350i Excessive play in steering wheel.
Discussion
Hi Peeps...I have noticed recently that i have excessive left to right play in the steering, Around 2-2.5"..If you move it fairly quickly you can hear a knocking near the bulkhead..I have had the steering rack refurbished...The top and bottom UJ's replaced and the bulkhead bush...I have also had the drop link..ARB..Leading link control arm bushes changed..
At the MOT the guy spent a fair amount of time on the front end as they deal with a lot of classic cars and said that the lower ball joints are fairly worn and the N/S has considerable wear..Im not convinced that this is the cause so I'm going to jack up the front and first check the UJ's...Has anyone experienced this before and have any pointers for me please...Thanks...Ziga
At the MOT the guy spent a fair amount of time on the front end as they deal with a lot of classic cars and said that the lower ball joints are fairly worn and the N/S has considerable wear..Im not convinced that this is the cause so I'm going to jack up the front and first check the UJ's...Has anyone experienced this before and have any pointers for me please...Thanks...Ziga
Hi Ian...The MOT garage didn't fail it as he advised me to get it done but also knows that i will get it done...The steering wheel moves and so do the columns..Top and middle..Not sure about the bottom..The wheels don't move until about an 1-1.5 of movement..I will check the bottom column..The rack was refurbished about 8 months ago....Cheers...Ziga
Looks like i won't be driving it until i have established whats causing it...The last bit of work i had done was having the leading link..Drop link and ARB bushes replaced with polyflex...The steering wheel nut is tight, As i said the top and centre column moves with it...I can't see the one connecting the centre to the rack ..Jack out me thinks...Have to wait till Monday as its no fun doing it on the roadside..Especially when its raining and cold...Cheers...Ziga
Well i had a look ..Checked the rack was on tight..UJ bolts are good..Bulkhead bush is fine..What i did notice was the top UJ flexing at the join..Maybe the bearings have gone in it..Either way it looks naggered..It was replaced 7 months ago and i thought it would of lasted longer than that!...Ziga
Hi Chris..I managed to get the O/S wheel off the ground..As you know i live on a hill and the camber to the kerb is quite steep..I would of bumped it up the kerb but was parked next to a lamp post..Lack of parking I'm afraid...
When the steering wheel was rocked from left to right the wheel was moving even when it was around 1/2" of movement which doesn't happen with the wheel on the floor..I could also feel a bit of play in the connecting column...I physically held it and pulled it toward me and then pushed it back and could feel about 5mm of movement....All the bolts were tight..
When the steering is rocked you can see the top part of the top UJ moving upwards, Almost as if it wanted to fold in half at the pivot...If that makes sense..
Hi Steve...Thats a possibility..The bottom shaft from the rack is about 2" exposed from the bottom of the UJ....I thought they were not much longer than that?...
The top column is around 5-8mm passed the inner collar of the UJ and the connecting shaft is not visible in the opposite inner collar..Cant see the connecting shaft at the lower UJ..
How much resistance/Tension should there be in the actual pivot of the UJ?..I seem to recall when handling the UJ pre-fitment there being something like one ounce of pressure before the pivot came into play...Now it looks and feels like there is hardly any resistance...Does this make sense.....
When the steering wheel was rocked from left to right the wheel was moving even when it was around 1/2" of movement which doesn't happen with the wheel on the floor..I could also feel a bit of play in the connecting column...I physically held it and pulled it toward me and then pushed it back and could feel about 5mm of movement....All the bolts were tight..
When the steering is rocked you can see the top part of the top UJ moving upwards, Almost as if it wanted to fold in half at the pivot...If that makes sense..
Hi Steve...Thats a possibility..The bottom shaft from the rack is about 2" exposed from the bottom of the UJ....I thought they were not much longer than that?...
The top column is around 5-8mm passed the inner collar of the UJ and the connecting shaft is not visible in the opposite inner collar..Cant see the connecting shaft at the lower UJ..
How much resistance/Tension should there be in the actual pivot of the UJ?..I seem to recall when handling the UJ pre-fitment there being something like one ounce of pressure before the pivot came into play...Now it looks and feels like there is hardly any resistance...Does this make sense.....
Edited by mrzigazaga on Monday 2nd February 16:05
Thanks Adam...There was play in the connecting rod which is connected to both UJ's..The knocking seems to be coming from the top UJ wanting to contort on rotation of the steering wheel, I would of thought that kind of movement would only happen if the top column was able to move in and out..Which it doesn't...If my neighbour is about tomorrow then i will see if he can give me a hand and i will film it moving...Its easier than trying to describe it....
Thanks for that Stevo...When i checked it yesterday the movement became less with the PAS off..Around 1/4" of play before the wheels moved..However with it on there is around 2.5" of play..On a invoice for some work that i had done last year there was an advisory that there was play in the input shaft to the rack and also the track rod ends so it was refurbished...Apparently...Im wondering if they totally rebuilt it like they should of...Its still under warranty so more investigating will be carried soon to see if this is the cause..It makes me think now that it is... Also if the PAS affects the amount of play then i can't see it being a UJ???...Cheers...Ziga
Edited by mrzigazaga on Tuesday 3rd February 18:22
I think the top end is okay...I will have the steering wheel off tomorrow to check the boss but its more likely to be the rack..As i said in a couple of posts back..When you hold the centre column and pull it toward you and then push it away you can feel a movement of around 3-5mm which could be getting transferred from the input to the rack...I will get it up and have a wheel off tomorrow if i can secure a parking space outside and not facing down hill ..
Hi Tony...That did cross my mind...No-one knows what these people do but if it has just been fitted with new seals and painted then they will have to do it again...Im not sure who was used to rebuild it but i always use power steering services and have never had an issue with them or heard of anyone with one...Hopefully will get to the bottom of it...Cheers...Ziga
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