[Paul W]

When I first test drove my car, the car drove straight, but the steering wheel was somewhere around the 1 o'clock position. I didn't know what was going on, either needed an alignment or something was worn, or a stuck caliper.



Driving it some more, it would go to the center (12 o'clock) position and continue to track straight, I said great! Then it goes to the 11 o'clock position sometimes and still tracks straight. I took the car home and it continues to do that when I drive it.....sometimes it's dead on 12 o'clock and sometimes it's pointed a little to the left or right, can change in the course of 1 mile. But the car tracks straight.



So I bring it to a high end repair shop, they put it up on the alignment machine and check for wheel play first. They show me that the front bearings have play in them (left wheel more than right), and also show me that the rubber bushings have a small amount of play. Very small, and otherwise, everything else in the suspension looked great.



Here is the rubber bushing I am talking about:







It's number 10 in the picture below, with the eccentric bolt that goes into it:







I have yet to adjust the wheel bearings, and I know that could cause an issue, I also just ordered new bushings and eccentric bolts that I will be installing, but does anybody have any other ideas of why the steering wheel might be behaving the way it is?



Thanks!



BTW, I can't believe the prices at Sunset Imports! And you just email them and they email you back. Love it!

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

take a look at the rack mount bushing. that one is known to get buggered and allow the rack to move around.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Paul W]

Thanks for the quick response! Would that be number 16 and 17 in the below image?

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[94SilverCab]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1382474867' post='151124']

take a look at the rack mount bushing. that one is known to get buggered and allow the rack to move around.

[/quote]



It usually get buggered by the power steering leak just above it.



JMO,



Jay

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Cloud9...68]

Actually, the rightmost steering rack bushing (No. 17 in your diagram) doesn't have much impact on rack movement, but the other one, No. 16 in the diagram, does. They're not expensive, so if you're going to replace one, you might as well do them both, but definitely make sure you check the left-most one, and replace it if it shows any wear.



If the steering rack bushings appear to be OK (and I would have thought your shop would have check them, given your symptoms), another place to look is the U-joints on either end of the steering shaft itself (No. 10 in your diagram), although, again, your shop should have looked at that.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[bombfactory]

It'd be a good idea to change out the caster blocks regardless, but it might just be the tilt of the road - if the road you're driving on tilts slightly to the left, you'll have to turn the wheel slightly to the right to maintain a straight course, and vice-versa if the road happens to tilt to the right.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Paul W]

It's definitely not the road.....it's very odd, drive away from the garage for the first so far, it can be to the right. Then 1/2 mile later, it can be straight, or to the left. And the whole time the car tracks better than my Audi S8 right now. It's very tight (haven't driven another 968, but it's tight) and just loves to go. Handles like a dream.



If I had to guess with what I know now that the wheel bearings are loose, the toe might be changing when going left or right? Then it just stays there until another force changes the setup of the wheel bearings.



I want to adjust the bearings first before I do anything else, to see if it fixes it. Free and then I will actually know if it was the bearings or not.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[968Syncro]

Certainly get the wheel bearings into the correct amount of play, fairly straight forward procedure. Suggest that would be step one. Next, hard to tell from the picture, but check that the bolts on the castor blocks are snug, torqued correctly -- my 968 once had a problem with loose bolts -- a risk much more significant than a mere annoyance. And then, it is difficult to judge or determine, check if tramlining might be a factor -- it was on my 968 and new tires cured the problem completely.



And of course -- when we were teens and forgot to tighten the lug nuts on the front wheels of my brother's '66 Impala. Forgiveness please for mentioning it, with all due respect and consideration, but loose lugs nuts certainly would cause these exact symptoms.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[tamathumper]

I had that exact feeling (steering wheel center changing but car driving straight) and I resolved it by changing to new castor blocks.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Paul W]

[quote name='tamathumper' timestamp='1382524904' post='151146']

I had that exact feeling (steering wheel center changing but car driving straight) and I resolved it by changing to new castor blocks.

[/quote]



Thanks for the reply....what is a castor block? I am running Valvoline, does this mean I need to change to Castor oil? And freeze it into blocks?



But for real, I don't know what a castor block is. Thanks!

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[tamathumper]

It's the #10 part you referred to in your original post.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Paul W]

[quote name='tamathumper' timestamp='1382531275' post='151149']

It's the #10 part you referred to in your original post.

[/quote]



Thanks! That's what I have on order. They were slightly (barely) loose. I will adjust the wheel bearings first and regardless, I'm replacing the castor blocks when I get them from Sunset. I'm a stickler for a tight suspension and a straight steering wheel.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Lear35A]

I would put getting a proper alignment on the list as soon as you change those castor blocks and have checked the steering rack bushings. Plenty of good threads on that subject in this forum. What shop are you using?

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Paul W]

Yes, alignment is on my list once they are changed out. I use Chicago Performance and Tuning. An old Audi tech that started his own business years ago, did all the Chicagoland Audi guy's cars that went out of warranty....and I appear to be one of the last people to get a Porsche, he is normally doing very high end Porsche repair and track preparation. Has a Hunter alignment machine, they know what they are doing.



www.gocpt.com

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Kim]

I had the identical problem, I replaced both of the rack bushings, one with OEM aprts and the other with Delrin as it has a little notch on it that prevents movement. Problem solved 100%. I had a long, long, long post about that here before it got resolved.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Paul W]

Thanks for the input, I purchased the OEM components for the rack also.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.