Steering feels light/weird any ideas.

[Corey_gt]

My cars steering feels light and twitchy hard to describe really its small bit annoying at this stage its does'nt feel solid on the road. Anyone ever have any issues with the power steering in these cars would changing the fluid help a tad.

edit whats the signs of steering rack on the way out also.

 

[scot-ish]

how do you mean light? there is a lot of play in the wheel before you get any change in direction? tyre pressure isnt too high is it?

 

[madman]

did ya change anything recently on the front end recently corey?

 

[Corey_gt]

Light like little resistance in it does'nt feel tight with good feedback if that makes sense I find I need to correct it a lot feels shit tbh. Pressures are spot on. Havent done anything to it recently hard to describe over the tinterweb lol

 

[scot-ish]

track rod ends.

 

[Corey_gt]

They're not even a year old along with every other suspension and chassis part on the car. Everything has been changed to new or uprated.

 

[scot-ish]

doesnt take a minute to check, just cos there not a year old, doesnt mean there fine.

there is only so many things it can be, sterring rack, track rod end, tyre pressure... steering system is simple, and not many components make problems. best bet is to jack it up, and check everything is tight underneath, ensure the bushes are all good.

 

[Corey_gt]

Everything is checked and checked dude thats why I was asking about power steering problems.

 

[scot-ish]

usually power steering would get heavy when there are problems with it. im sure texx will be along with some advice.

 

[thefalls]

What i have found is that toyotas in general dont have such a good steering feedback.
I experienced the same a while back and couldnt find anything wrong.
When i changed tyres,then i found the response to be better.

Recently i changed my tyres again and with the soft rubber i found the steering becoming light again.

Something to think about.

 

[ryan-11]

what about the wheel alignment? mines felt really light and unsafe after changing a few suspention parts, got the wheel alignment done and it was fine after that.

 

[Corey_gt]

usually power steering would get heavy when there are problems with it. im sure texx will be along with some advice.

The guru himself lol. I'd like it to be a bit heavier but dont want to remove it altogether just seems to be something up I cant put my finger on. It has been tracked after work been carried out not so long ago it drives straight no pulling. Mite go back to get it tracked again 40 bucks though just to even get it checked lol it was done at christmas when I got the new rims.

 

[dac69er]

The guru himself lol. I'd like it to be a bit heavier but dont want to remove it altogether just seems to be something up I cant put my finger on. It has been tracked after work been carried out not so long ago it drives straight no pulling. Mite go back to get it tracked again 40 bucks though just to even get it checked lol it was done at christmas when I got the new rims.

my ep85 is the same mate. everything is fine suspension wise, fluid has been replaced as well as the pump. i had the alignment done and it didnt really make any difference. im thinking its the rack.

 

[Johnny_C]

what colour is the fluid??
has it darkend?

 

[durmz]

What tyre pressure you using? I recently had same thing with my integra after a tyre change and the punks had put near 40 psi in freaking tyre

 

[corofin12345]

mine got awfull light out of nowhere.. the wheel seemed to jerk out of nowhere (twitchy) even on a good road.. there was nothing visible at all.. no knocking and track rod ends where grand.. i tracked the car one day and it didnt solve it.. brought it back and the tracking was out again.. turned out it was the rack... btw, the steering should be tight enough when perfect.. its gets light when theres a problem especially with bigger alloys and tires.. i got out the rack and it seemed perfect but i changed it anyway and it solved the problem.. this puzzled me for months corey so for the sake of 20 odd euro, get it tracked again to see if its out... another thing you can do is when reversing at full lock both ways, does the wheel center itself easily?

 

[Corey_gt]

my ep85 is the same mate. everything is fine suspension wise, fluid has been replaced as well as the pump. i had the alignment done and it didnt really make any difference. im thinking its the rack.

I must whip out the rack and see because its either that or I'm just expecting more out of the car lol

what colour is the fluid??
has it darkend?

Dirty looking alright dude

What tyre pressure you using? I recently had same thing with my integra after a tyre change and the punks had put near 40 psi in freaking tyre

Tyres are spot on

mine got awfull light out of nowhere.. the wheel seemed to jerk out of nowhere (twitchy) even on a good road.. there was nothing visible at all.. no knocking and track rod ends where grand.. i tracked the car one day and it didnt solve it.. brought it back and the tracking was out again.. turned out it was the rack... btw, the steering should be tight enough when perfect.. its gets light when theres a problem especially with bigger alloys and tires.. i got out the rack and it seemed perfect but i changed it anyway and it solved the problem.. this puzzled me for months corey so for the sake of 20 odd euro, get it tracked again to see if its out... another thing you can do is when reversing at full lock both ways, does the wheel center itself easily?

Much hassle doing the rack dude might just whip it out for a mooch see what the story is.

 

[corofin12345]

in short, a total wank!

 

[dac69er]

surely it cant be too hard to remove. remove trackrod ends. disconnecte steering column and remove block cover on firewall. disconnect pipes. remove 2 brackets and take out!?

 

[dark_knight]

(power) steering rack: how to

as dac69er says, it's not too difficult to remove as i did mine not so long ago but this should be a last resort after you've checked and rechecked the stuff mentioned here. when you have the rack out, check everything! the psf, the rack ends and the joints (hidden by the covers), the fluid junctions and o-rings, the rack-&-pinion, generally everything. give it a nice clean while at it and refill using dexron II atf or similar.

speaking from experience, ensure you bag the connecting pipes coming from the ps pump and reservoir coz they continue to leak a long time after being taken off and you don't want it messing your underbody with stains..