Steering is very tight on my 87 2M4 (Page 1/1)
Chris Eddy MAY 31, 11:02 PM
For some reason, my steering is very tight.
I can turn the wheel with great effort, and then car will continue in that direction, not return..
You can feel the wheel eek eek in discrete motions when turning, not smoothly.
I did have a loose steering column, but fixed that a few years ago.. no issue at that time.
Thoughts?
Mike in Sydney MAY 31, 11:20 PM
Do you have the problem with the suspension unloaded, i.e.: both wheels off the ground at the same time?

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Mike in Sydney

olejoedad JUN 01, 08:10 AM
That sounds like a bad front ball joint.
Do not drive the car until you find the problem.
Chris Eddy JUL 12, 08:44 PM
So it took me a while to work my way into it, but here is what I have..
Popped off the tie rod ends, no change.
Unbolted the rack.. when steering, still tight but rack does not twist.. indicating that..
It is the column.
A few years ago, I did the column tighten dance, taking the whole shebang apart to tighten the bolts.
But now it is very stiff and tight.
Are there lubrication points on this somewhere? Is it all buried in there where the bolts are? Are there replaceable plastic bearings?
Any "save me time" appreciated..
theogre JUL 12, 11:43 PM
The column has a few part that could bind...
1 is the infamous 4 bolt and metal screws into can work loose again.
lock pin spring can fail or crap got in binding the lock plate.

is likely Not bearings. Only 1 BB type at top.

have to pull column or rack to separate them.
Column and lower should not move in/out. If does then plastic part of crush zones failed and needs replace of the whole part.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

Chris Eddy JUL 27, 08:20 PM
One step forward, two steps back..
I pulled the rack out of the car.. and alas, the column spins like a top on Jolt.
The rack is bad.. un-rebuildable bad.
The one end had a bad inner that would not easily pivot..
But the worst is that the right end, which has a long casting part over the inner, was plain busted off, and just rattling around in there.
And I am pretty sure that the last person in there looking at it left it just the way it was.
And then of course the whole rack, which had some grease, but not enough, was very tight. Could be the shaft going into the rack.
And there is a broken piece on one of the mounts where the rubber pads go.
All in all, a loosing proposition, I ordered another rack. It is the LAST thing that I want to jiffy fix.