Loose steering

[Rick2005]

Drove home from Duxford the other day and noticed that the car felt very unstable. By the end of the journey the steering was so loose that you could not be sure if turning the wheel had any effect at all. It

[scoule]

Grab the wheels, try to rock them, check wheel nuts ...

Get someone to sit in drivers seat and rock the steeering gently - can you hear a clonk? If so, try to isolate it, could be wheel bearings, track rod ends, upper or lower ball joint, steering rack ... or even more scarey, something like a loose steering column coupling. If you can hear a clonk, you can generally track it by holding the wheels / steering rack / rods as the steering is rocked.

Jack it up and check for play in wheel bearings by rocking wheels vertically & horizontally.

Found nothing mechanical? Check tyre pressures, could be worn bushes too ...

[Guest esprit geoff]

If there is alot of play in the steering wheel could well be the steering rack.

Geoff.

[Rick2005]

Wheels are rock solide. Checked nuts and tyre pressure. 28psi front and 30psi rear. I just had new bearings put in so they should be spot on as well but cannot tell.

Is it normal though that there might be adjustment works to be done on the steering after 30k miles?

P

[scoule]

I wouldn't expect wear in a steering rack to be so sudden or dramatic ... check the UJ(s) on the steering column coupling, and the bolts that clamp the coupling onto the steering column & rack input shaft. If these are loose on the splines, you'll have a very crap steering response, in extreme cases, it may even feel worse than a vauxhall cavalier :-)

With the engine off, how much play is there at the steering wheel before resistance is felt?

[Paul C]

in extreme cases, it may even feel worse than a vauxhall cavalier :-)

Pete?

[Rick2005]

There seems to be no play when the engine is switched off. Resistance comes in gradually.

Had the car checked by Steve Williams this morning and he couldn