Excessive Steering Free play

[W L Ow]

I notice lately while driving that I can rock the steering wheel more than two inches at the circumference with no resistance at all. Obviously I need to constantly move the steering wheel to keep the car straight. I guess something in the steering linkages has worn out. What is the likely part need replacement? The car has done about 95,000 km.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Brian WH]

I notice lately while driving that I can rock the steering wheel more than two inches at the circumference with no resistance at all. Obviously I need to constantly move the steering wheel to keep the car straight. I guess something in the steering linkages has worn out. What is the likely part need replacement? The car has done about 95,000 km.

Thanks in advance.

The only way to seriously answer this question is by testing the steering linkages.
To do this you need to jack up both front wheels, making sure the handbrake is firmly on and the rear wheels scotched. Get someone to move the steering from lock to lock slowly, and then rocking the steering about a quarter turn each way, and holding one wheel at a time check for play in the mechanism. If nothing is obvious at the wheel end then it could be the steering rack itself.

Moving to wheels and tyres.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Possibly a knackered universal joint on the column somewhere?

 

[Sp!ke]

As Brian said, get the car on a ramp and see where the play is before spending money.

Its usually a control arm bush that fails before the steering box.

 

[Ian B Walker]

With 2" play in the steering I will lay odds that its your steering box, sorry to be a bearer of woe.

 

[W L Ow]

Did the tests suggested by Brian ie shaking the front wheels with the steering locked and tied down. Noticed that the drop arm of the steering box moves about 2 or 3 degrees. All other rods linking the drop arm to the wheels felt solid. Also noticed when driving across pot holes there seems to be metal knocking sound from the linkages. Is the steering box on the way out or ball joints etc etc?

Thanks in advance

 

[grober]

What about your steering damper- little mini shock absorber- is it leaking? Take it off and test its resistance. They often go and you then "feel" the steering inputs far more and so the steering feels it has more play than normal. Just another possibility?

 

[Brian WH]

Did the tests suggested by Brian ie shaking the front wheels with the steering locked and tied down. Noticed that the drop arm of the steering box moves about 2 or 3 degrees. All other rods linking the drop arm to the wheels felt solid. Also noticed when driving across pot holes there seems to be metal knocking sound from the linkages. Is the steering box on the way out or ball joints etc etc?

Thanks in advance

Certainly sounds like the box is suspect mate. You need to confirm this by doing the steering wheel test as previously described using another person rocking the steeing wheel wihile you observe the movement. Doing it the other way round is not conclusive, as there will always be some movement in a locked steering wheel.

 

[Sp!ke]

The steering box is adjustable. I adjusted about 2" of play on my W123 and its not a tricky job. The biggest problem is access to the locking bolt.

 

[W L Ow]

Where is the locking bolt? Could it be adjusted without dismantling the steering box or is it accessable only after removal of the steerig box from the car? Please describe procedure so that I could assess whether the degree of difficulty is within my means.

Thanks in advance

 

[Glenn Smith]

Where is the locking bolt? Could it be adjusted without dismantling the steering box or is it accessable only after removal of the steerig box from the car? Please describe procedure so that I could assess whether the degree of difficulty is within my means.

Thanks in advance

On top of the box under the heat shield, if it's r/h drive. loosen locknut and screw set screw anti-clock wise a small amount at a time, no more than 1/4 turn at a time, check freeplay with wheels straight ahead and engine running and make sure there's no stiffness, don't try to get rid of all the play, a steering box doesn't work well like that.

 

[W L Ow]

Thanks mate. Will check out the described procedure this weekend. With Regards to Graeme's suggestion that it could be the little shock absorber, it could not be the suspect because it was replaced only about three years or 50,000km ago.

 

[W L Ow]

I adjusted the adjusting bolt on the steering box over the weekend - a quarter turn anti-clockwise at a time. Unfortunately, there was no reduction in the amount of steering free play after each adjustment except that the steering became stickier. By the the third quarter (3/4) adjustment, the steering became very sticky but the amount of free play still remained the same. Thses combination made the car almost impossible to control at highway speed. I have since returned the adjusting bolt to its pre-adjustment position and the steering is no longer sticky but the excessive free play remains.

While adjusting the steering box, I gave the steering linkages and ball joints another examination with the front wheels resting on wooden blocks and got my kid to turn the steering wheel while I observed the linkages and ball joints from under the car. I found nothing loose. I now suspect that the free play cames from inside the steering box itself but not the adjustable part. Could any one suggest what will be the next best thing to do except to take the car to the garage? Is there any internally adjustable or replacable parts inside the steering box worth replacing?

Thank you in advance.

 

[grober]

Thanks mate. Will check out the described procedure this weekend. With Regards to Graeme's suggestion that it could be the little shock absorber, it could not be the suspect because it was replaced only about three years or 50,000km ago.

Sorry I havn't seen this thread again until now. These shock absorbers don't last very long. The only effective way is to take it off and test it. If it shows any signs of leakage or low resistance probably best to replace it.

 

[Dieselman]

Run the car onto ramps and go underneath. Have a helper rotate the steering left and right quickly whilst you look and feel the joints. Play will be obvious.

 

[kth286]

Have you thought of the steering column coupler ?

It is a rubber coupler at the bottom of the column before the steering box itself.

It is designed with safety in mind in event of crash etc

 

[bolide]

My initial reaction was "adjust the steering box last". You wisely marked the position, adjusted it and set it back where it was...

There are lots and lots of thing to provide slack. You'll need to get the car in the air and, with an assistant in the car moving the wheel, work your way through finding (and replacing) each worn part. As you wind on more lock the play at the wheels increases, so I recommend checking for free play with the wheel near straight ahead

One cheap & easy fix is to replace the steering idler. It's the counterpart of the steering box on the opposite side of the car and it does wear

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[W L Ow]

Just as I am about to give up and surrender the car to the garage because I do not have access to ramps to get under the car and move the steering safely, kth286 pointed out the steering coupling could be the problem. I have not looked at this area at all so far. Besides the shock absorber or damper, this could be worth getting under the car to take a look. What is the coupling made of? Is it made of rubber like the transmission linkage? Could anybody describe the procedure involved in replacing the coupling.

Thank you in advance

 

[W L Ow]

I have finally surrendered the car to a garage which also tried adjusting the nut on the steering box resulting in the car very difficult to control without reducing free play. They removed the steering box and did a overhaul job on it replacing some parts with a repair kit. The whole job costs equivalent of USD200. Steering now works perfectly.

Thank you for all the advices.