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I need a little help here: my wagon has developed a maddening desire to go left. The feeling is very similar to having one tire with drastically low air pressure or driving in a cross wind. I can keep the car in a straight line, but only by keeping the steering wheel turned several degrees to the right. Once I let go of the wheel, the car will quickly drift left regardless of the road crown or grade. Also, the car feels like it is not going down the road straight although I have not had anyone follow me to confirm this.
I pulled all four wheels off today and swapped them left to right with no change. I also inspected the brake pads and found each axle was wearing at approximately the same rate (I think- if someone has a better test for checking for a seized caliper, please let me know!). I rolled each wheel hub and listened/felt for anything unusual. The right front wheel bearing felt a little tight and there is a seal leak and a click/rumble on the left rear axle bearing. Could it be an axle bearing seizing up?
Last, but not least, here is a list of work done to the car recently: master cylinder/brake bleed, new shocks and struts with alignment, and all four wheels were balanced.
Any thoughts? I would appreciate the help as the car is becoming a handful to drive!
Thanks,
Nick
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Had the same "pulling to the left" issue with my wagon. Felt like the rack had a dead spot (with left leaning tendencies) when the wheels were centered. Adjusted the left tie rod end in two full turns and the right tie rod end out two full turns and the pulling stopped.
--
Harold Thompson '84 245 Virgos
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I have this exact same problem - as you speed up the cars pulls left harder and harder. In order to drive straight I have to turn the steering wheel between 5-10 degrees to the right. I also just had an alignment, with a "professional" (as we are calling it) machine printout. Camber values are at -0.6, toe looks good.
I have a 1990 245 Wagon - how do I tell if it has the CAM steering rack? Sorry to thread jack..
Thanks
Mike
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I am glad to hear someone has the same problem! Now, if only a solution could be found...
I came across a post last night on Turbobricks that cited crumbling bushings as the problem. I could see that as a possibility, but I have not crawled under the car to check yet. I will probably take the wagon back to the shop that did the struts and get their input on the problem. More to come...
Nick
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Let's bring this problem back to the top. I got a chance to work on the 240 today. Rather than put the car in the air, I decided to go a different route. I pulled the belt off the P/S pump and drove the car around the block. Bad news: the pull is still there. Even with no power steering, the car still needs correction to the right to stay in a straight line.
I have (hopefully) eliminated one possibility. Now, are there any easy ways to test for brake drag? The wagon accelerates well and I do not recall major differences between right and left rolling resistance when I had the wheels off. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Nick
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If a front brake was dragging, you should be able to feel that one wheel is hot. Other than that, perhaps you should have the alignment checked again.
--
1992 745 approaching 500k km
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Easy diagnosis if it is the rack at fault. Jack the front end up, center the steering wheel, fire up the engine and watch. If the rack is bypassing internally the wheels will move to the full lock position. On old Chrysler products one had to do this to center the valve on the steering box. Routine.
If that isn't the problem, then the rear upper control arm bushings, or the alignment was done poorly. Many alignment techs are "monkeys". Be sure to get a printing of the before and after angles. If their machine didn't produce that, or can't, find another shop.
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Rhys,
I will try that tomorrow. I hope it is as simple as a worn-out rack.
As to the alignment: the car tracked perfectly for a month after the alignment and the problem has only shown up within the last week or so. I do have a print-out of the aligment specs with before and after values. I do not have the print-out in front of me, but I remember the shop did the job well: there is a .5 degree difference in both the caster and camber values to compensate for the road crown.
Thanks,
Nick
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Hi Nick;
It sounds like the shop knew what they were doing. I prefer to use even angles and not set a compensation for crown, but it can be done properly.
Rhys
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Ok, here are the values for the alignment. All values are in degrees. Maybe someone can see something I missed:
Left Front:
CAMBER
Before: 0.0
Actual: 0.6
CASTER
Before: 2.3
Actual: 2.2
TOE
Before: -0.08
Actual: 0.11
Right Front:
CAMBER:
Before: 1.0
Actual: 0.5
CASTER:
Before: 2.8
Actual: 2.8
TOE:
Before: 0.00
Actual: 0.13
CROSS VALUES:
CROSS CAMBER:
Before: -1.0
Actual: 0.1
CROSS CASTER:
Before: -0.6
Actual: -0.6
TOTAL TOE:
Before: -0.08
Actual: 0.24
(I will skip rear toe/camber values, but the next value might be critical)
THRUST ANGLE:
Before: 0.11
Actual: 0.12
With these values, does anyone notice anything odd?
Thanks again,
Nick
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I'm guessing you have a CAM Gear (brand) steering rack that has become hydraulically unbalanced. In some cases, the L-R balance can be restored by adjusting a nut under the cover at the lower end of the pinion shaft.
That's about all I recall from an experience with a '78 245 about 20 years ago, that would turn the wheels left as soon as the engine was started -- unless I had a firm grip on the wheel.
--
Bruce Young, '93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.
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Yes the car has a CAM rack. And I know the rack needs to be replaced, the boots are shot, the inner tie rod ends have some slop and the seals at the ends weep a little. But despite all this, the symptom doesn't quite match. If I let the car sit at idle with the engine running, the wheel(s) stay put. It wants to go left at speed and the car becomes more of a handful as the speed increases. I will try jacking up the front and letting the engine idle with no load on the front end and see what happens.
Thanks,
Nick
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Good one, I forgot about the ol' CAM rack balance issue.
jorrell
--
92 245 307K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!
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First never swap tires from R to L or L to R. Rotation is front to back and back to front on radial tires. If there is no slop in the steering wheel, I would suspect that one of the front tires has slipped belts which can cause diagonal bumps across the tire. Also note that if you switch the tire from one side to the other, the diagonal bumps across the tire will be in the same direction so the symptoms will be identical!
The other thing to check is with the wheels on the ground, grab the front wheels one at a time and pull/push them one way, then the other, if there is any clunking or slop, check the inner and outer tie rods for slop.
jorrell
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92 245 307K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!
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I was under the impression that some radials could be swapped left to right and that the higher-performance tires could be directional. Before I did the swap, I looked over each tire thoroughly to make sure they were not directional. I quick check on TireRack shows an X-pattern as an acceptable rotation pattern.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=43
Thanks for the advice,
Nick
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