Has anyone had a problem with the steering getting hard when it's cold. It's stiff enough that when I turn the wheel going around a corner, it will stay turned. And happens progressively worse from about 35 degrees and colder.

OH yeah, it's an 88 formula with manual steering

[This message has been edited by Turbo88 (edited 12-27-2001).]

Ive seen that problem before, not sure of the
fix but 2 of 4 the fieros ive owned had the
same problem. I did find that if i was to sit in parking lot till the temp gauge entered the 1/2 way area (fan kick on time) a noticable improvement till the rad cooled back off then it slowly turned stiff again.

Symptoms were on 85 and 86 gts, I currently have an 87gt and dont notice it all.. Wish you luck figuring out what to do about it. I was never able to come up with a solution.

I think the prelaod measured at the pinion shaft is supposed to be no more than 13#ft. The rack bearing adjustment is to bottom it, then back off 70-90 degrees. I adjusted mine tighter than that,which did increase steering resistance, but I still get a good return to center.
Caster and ball joints can also affect
return but I'm not sure how temp would come in play. Another thing that would cause resistance is an ill fitting aftermarket steering wheel.
Good Luck,
jp

My guess.... either the lubricant has gone bad (or is wrong lube) or the thing has water in it that's freezing. maybe a bit of both.

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11-Sept-01, The day the world as we knew it ended.

Could be a bad steering dapener . But when they go bad , they usually get loose not tight !

Thanks for the input! It doesn't have a steering damper though it's an 88. The rack preload could be too tight but I would think that it would do that all the time warm or could if it was too tight(?). The rack doesn't have too many miles on it but it set for 3.5 years before driving again. The bellows were shot on it from creatures and rot so water might be a possibility as well. It does seem to work better as the car warms up. Odd problem. I had planned on rebuilding the steering components this summer anyway so I'll double check the preload and see what happens. Thanks again!

Thats the first give away that your steering rack is going south. Expect to replace it down the road. My vette is same way, Im waiting for summer to replace it. the oil gets too thick in cold to flow, when it gets warm its ok. The rack is worn out internally.
Pistons in it have too much play in cylinder and bind till the oil gets warm.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 12-28-2001).]