DC2 - Steering Doesn't feel 'right'

[sxbaz]

after some mickey taking, now ive driven it, i can only describe it as like an arcade machine with no force feedback.

From say a 1/4 turn left to steering right for example... id say theres little reference in the steering wheel as to where the front wheels are pointing. I wouldnt call it horrible to drive but when i got in the mb6 to drive home earlier, i did think... aaaahh thats better.

[alanjuggler]

Tried adjusting the rack today and managed it at last!

I just used a hammer and a screw driver to slacken the lock nut in the end. Didn't do much damage in the process which was nice! Tightened the adjustment nut and then backed it off a touch as per the manual and retightened the lock nut.

It's made a little difference to the steering but clearly hasn't cured the problem.

I decided to get Baz (who owns an MB6) to drive it and I drove his to compare and I can say 100% that I'm not imagining it all! Baz noticed it straight away and when I drove his it reminded me immediately of how mine should feel.

The issue is clearly self centring related. Baz's MB6 tugs nicely at the wheel as it tries to self centre, giving a decent weight and resistance to the steering. Mine just doesn't do that at all, resulting in a light wheel with near zero feel.

I think I'm going to call it a day and hand the car over to a specialist to look over as I now just want it sorted out and I'm out of ideas and have lost enthusiasm for crawling under the car every weekend!

I sorted out the wife's coupe over the weekend, turns out that in addition to one of the inner rod boots being torn (the inner ball joints were fine) one of the track rod ends was worn in one direction only but didn't clunk.

in addition, they'd been on the car less than a year and despite them matching in shape / size - it turns out that they weren't drilled/threaded as far in so the toe adjustment wasn't right either.

I hadn't realised till now how numb the steering felt either - even my wife noticed & commented, it's not quite the ITR in terms of handling so it's never pushed that far but was certainly noticeable.

If you're unsure of the quality of them, I'd pop them off the hub and see if there's any undue movement.

there were a couple of instances at full lock where it felt like the steering had gone over centre and didn't return, pretty feeling.

[Delboy]

Cheers Alan, they've been given a good going over before and no obvious play but could be worth popping them off the hub to check.

Having said that the knock is definitely coming from the rack. I've got a new one on the way now so will get that on, the TREs will need to come off as part of that so can check them then

Glad you've got yours sorted though mate, must be so much better to drive!

Re the over centre feeling, that is exactly what mine does hope I don't need new TREs, genuine Honda ones are very dear and I'm not sure when I'd be able to get them.

[alanjuggler]

micksgarage.co.uk has a fair selection amongst the aftermarket brands.

http://www.micksgarage.co.uk/steerin...-type-r/11059/

not sure if the '96 / '98 spec are different though.

[Delboy]

I think they are the same.

Do I risk more aftermarket parts if these ones have failed though... Money pretty much says I have to but then if I have a second bout of bad luck I'd have to spend more anyway... Wish I had more money!

Will see what state they are in when we do the rack swap and cross that bridge then I guess

[alanjuggler]

Tell me about it - I checked with Ling's honda online and a new pair of TREs for the civic was £166. (not even with the inner rods!)

So I took a punt with a chap on ebay and ended up with a set from a Taiwanese factory that seems to supply the OE market & they had original honda part numbers cast in

[Delboy]

I think I have those ones on at the moment

Either that factory supplies the OEM market, or they copied everything to the last detail from the OEM parts!

[alanjuggler]

and here I was being nicely confident that the parts were OK

the other ones I had that were from a local factors were completely unmarked apart from L / R.

[Delboy]

Lol, I'm sure yours will be fine mate. To be fair I can't recall what is stamped on mine, could well be 'shite' for all I know

Steering was definitely worse tonight, so whatever is wrong is deteriorating.

Hopefully the new rack will turn up soon and I may have another look at the TREs tomorrow if the weather is ok. If they're FUBAR I'll have to smash the plastic and order new ones to throw on with the new rack.

[Delboy]

Update time.

New rack arrived and Dal the super legend fitted it for me on Wednesday evening. The inner and outer TREs were still spot on, so that ruled them out and we reused them.

Had a good poke about underneath and all seems well and tight, one of the compliance bushes is sitting a bit oddly but that was all we could find and it didn't looke like it was hanging out.

The new rack is much tighter/firmer than the old one was, which initially made me think we'd got there at last.

Took it for alignment today, back to Jet Wheel and Tyre in Rayleigh which the Teg is very used to visiting now, and as expected the toe was a fair bit out, about 1/2 deg toe out on drivers side and 1/4 toe in on the passenger side. All other figures appeared fine and in spec.

And the result?

It's a bit better but still not there. Self centring is better to a point, but still weak unless at speed mid bend. But it's still over centring, I pressed on at a large roundabout on the way home today to test things out and when I put my boot in the steering pulled INTO the turn not trying to straighten like it should.

I have a) run out of money and b) run out of patience now. I can't get it down to DMS for a couple of weeks but to be honest I'm not even sure I can be bothered anymore. I'd have to pay for anything further on te credit card and I don't want to do that, so I'm currently toying with just throwing it up for sale to get rid of the stress then buy something boring for the daily commute.

Done with trying to enjoy cars now, it always ends in expensive heartache so **** it.

[Delboy]

Up for sale.

Ad in the other vehicles for sale section.

Thanks everyone who has either physically tried to help solve this problem or has offered advice. Sadly it's just more aggro than I want right now so someone else can have a go.