HELP! Heard some clicking, and now something is wrong with my steering.
 

Took her out this morning and while pulling slowly into a parking spot I heard about 5 clicks. I imediately stopped and tried to turn the wheel as I started to move again and I heard a few more clicks. I drove home, but the steering felt way off; almost like it was floating. Seems as if I have to put in way more effort to get her to turn than before. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Well, you probably know this, but I wouldn't drive her.
Did you feel the clicks in the steering when you heard them? Replace the steering wheel once before? Ever R&R'ed the steering box? Have you ever replaced or inspected the tie-rods?

There is a bushing in the steering column that can be replaced, but I don't know if it would bind and cause your problem. And the grease in the steering box can dry out and contribute some. You might check it out by looking at the u-joints - there are 2, one near the brake booster and one in the smugglers box.

Thaks for the quick reply! Don't remember feeling it or not.

Don't know if this will help with the diagnosis, but it didn't seem to come back to center when going straight after a turn. Only drove it about 1/2 mile to get it home...

When it comes to this stuff, I am an idiot, but willing to learn. Got out Wayne's book and the Haynes, but neither helped.

Haynes trouble shoot said some possibilities were:
steering linkage, gear and column coupling
joints in steering linkage or suspension
excessive wear in steering gear unit

Don't even know where to begin... I do know where the smugglers box is though.

Its good that you got home safely. Take your books out to the car and have a look around. Open the smuggler's box to check the parts that are easy to see. Let us know what you find.

Cheers Richard

Does the wheel bind when you turn it?

I think from easiest to more serious, it'd be...

See if you can find the universal joints and give them a look - maybe a drop or 2 of oil is they look dry, you'll have to turn the steering wheel a bit to move them so you can see the joints. If the oil helps, you'll know one problem area, but I do not know if this is a long term fix.

The smugglers box is the easiest of the 2, the one up near the booster is a bit more involved to get to.

Look into having the bushing(s) replaced.

The steering rack/box should be looked at, but that's a major job (front suspension removal).
hth

djcdmv

This may not help because you didn’t mention you had lost motion in the steering, but one day backing out of a parking spot, I turned the wheel and heard a crunch sound and ended up with about 30 degrees of lost motion. I was less than a mile from home and it was the middle of the week at about 1000 AM (no traffic, here), so I drove it home.

Anyway, turned out to be a failure of the input roller bearing on the pinion. I took the rack and pinion box apart, cleaned everything up, I replaced the ball bearing, the roller bearing on the input side of the pinion, lubber her back up and put it together. I couldn’t find a full complement roller bearing for the input side, so I had to use a caged bearing. I replaced the roller bearing in the pillow block up by the smuggler’s box as well. There is a thread that has a diagram that was helpful, search “Rack and pinion rebuild”. I put it back together the way it came apart, putting the shims back in the same place. Bearings for rack and pinion: 6202, HK-1710, & HK-1712. The steering is now silky smooth.

Good Luck,
Mike

Okay, I jacked the front up and there is no resistance turning the wheels at all. Am I correct in assuming then that it wouldn't be the steering mechanics? Also opened the smugglers box and everything seemed okay (though i would not know otherwise).

Could a suspension issue cause the steering feel to change and not return to center after a going around a turn?

Check if the 4 pinch bolts on the u joints in the steering linkage. If one is loose the shaft can rotate in the sleeve and give the symptoms you describes. Goes with the 'clicking' you described as that might have been the splines on the shaft rotating in the sleeve.

Dave,

I know you said "clicks", but the "floating" steering wheel sounds like it might be the top steering bushing that has gone away. Did you pull your steering wheel to look at that? If you just need the steering bushing, here's the P/N: PEL-ML-STR

Dave, as Mitch says sounds like the steering top bearing, the bearing has a plastic sleeve, when the sleeve breaks and you turn the steering wheel bits of broken plastic can make the clicking noise. Remove the steering wheel and you may be able to see the broken plastic around the steering shaft.

Gwyn.

Two options come to mind:
1. Where the steering shaft connects to the universal (in the smugglers box) the connection is splined. check to be sure the retaining bolt is still there. If it fell out, the shaft could have slipped.

2. In the steering box there is a bushing the rack slides on that is supported by a spring. The positive pressure keeps the rack in contact with the pinion. If the spring were to fail or the bushing wear out the rack could slip away from the pinion. Or worse case, the teeth on the rack or pinon may have worn out.

That being said, if the roller bearing on the shaft (right below the universal joint) fell apart, you could end up with a lot of slop in the steering mechanism which may give a floating feeling and off center steering wheel.

Update

Thanks to everyone that has replied!

The u joint in the smugglers box looked fine to me. I did notice though that the steering wheel and shafts would move a few degrees before the wheels would start to move. Would this mean it is a steering box problem?

I think so.

Update.

U-joints were checked, but were OK. Also, when the car is jacked up, the steering is not stiff at all, so the rack is likely not the problem. What suspension components/bushings/bearings could cause the wheels to not return to center when driving? Thanks again.

Can you descibe what is wrong again. Are you saying that the steering pulls hard to one side? That you need to over turn to the right (or left) to go straight? Does the car sit normally, that is neither front side is lower than before?

Sorry, after going around a turn, the steering wheel does not return to center. You have to force the wheel to get the car going straight again.

Have you checked your ball joints? I had the same symptoms once, just before a ball joint failed and a wheel halfway broke off on an urban highway. Fun! My steering wheel was not returning to center for a while before that happened. 'Floating' sensation may also fit with that.