why do I have roughly 1" of play in my steering wheel before the tires actually start turning? I sure hope the entire rack isn't bad, but am not really sure what the culprit could be here.

The intermediate shaft could be pretty worn and have slack in it.

I've seen new racks have just the same amount of play in them as old rack did with over 100k miles.

I was searching the forum and found that as a possible culprit or some bushing that's only found on the passenger side of the rack but don't even know where that's located.

Everything about the intermediate shaft I have seen involved a clunk or noise of some sort but I don't have any noises. Any way to see if that shaft is the problem without taking everything apart?

if there was any thing else failing the shop would have stopped doing the alignment and said you need tei rods or inner rods or ball joints or what ever cause they cant do the job right with worn out parts..

bad struts they can work around. not bad tie rods or lca's.

Ok cool. I know ball joints were replaced within the last year so those are good. Sounds like the intermediate shaft is the likely culprit then. Doesn't look like a fun job to replace though.

Does this this sound about right as far as instructions go?
http://www.colinkraft.com/shaft.php

That doesn't scare me, I've beat my hands up on worse jobs before. Just found this, appears to be better instructions to completely r&r the shaft as opposed to just lubing it up.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/t948...placement.html

i'll tell you why the tape, and its a good tip really.

under the column where you have to remove and put back the shaft is very sharp. i changed mine, and got a few slices.

that shaft can either slide right back on, or fight till the cows come home. its no treat.

It looks like my life might have gotten just a little bit easier. Got my hand behind the motor and took this pic of where the shaft connects to the rack. There is no boot there as normally should be. Plus, isn't the bolt visible in this pic supposed to be facing the drivers side and not the passenger side??? The head of the bolt isn't right up against the shaft, and won't turn any tighter. Is that normal?

should be a boot. that 11 mm bolt will face the driver side wheel well when the wheels are straight.

at least it should. clearly someone has been monkeying around with it tho.

Ok, that's what I thought. When I bounce the steering wheel back and forth, I can see everything from the bolt upwards turn a bit with it. Can't tell if what the shaft connects to is moving at all or not though. What should I look for to know if the ISS is in fact the problem?

the iss shaft is connected to the steering wheel. you rock the wheel the shaft moves the rack.

lol yes, I understand that completely. The ISS moves in unison with the steering wheel, but both move back and forth too much more than normal before the rack itself actually starts to turn.

some one may have put a used rack in and its worn out, or the tie rods are bad, inner or outer.

jack one front wheel up at a time, then push and pull at 3 and 9 o clock on the wheel. your feeling for some play. if you turn the wheels then push and pull, you can watch the tie rod end to the knuckle, as well as the inner shaft.

I saw that you dismissed the balljoint suggestion based on them only being a year old. And the fact that you are in AZ, totally blows my "horrible northern roads" theory out of the water... looks like you balljoints are probably perfect..

Damn AZ people... your wipers are dried out and falling apart!

lmao ^^^^^

Have we asked about melted control arm bushings? It gets hot there..

LOL to the AZ comment! Wiper blades last like 2 months out here! Although we did get a 100-year storm yesterday that flooded the entire city so at least I got some use out of my wipers one time this year

Originally Posted by Sallydoggs

some one may have put a used rack in and its worn out, or the tie rods are bad, inner or outer.

jack one front wheel up at a time, then push and pull at 3 and 9 o clock on the wheel. your feeling for some play. if you turn the wheels then push and pull, you can watch the tie rod end to the knuckle, as well as the inner shaft.

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

Have we asked about melted control arm bushings? It gets hot there..

Two solids posts. I'm hoping to get the car on jack stands tonight and I'll check that out.

The control arm bushings still look ok, but there is movement when I try to wiggle the wheel back and forth. The tie rod end is secure to the knuckle but it looks like maybe where the tie rod connects to the steering rack is where the movement is coming from?

So my next question is how do I tell whether it's the rack that's bad or the connection between the tie rod and the rack that is bad?

Might be an inner tie rod.