steering wheel shudders/ shakes
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
steering wheel shudders/ shakes
need some help please, I finally got my car rego'd yesterday and finally took it for my first drive all was good until i hit a slight bit of rough road when the steering wheel started to shudder/shake quite badly and it just kept going until the car was nearly stopped then it went away. this has now happened afew times now. a bit of history to help solve the problem i have put a rebuild kit through the hyd ram, wheel alignment done he checked the front end and said all was nice and tight. the blue slip bloke shaked and rattle the front end and said the same, I checked the front end and same result, and yes the wheel nuts are tight, tyres are new and balanced. only other thing is when turning from lock to lock when car is moving very very slow it shudders as well. any ideas on the cause. only thing i can think of is the control valve on the power steering but have been told these are bullet proof and never go wrong, is this the case has anyone else had similar issues???? help please...
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,231
Likes: 34
From: Ontario
If everthing in the front end has been checked and aligned professionaly there must be a problem with the power steering valve or pump.
Try taking the belt off the pump and take it for a drive . Take as much fluid out of the pump you can first or it may want to overflow when you drive it unhooked .
Bill
Try taking the belt off the pump and take it for a drive . Take as much fluid out of the pump you can first or it may want to overflow when you drive it unhooked .
Bill
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,118
From: Crossville TN
Have you had the front end aligned, yet? If not...and the steering components are in good shape..., that is your problem. Otherwise, your steering components are "suspect"--particularly the ragjoint [steering column to steering box coupling].
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,001
Likes: 113
From: Saginaw Michigan
Are you sure that you got all of the air out of the system? You indicate that you replaced the assist cylinder (ram). The assist cylinder is the component furthest from the pump. There would be lots of air volume in the pockets either side of the piston inside the cylinder case.
You would need to jack up the front wheels, leave the engine OFF!, rotate the steering wheel full lock to lock a couple dozen times. This should get the majority of the air out of the system. I know that even looking into the pump reservoir on a C3 is quite difficult. But there should be air bubbles coming to the surface of the oil in the reservoir during the lock to lock rotations. You may need to replenish oil as the air is worked out of the system.
Jim
You would need to jack up the front wheels, leave the engine OFF!, rotate the steering wheel full lock to lock a couple dozen times. This should get the majority of the air out of the system. I know that even looking into the pump reservoir on a C3 is quite difficult. But there should be air bubbles coming to the surface of the oil in the reservoir during the lock to lock rotations. You may need to replenish oil as the air is worked out of the system.
Jim
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Drifting
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,873
Likes: 27
From: Sonora CA
The problem you described is just exactly like the one I had on my 73 L-48. hit a bump or pothole and the front end would shutter violently and wouldn't stop until the car came almost to a complete stop. I can't tell you exactly what the cause was, as I removed the entire front suspension and replaced all the wear parts with new. However, if I had to point a finger....... it would be at the A-arm bushings, completely shot!
I should have forseen this due to the large stacks of shims used to compensate for the worn bushings.
I should have forseen this due to the large stacks of shims used to compensate for the worn bushings.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
Hi Gents thanks for all the help a bit more info, the rag joint is new, the power steering hoses are crossed over and are both new, to bleed the system i filled the reservoir up started engine for about 30 seconds then turned off, refilled then started and went from lock to lock a few times then shut it down refilled reservoir, and repeated again until level was stabilized, checked fluid level yesterday and was still at full mark. have done a total of 60miles in car since hitting the road. I would like to think that even while driving it, it would also bleed any air out that may have been in there if any. Idler arm and "A" arm bushes appear to be OK I checked these by having tyres on timber blocks and turning steering wheel from side to side checking for any movement with a mate under car. and yes he is still alive. When the car is stopped or creeping forward extremely slowly and you turn the steering wheel the steering also shudders and the tyres shudder while turning on the spot. is this also normal ??
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
Problem now solved by changing the power steering control valve, the steering now feels a lot better, and the shudder is also gone when turning the wheels from lock to lock when car is stopped.
thanks for the help.
thanks for the help.
