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Loose steering feel

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:39 pm
by bilbobaggins
hey guys i was wondering if any one was having this problem aswell. The steering in my na6 seems to feel loose, like a floaty feeling. But that steering only feels like that when turning the steering wheel about 10degrees left or right. Its been annoying me because while im driving on a straight the car can steer easily left or right. The rest of the steering is fine its just the first bit of turning that i feel this. I'd appreciate if some one could tell me whats causing this or if they'd encountered a similar problem.

Loose steering feel

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:04 pm
by broady
bilbobaggins wrote:hey guys i was wondering if any one was having this problem aswell. The steering in my na6 seems to feel loose, like a floaty feeling. But that steering only feels like that when turning the steering wheel about 10degrees left or right. Its been annoying me because while im driving on a straight the car can steer easily left or right. The rest of the steering is fine its just the first bit of turning that i feel this. I'd appreciate if some one could tell me whats causing this or if they'd encountered a similar problem.


Probably alignment. Mine started feeling weird like this a while ago and got it checked out. Must have hit something, or a nut might have come loose because I had positive camber on the left front!!

Loose steering feel

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:23 pm
by bilbobaggins
hmm thanks for your input broady, but i forgot the mention that I just had alignment done last week with new tires an balance. I had this problem before i had the new tires fitted and thought that after getting it all done would fix the problem.

Loose steering feel

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:32 am
by bilbobaggins
i have also noticed that it can also be moved by wiggling the steering wheel even while the engine is off.

Loose steering feel

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:41 am
by Old Dude
Has it just started or has it been there a while, you may have wear in the rack of the steering box, that would explain why its loose just in that spot, then when you turn the wheel further either way you are on another part of the rack.
I could be 100% wrong but its just a thought.
Cheers
Dale 8)

Loose steering feel

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:06 am
by Charlie Brown
Have the shocks and bushes been replaced or are they the originals?

Shocks are on there way out after 80,000 and generally gone by 120,000. .Bushes last a little longer maybe 160,000 klm.

Loose steering feel

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 11:06 am
by Caffeine
Steering lash. Easily adjusted with a pancake bolt and locknut on the steering rack. I had similar symptoms to yours, tightened up the bolt a bit and it was perfect again.

Don't do it too tight or it will put too much strain on your power steering (if you have power steering that is...)

Loose steering feel

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 11:25 am
by Caffeine
Here's a pic of the rack

Image

See the large hexagonal pancake nut there? Loosen that, tighten the smaller nut visible in front of the pancake nut very slightly (like 1/10 of a turn) and then tighten the pancake nut again. I think it's a 38mm nut from memory so you may have difficulty finding a spanner to suit.

This can all be done while the car is on the ground if you can get in there, from memory the nut points to the front of the car, and is on the driver's side of the rack...

Loose steering feel

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 3:55 pm
by bilbobaggins
thanks for the replies guys. Caffeine, you seem to know what your talking about. Ill get under the car this weekend and see if tightening the nut helps.

Loose steering feel

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:02 pm
by Caffeine
bilbobaggins wrote:thanks for the replies guys. Caffeine, you seem to know what your talking about. Ill get under the car this weekend and see if tightening the nut helps.


Good luck, it helped my car but may not be the cause. One of the cheapest thing to check though :)

Loose steering feel

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 12:24 am
by bilbobaggins
finally got around to tightening that nut.Trying to get my hands on something as big as 38mm was quite hard haha. The first time i did it i did it too tight and the wasnt getting any feedback on the road. I then loosened the nut abit and now feels good. No more Loose feeling :D . There's still this other problem i'm getting. When driving on straights or slight bends just by steering a few degrees on the steering wheel can sometimes cause the car to turn abit excessively, but thats only sometimes.

Loose steering feel

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 8:59 am
by Caffeine
bilbobaggins wrote:finally got around to tightening that nut.Trying to get my hands on something as big as 38mm was quite hard haha. The first time i did it i did it too tight and the wasnt getting any feedback on the road. I then loosened the nut abit and now feels good. No more Loose feeling :D . There's still this other problem i'm getting. When driving on straights or slight bends just by steering a few degrees on the steering wheel can sometimes cause the car to turn abit excessively, but thats only sometimes.


Good to hear it helped.

The other problem may be alignment, toe out on the front can make it a bit sensitive