Steering becoming loose....

[BAsK510 10+ year member]

I own a 2002 Impala and over the past few weeks my steering seems to be getting loose. There is alot of play before the steering becomes effective and it now takes the steering wheel to be almost upside down to make a turn at a corner. And while accelerating from a stop if i hit a bump or pot hole the steering wheel jumps a bit. What are some causes u guys can think of and what will it cost to fix? Would it be a job i need to take it to a shop or could i repair it myself?

Any help and input is appreciated. Thanks

BAsK

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[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like a loose tierod and regardless of what it is you need to get it off the road and repaired ASAP. It's unsafe.

 

[audiobahnuser18 5,000+ posts]

you don't need to do that either alright take off the steering wheel and put some lock tight on the bolt that bolts to the steering column and that should fix it thats what fixed mine

 

[smd4life 5,000+ posts]

you don't need to do that either alright take off the steering wheel and put some lock tight on the bolt that bolts to the steering column and that should fix it thats what fixed mine

only if the steering wheel itself is coming off, could be a tierod or the steering box

 

[audiobahnuser18 5,000+ posts]

yeah well i wasn't sure quite what he meant he wasn't very specific

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

And while accelerating from a stop if i hit a bump or pot hole the steering wheel jumps a bit.

That right there says that it is not a simple case of the wheel itself being loose.

 

[BAsK510 10+ year member]

How much would it cost to replace the tie rods. I am going to take it to a shop soon but i wanna have an idea before i go in of how much.

BAsK

 

[BAsK510 10+ year member]

Took it to the auto shop this morning and they checked the front end and everything looked fine, the tie rods and all that...took it on a test drive with one of them and they could see what i was talking about...That the steering was less sensitive when turning corners at slower speeds and that overall something feels different/off but they couldnt come to any conclusion as to what could be causing it...so i have to keep an eye out for it and when it gets worse, if it does, then bring it back...

anybody have any ideas as to what it could be?

B

 

[LeofromtheH 10+ year member]

^^wtf!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/sick.gif.b1847c8dabbfeeddbcf1a78052249e10.gif

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/sick.gif.b1847c8dabbfeeddbcf1a78052249e10.gif

 

[Raven 10+ year member]

I don't know what it is, but it sounds like what happens to a lot of the tractors I've seen around here. You end up 360-ing the steering wheel before you get any response at all after a few years. We put knobs on them called "knuckle breakers" to make turning easier, but when you hit something that moved the front tires they totally live up to their name...

/rant

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

check your power steering fluid 1st

 

[BAsK510 10+ year member]

^^^I checked it and it was fine...Yeah this problem baffled the shop i went to...soo

 

[GordonW 10+ year member]

Did they check the lower control arm bushings? Also, the steering gears on these can have bad bushings... but that's usually associated with a power steering fluid leak...

I'd have a different shop look at it. Shouldn't be ANYTHING that would cause that problem, that wouldn't have a discernable cause!

And DON'T keep driving it that way, any more than absolutely necessary!

Regards,

Gordon.