How to check steering

[Andy T]

Hey all, I have a question;

I've just got me a nice S2 111S with 42k on the clock. It's a cracking car, but I feel the steering may be a little on the heavy side? Also as I was putting it in the garage last night I noticed that when starionary, if you turn the wheel ever so slightly you can feel some play and hear a bit of a clunk coming from the front.

Now I bought my car from a dealer and I pointed this out to the before I picked it up and they have replaced some ball joints because they were a bit seized. My question is how do you tell if the rack is on it's way out, and how heavy should the steeering be. I have owned an elise before and I'm sure it wasnt as heavy in that.

Cheers A

[S Works]

It should feel very direct with no play. You'll know if it's on its way out. ~£500 to supply and fit a recon rack, including a geo to set the car up properly.

[Andy T]

Cool, fortunately it has a full Lotus 1 yr warranty so I should be able to get them to fit one if it needs one.

[Andy T]

Hi All,

I originally posted a question about my steering feeling heavy. Now I've since had the car back to the garage and they have replaced the steering rack and the universal joints on the track rod ends under warrnty.

Problem is that it doesn't seem to have made much difference to the stiffness and weight of the steering. I've driven loads of elises both S1 and S2 and this Elise I have now is my second so I know what normal Elise steering should feel like. Freinds have also driven it and noted that the steering felt really heavy too so I don't think I'm being paranoid!

My question is what other than the steering rack can be looked at to explain this stiffness/heavyness?

My tyres are all at the correct pressures so the only other thing I can think of is ball joints.

Could worn ball joints cause such heavyness in the steering and has anyone ever had anything like this happen to them?

Thanks

Andy

[S Works]

No idea on the ball joints mate, but tyre pressures (under-inflated) or a bad geo might cause this also. Have you asked on the SELOC Tech forum?

[andy_s]

Presumably if the garage have done all that work because of the particular problem you had and it hasn't solved it then shouldn't they be playing detective?


I'd double check the tyres and get a geo done, checking rake angle etc. How does it handle otherwise?

[LotusEater666]

Andy T said:

but I feel the steering may be a little on the heavy side?

Is the steering the same heaviness all the time? Or just heavy at lower speeds?

[NathanE]

The "creak" when you move the wheel when stationary is just the universal joint behind the dash. Tighten the bolts up a bit and put some WD40 on it and it should stop it making that sound.

[Andy T]

LotusEater666 said:

Andy T said:

but I feel the steering may be a little on the heavy side?

Is the steering the same heaviness all the time? Or just heavy at lower speeds?

Obviously it's heaviest at low speeds and is very heavy with a passenger. It still feels stiff at higher speeds but is a bit lighter. if that makes sense?

[Arno]

Use 2 jacks or jackstands and lift the front of the car off the ground.

Now turn the steering wheel and see if it's light or still stiff.

If it's now (very) light then it's most likely something in your alignment (running toe in?).

If it remains somewhat tight or needs some effort to 'get going' when turning the wheel, then I'd start looking into some of the mechanical components like the main balljoints (there were a few batches that were too tight), steering arm end joints, steering rack preload, etc.

Bye, Arno.