Loose steering feel

[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.

[broady]

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!!

[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.

[bilbobaggins]

i have also noticed that it can also be moved by wiggling the steering wheel even while the engine is off.

[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

[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.

[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...)

[Caffeine]

Here's a pic of the rack



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...

[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.

[Caffeine]

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

[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 . 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.

[Caffeine]

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 . 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