Steering stiff/not centering after new rack/ball joints/track rod ends

[marf]

Hi All

Had my new steering rack, ball joints and track rod ends fitted yesterday, however the steering is pretty stiff and will not return to centre as it used to(scary). You can set the steering angle, remove your hands and the car will just carry on turning, no further input needed. To set it straight again you have to conciously move it back to straight ahead.

I've had a chat with a few people and narrowed it down to the following:-

stiff ball joints
stiff track rod ends
rack faulty
excessive castor

I'm going to drop the car back into a garage and have them disconnect the steering rack from the track rod ends to see if the rack itself is stiff or if the ball joints/rack ends are stiff.

I don't think its a castor issue as the car does not have adjustable castor and the geo was setup after having the rack fitted.

Has anyone else had this issue? What was the problem?

My money is on the ball joints/track rod ends personally. Just wondering if these can be done up too tight at the hub(doubtful but I'm not an expert :lol )

Any advice/experience greatfully received :banana:

Cheers

Marf

[Nod]

Hi All

Had my new steering rack, ball joints and track rod ends fitted yesterday, however the steering is pretty stiff and will not return to centre as it used to(scary). You can set the steering angle, remove your hands and the car will just carry on turning, no further input needed. To set it straight again you have to consciously move it back to straight ahead.

I've had a chat with a few people and narrowed it down to the following:-

stiff ball joints
stiff track rod ends
rack faulty
excessive castor

I'm going to drop the car back into a garage and have them disconnect the steering rack from the track rod ends to see if the rack itself is stiff or if the ball joints/rack ends are stiff.

I don't think its a castor issue as the car does not have adjustable castor and the geo was setup after having the rack fitted.

Has anyone else had this issue? What was the problem?

My money is on the ball joints/track rod ends personally. Just wondering if these can be done up too tight at the hub(doubtful but I'm not an expert :lol )

Any advice/experience greatfully received :banana:

Cheers

Marf

Sounds like your power steering is not working. If the pump is running, check there is fluid in the pot and that the rack has been bled. Your PS pump and rack will soon be Fubar if there is no fluid in there.

Lyndon.

[marf]

I'll check the fluid level and report back. Not getting any noises from the rack/pump and the PAS light is not illuminated.

[marf]

Fluid level is fine. Whats involved in bleeding it? May give that a go.

[Nod]

Bleeding is just jacking the front wheels off the floor and turning the rack from lock to lock until the PS fluid stops frothing and the rack and pump sound happy.

You should get a noise from the pump as it's electric. If you turn the steering the pump should come to life and then shut off after a period of time.

Lyndon.

[marf]

OK well in that case I think we can rule out the pump/fluid. It makes the right noises and has been bled correctly. There are no bubbles and the level is constant.

[Nod]

Hmmm, In that case, it might be your track rod ends are on the wrong way round as I seem to remember they are Left and Right handed (not sure about ball joints, I'm sure they're not handed).

Lyndon.

[marf]

Now thats something I hadn't considered, the track rod ends are indeed handed, ball joints arent. Thanks Nod, will check that too.

[marf]

Track rod ends are installed correctly.

Driving to work this morning it feels like the rack may be loosening up. After giving it full lock around a roundabout I could feel it wanting to straighten up, though the 15-20degrees left and right of dead ahead is still quite stiff.

I'll see how it goes over the next few days, fingers crossed it will free itself up more as time goes on. :)