Unusual power steering problem. Solutions needed.

[Lean Machine]

On my 400se the power steering has an unusual symptom that I have never come across before on any car. When I steer left it feels light as the steering should be, but when I steer right its much heavier except when the camber of the road changes in certain driving conditions, steering right then also gets lighter as it should be. There are no unusual noises from the steering and no leaks as far as I can tell, although I did once top it up slightly over a period of several months. It has already had a new pump and the belts are tight. I took the car to a classic car mechanic near by and asked him to check it over. He undid the trackrod ends and checked all the steering joints including the steering column. His verdict was that all is well. He said it could be the rack itself but thinking about it now it could also be the steering alighnment or the suspension geometry eg. suspension and shock absorber hight adjustment. The car drives in a straight line and there is no wobble at any speed except I noticed that the front tyres are wearing on the inner side on both sides. I've been to a couple of tyre fitters in my area but no one seems to know the settings for the alighnment on this car. So what now? I want to cure this problem and before going for the obvious (changing the steering rack) I want to make sure that I have covered every other possibility. So, experienced Wedge drivers and menders, give me some ideas. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? If it comes down to replacing the rack do I buy new? reconditioned or have the existing one reconditioned? Any ideas to solve my dilema in the most cost effective way would be very welcome.

[BoltonTVR]

A mate of mine had exactly the same symptons on his Lotus Esprit and it turned out to be the tracking. Do a search on here as the settings have been posted. Or somebody will come along soon with them. It's certainly worth trying before splashing out on more expensive components.

[gralin69]

try page 33 dont know if any good but some settings here
http://www.tvr-car-club.co.uk/images/archives/Tasm...
Graham

[mrzigazaga]

Hi Mate..My rear tyres are wearing on the inner edges and i need my rear wheel aligment done..Perhaps you need someone to do a 4-wheel alignment on yours as it sounds like your camber is out..I have some settings that were sent to me..Hope this helps..Ziga

Here are the generic settings for all Wedges:

The tracking should be set at 3.2mm toe-in +/- 1.5mm

Caster: 3.5 - 4.0 deg. pos.
Camber (F) 1.0 deg. neg.
Camber (R) 1.0 - 1.5 deg. neg.
Toe (in) (F) 0.50 deg.
Toe (in) (R) 2MM - don't know why MM not deg!

2mm on 15inch rims = 0.30 degrees = 18 minutes
2mm on 17inch rims = 0.27 degrees = 16 minutes
Either way it's just a smidge toe in.

15 inch rims 3.2mm toe gives 0.24 degrees wheel to vehicle center-line or 0.48 degrees wheel to wheel.

14 inch rims 3.2mm toe gives 0.26 degrees wheel to vehicle center-line or 0.52 degrees wheel to wheel.

For the front
toe is 3.2 +/- 1.5mm
camber is 0 +/- 1.2 degres (not adjustable anyway is it?)
caster is 31.2 +/- 0.5 degrees
KPI 6 degrees (Not sure what this is?
For the rear
toe is 4.5mm
camber is 0.5 +/- 0.5 degrees (this seems small as the wheels have a visible camber)

[Lean Machine]

Thanks for all your help and advice gentlemen. I am also thinking along the lines of 4 wheel tracking. Zig thanks for all those settings you have sent me, armed with this information I shall walk or rather drive into my local tyre and wheel alighnment center and see if they can cure the problem. I will keep you posted of the results. All I need now is for the sun to shine so as I can take the Tiv out and get the problem sorted.

[Lean Machine]

I just had a 4 wheel alignment on my 400se at a local tyre place today. I handed them the settings supplied by Zig, they seemed happy and got on with the job. However one of the rear wheel adjustments were seized and they didn't want to force it and had to leave that one as is, but they said though it needed doing, it wasn't far out. The other three were adjusted and needed badly espacially the fronts. Result - steering improved by 80% and the handling by 90%. Though not perfect, overall a great improvement. Bill came to £60.00 including vat. Not bad I thought for the amount of work they put into it. I also want to thank Zig for supplying the settings.

[wild rover]

I would check the steering coupling under the front offside wheel, most don't have gaiters and are left to the elements. Plenty of wd40 and then grease it up may help.

[Lean Machine]

Thanks for the response WR but if you mean the steering column couplings down to the rack, they seem new and well oiled up already. Also when I initially had it checked at my local classic car garage they released the trackrod ends and then checked to see if all the joints are free. They told me all was well. The tracking I had done the other day has helped and today I had two new front tyres fitted as well and it is a lot better but still not perfect. However the imperfection is so slight that I think I can live with it.