Steering vibrations

[sawood12]

Got a strange one here. Only cropped up in the last few months or so. When the car has been sitting all night I will get steering osscilations/vibrations between 70 and 80mph as if my wheels are out of balance, but there is an associated rattling sensation through the steering wheel as if something is loose. A few miles down the road this subsides and everything is smooth as a baby's bum. If I leave the car for a few hours, or even a full day at work, it still doesn't exhibit any steering vibration on the way home, but after a full night in the garage it again will vibrate for the first 5 or so miles.

What on earth is going on here? Can't be out of balance wheels as it would be there all the time. Can't be wheel bearing related as there is no associated grinding or hub play, can't be bushes as it would be there all the time.

A work collegue has speculated it might be power steering system related so as the power steering system pressurises in the first 5 miles it dampens the osscilations - but in that case I would be worried why there is osscilations in the first place!

Anyone out there had similar experiances?

 

[Fen]

Wet air in the tyres. Water pools at the bottom overnight and takes a while to distribute evenly when you drive.

 

[sawood12]

sure enough i can detect a bit of play when I move the wheel lightly when cold so looks like it could be the steering U/J. Going to get it checked out as my MOT is September. I take it that it's a pig of a job?

 

[Fen]

Not frightening from underneath and the part is only £40 these days from the OPC. Was £220 last year!

 

[sawood12]

I'm struggling to find a workshop manual that covers the steering U/J replacement. My 944 manual is not complete and does not include this particular operation and i've not found it on the Clark's Garage website which I normally find pretty comprehensive. Can anyone point me in the right direction or if it's a simple job provide a brief explanation?

Cheers.

 

[Fen]

3 10mm screws on the heat shields (1 on the bulkhead and 1 on the rack) then a pinch bolt either end of the shaft. Access is the only thing that stops it from being a no-brainer.

 

[sawood12]

Hey Fen,
Are there two of these U/J's? One immediately as the shaft comes through the bulkhead and one under the engine to direct the shaft into the rack? I've had a quick look today and the one that is just next to the bulkhead looks accessable (just) from the top and not underneath as you suggested previously (unless you've got really long arms) or are you referring to a second U/J underneath the engine that takes the shaft into the steering rack? I've not had a chance to get under the car yet to take a look.
Cheers.

 

[Fen]

You are right about where they are. I thought both were accessed from the bottom but my car has been up and down on the ramp so often recently I could easily have been confused. Isn't the exhaust in the way from the top though? Regardless those are the points you need to remove it from whichever is easier for you. edited because it didn't make right good sense

 

[Siggy]

Have you seen this manual?

www.cannell.co.uk/944

You need broadband to down load it. But it is the complete Factory manaul

Dave

 

[sawood12]

The top U/J is almost immediately against the bulkhead with only a few mm of shaft in between and it's behing the exhaust manifold at about the same height as where the exhausts come out of the cylinder head so looks pretty accessable from the top. I will have to take a look underneath for the second. I've got Broadband and have tried to download the Cannell manual but it has bombed out on me everytime so far, but I will keep trying.

Cheers all.

 

[Fen]

There are (or should be) a couple of heat shields over the u/j's as well, yes?

 

[Siggy]

If I was to remove one I would look at unbolting the rack.

Dave

 

[Fen]

That would be a waste of your time then. I fitted mine with the engine out but it was fouling when we were lifting the engine in so we took it off again and refitted it afterwards. The rack had been mounted long before and we didn't take that out again.

 

[sawood12]

My local Porsche specialist has quoted me 1hr's worth of labour and reckons in alot of cases you can get away without having to loosen off the steering rack but the more stubborn ones need a bit more clearance.

FYI. steering link from OPC is now £63+vat but don't forget that PCGC discount!

 

[Diver944]

You gotta love these random price cuts over the years. It's almost as if Klaus in Parts at Zuffenhausen suddenly finds a crate of something covered in dust and wonders how they are going to shift them.

We all jump on the bandwagon and snap them up, then 18 months later its back to £500 or NLA (no longer available) [8|]

Personally, I feel its about time they dropped the price of a 3 litre block []

 

[Fen]

Bizzarre. I thought they only realigned prices once a year and that this part dropped from £220 to £40. Have you tried another OPC to make sure your's isn't just adding an extra bit of profit? The pricing is pretty random though - it has to be for something to drop by 80%.

 

[jez_anderson]

Did you get this sorted ok? I think I may have the same thing. I have not chekced anything yet but notived it the other day. After about 15 minutes the car was smooth again no wobble. And from warm no wobble.

 

[sawood12]

Jez,
It's in tomorrow. I decided not to tackle the job myself cause my local specialist will do it for £40 while I wait during my lunch hour whereas it would take me at least 20 mins to jack the car up then probably another 30 to 40 mins to do the job then another 10 mins to get the car off the jacks again. Basically I can't be bothered!

I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. By the way the shaft ended up costing me just under £63 as my OPC gave me a discount without asking which was equal to just over the VAT. I did shop around at other OPC's but the part was the same price.

 

[sawood12]

Well 50mins and £30 later the shaft is replaced and it does seem to have cured the problem. I'll know for sure tomorrow morning when I dirve it from cold, but even when warm I could still detect some play in the system especially when stationary but all signs of play has gone and there is no rattly feel to the steering wheel now so i'll assume it's sorted.

The mechanic was pretty shocked when I told him the new part was only £60 from the OPC after he had tried to flog me a 2nd hand one for £40 as he still thought they were best part of £300. I think he'll have to revise his pricing structure for 2nd hand parts! By the way, he ended up having to unbolt the steering rack in this case.

 

[jez_anderson]

Is it ok?

Where did you get it done?