Jerky steering?

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mattvivsound

New Member
I have a ’97 Civic EX coupe and something is up with the steering system.

When I am under 30 mph the steering feels fine, but once you get up to highway speeds the steering become very jerky when you’re turning in a turn. When you go to straighten the wheel when exiting the curve it feel like I am turning against the grain.

I can take my hands off the steering wheel, and the civic will drive straight, the wheel doesn’t shake or vibrate when I am on the brakes.

I am sure I am describing the problem as best as I can, but ask questions and I’ll answer.
 
The car steering is jerky, when your cruising, on the gas or on the brakes. The steering wheel doesn't vibrate in my hand when I am driving.

The car doesn't shake like it has a wheel out of balance...
Wheels are 99-00 SI wheels.
Rotors don't shake when pressing the brakes....
 
AHHVTEC said:
wheels may need to be balanced or there could be warped, or bad rotors or bearings
Click to expand...

:werd:

Good possibilities...

Turbo&Auto said:
alignment, like the toe is off
Click to expand...

:werd:

Another good possibility...

frodotoolbox said:
make shurr the rims are on nice and tight or your trans axle could be warped
Click to expand...

Say what? You know that "transaxle" means transmission, right? You're saying his transmission is warped? :huh:

Anyway, here's my 2 cents...

How are the tires? Are they old? New? How's the tread on them? I had some winter wheels that I put on my car this past winter, tires were fairly old. The steering wheel would shake kind of like how you're describing. Took it in for a timing belt change and they told me that one of the front tires was starting to split, and that's what was causing the vibrations. You might want to look into that if your tires are kind of old.

If the tires are fairly new, then check the stuff that the other guys mentioned...
 
my bro told me it could be the transaxel. he told me that it was the axle that moved the front wheels sry.
but the rim thing one of my bros studs were loose and it made his car wobble.
 
frodotoolbox said:
my bro told me it could be the transaxel. he told me that it was the axle that moved the front wheels sry.
but the rim thing one of my bros studs were loose and it made his car wobble.
Click to expand...

Those would be the drive axles, or maybe the CV joints that he's referring to. The term "trans-axle" refers to the transmission/differential combo on a front wheel drive car...
 
wait a min,,the steering isnt shaking ? or are you saying the steering is just very touchy
 
Say if you make a turn to the left, it is very hard to do... and then when you try to steer back straight if feels very jagged. almost like your swimming against the grain.
 
weird,,maybe a steering arm is bent or needs new joints
 
From the symptoms that you describe, I believe it is something to do with the power steering pressure. This could be due to excessive free play at the pinion resulting in the control valve not getting positive reading from the pinion.
 
my .02, save your time and money and take it into firestone or something and have them do an inspection. there are a million things it could be. there is no 100% correct answer from someone online. you can't really diagnose something like that without driving it.
 
well just a minute ago, I rotated tired and it feels like 90% of the problem is solved.

So I'll be buying tires and getting the front end aligned in the next couple of weeks.
 
if you rotated the tires and you think it might be solved, you need to take your wheels and tires to get a good balance and check for bent wheels.
 
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