[Gor]

Hey guys,

On getting my Sable back from the mechanic who fixed the transmission, I noticed that in order to go straight, the steering wheel has to be about 5 degrees to the right. Weird.

If I straighten out the wheel like it should be, I can turn a pretty decent left turn!

What's up with this?

One thing I noticed... I've had this broken plastic strut under the front wheel well forever. It never bothered me, and didn't cause my tires to wear any differently, so I never had it replaced.

The mechanic noticed this when working on my car and replaced it. Do you think that this has anything to do with it?

It's just a bit weird driving a car when it appears you're turning right all the time when you're actually going straight.....

Any ideas ?!?!?!?!

 

[rudedog]

sounds like you need an alignment now.

you had the trans r&r'ed that means they either did it in the air and pulled the sub frame which means they had to disconnect the steering shaft to the rack & pinion and didn't get perfectly aligned during reinstallation. or they pulled the engine with the trans still attached where you shouldn't have to mess with the steering linkage and they did something deftly wrong!! but I seriously don't see installing a new front "endlink" to cause this crooked steering wheel that you now have.

rudy

 

[Gor]

Thanks for the reply!

So, now I need an alignment to fix this problem? I think I should take it back to the mechanic and have him fix it for free....

I can let go of the wheel when going down a straight road and the car doesn't pull to either side very much at all... I can leave go of the wheel for a good 10 seconds when going about 65 on a straight road....

Weird.

 

[godspunk32]

I would go to the mechanic and have them do the alignment job for you. They should have checked that before releasing the car to you anyway, especially if they put new suspension components in the car.

JR

 

[rudedog]

One thing to remember if the car is not really pulling, he needs to make the adjustment at the steering coupling at the rack & pinion. Then make sure that the alignment is done from there. If it is not done in that order your rack will be off just slightly, and the wheels will not turn the same in both directions. And that will cause premature tire wear.

 

[qwertz9586]

Can't you just take the steering wheel off and put it back on straight? That's what my dad did with my old Dodge after the mechanics put in a new rack and pinion and forgot to align the wheel.

 

[rudedog]

It's basically how anal you are about having your wheel off or not.
If you take the steering wheel off and adj. it from there, the r&p is STILL going to be off center...even if its only an inch or so.