Steering feel doesn't seem right...

[gregk24]

On the Accord in my sig, its been this way for a while, possibly even since I got it two years ago. When turning around a sharp corner, like when you are turning on to another street, when the wheel is returning back to the center position it kind of wobbles back. I dont know how to explain it, its just not a smooth fluid motion. Think its something serious? Or maybe related to the tires? I had them aligned, balanced, and rotated not too long ago and things seemed to smooth out but its back to how it was before. Power steering fluid was changed out at the dealer about 20,000 miles / 2 years ago. As a side note, the steering feels lighter when its really cold out in the mornings, explanations for that?

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: gregk24
When turning around a sharp corner, like when you are turning on to another street, when the wheel is returning back to the center position it kind of wobbles back.


Tires should be very round. How round are yours?

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
Originally Posted By: gregk24
When turning around a sharp corner, like when you are turning on to another street, when the wheel is returning back to the center position it kind of wobbles back.


Tires should be very round. How round are yours?


Not sure what you mean by round...but they are almost brand new. Got them put on about 5 months ago.

 

[gregk24]

Anybody every experience anything like this? If it was serious would something have happened by now? I dont think its gotten much worse in 1 year or so.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Whenever I have had that happen it was bad CV joints or U Joints in the front axle shaft.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Whenever I have had that happen it was bad CV joints or U Joints in the front axle shaft.


About how much to replace those? And how serious is it? The wobble back to center has been going on for almost 2 years. I appreciate all the help guys, dont have the money to have this taken care of now.

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: gregk24
Not sure what you mean by round...but they are almost brand new. Got them put on about 5 months ago.


By round I mean circular. Even new tires can become damaged or be mounted on a bent wheel, but that shouldn't be your problem because the problem predates the tires.

Could it be a steering shaft issue? This seems most common on Ford and Toyota vehicles, not so much the Hondas but can happen to anything with a Cardan type joint on the steering shaft. Jack the front wheels up off the ground and try turning the steering wheel all the way lock to lock. You don't need the engine/power steering running for this. If it feels loose, then 90° later feels stiff, then 90° further is loose again suspect a problem in the steering shaft.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
Originally Posted By: gregk24
Not sure what you mean by round...but they are almost brand new. Got them put on about 5 months ago.


By round I mean circular. Even new tires can become damaged or be mounted on a bent wheel, but that shouldn't be your problem because the problem predates the tires.

Could it be a steering shaft issue? This seems most common on Ford and Toyota vehicles, not so much the Hondas but can happen to anything with a Cardan type joint on the steering shaft. Jack the front wheels up off the ground and try turning the steering wheel all the way lock to lock. You don't need the engine/power steering running for this. If it feels loose, then 90° later feels stiff, then 90° further is loose again suspect a problem in the steering shaft.


Why would it be the shaft?

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Tie rods?

 

[gregk24]

Here is a question, is this something the mechanic would have noticed during oil changes and brake work, or tire balancing and allignments? Because all of those have been done and they didnt say anyth
ing

 

[silverrat]

I replaced the cv axle on my civic. The dealer wanted $315, but I got an axle specialist to do it for $119.99 parts and $85 labour.

 

[crazyoildude]

check them even new tires can be bad

 

[The Critic]

Check the inner tie rods, that'd be my guess.

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: gregk24

Why would it be the shaft?


I don't know if your car has this (not a common problem on those) but many steering shafts have a u-joint or two. The u-joint(s) can sometimes develop some corrosion and become very difficult to move on one axis. The result of this is that the steering has a slight feel of binding at two positions about 180° apart and between these positions it feels normal. Consider that during steering wheel return you're giving very little steering input ans as such such a binding would be most noticeable. Your description of steering return being "just not a smooth fluid motion" made me think of this. Does it match up with what you're experiencing?

 

[KitaCam]

Originally Posted By: gregk24
Originally Posted By: yonyon
Originally Posted By: gregk24
When turning around a sharp corner, like when you are turning on to another street, when the wheel is returning back to the center position it kind of wobbles back.


Tires should be very round. How round are yours?


Not sure what you mean by round...but they are almost brand new. Got them put on about 5 months ago.


What brand/model tire?

 

[meep]

improper wheel balance, wheel out-of-round, or other tire deformities can cause this.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: meep
improper wheel balance, wheel out-of-round, or other tire deformities can cause this.


Im hoping its this. It seemed to get better when I had the alignment, balance, and rotation done. But after a month it started doing it again, is it possible to the tires to become out of balance that soon? I dont beat up on the car, its driven gently.

 

[silverrat]

I think the dealer charges around $50 for a front end inspection maybe it will be worth a shot

 

[cptbarkey]

Originally Posted By: silverrat
I think the dealer charges around $50 for a front end inspection maybe it will be worth a shot


if you are not privy to inspecting it yourself, $50 is a bargain for diagnosis. ericthecarguy on youtube has several DIY videos on how to diagnose suspension issues.

also, you could put yourself into a dealer trap.

just go into the dealer for a simple oil change. rest assured, they will go over your car and tell you what "other" things are wrong.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: cptbarkey
Originally Posted By: silverrat
I think the dealer charges around $50 for a front end inspection maybe it will be worth a shot


if you are not privy to inspecting it yourself, $50 is a bargain for diagnosis. ericthecarguy on youtube has several DIY videos on how to diagnose suspension issues.

also, you could put yourself into a dealer trap.

just go into the dealer for a simple oil change.
rest assured, they will go over your car and tell you what "other" things are wrong.


Yeah thats what I was asking earlier, its been into the dealership a couple times since the "issue" and they have said nothing other than the brake fluid and air filters needed to be changed. Got both done.