car pulls randomly

I know i shouldn't be driving the car like this but... my G/A seems to be pulling to the left and/or right while i'm driving down the road. If i just drive straight down the road the car will go straight, but once i get up to highway speeds, I'm constantly fighting with the car to keep it straight. the wheels were aligned in Dec. The steering feels very loose while driving the car, but overly responsive. Ex: if I'm driving at 70 mph the car will go straight, then ( if i hit a bump or the road has a grove) the car will starting pulling left, i have to lightly go to the right to correct, but then the car will start to pull right, if i turn the steering wheel too much the car practically makes a u turn in the middle of the road. I've looked under the car and didn't see anything wrong, ( that i could tell of) Any suggestions or thoughts of what it could be?

I would suggest that you get the tie rod ends checked, if you say the car's alignment is ok you should also check the tires, and ball joints. At this point I would lean toeard the tie rod ends.

Hope this helps...Don't wait to get them checked. I had one go bad on my 96 GAGT and the mechanic told me that I was lucky that it didn't break...could have caused an accident.

I was thinking tie rod's as well but wasn't sure... since it could break, and that would put me at fault if i had an accident.... i think I'll have them checked out tomorrow morning..., thankfully i don't work until the afternoon... thanks hoags

No problem, Be Careful!! I hope it is as simple as that, in other words I hope you don't have any other major suspention problems.
Let me know how it goes.

Good luck,
Dan

i had alot of steering problems after i had new front struts.. except if i turned to the left, my car would pull to the left... and the same for the right. Or.. if i hit a bump, the same thing.. then that was fixed.. and now its doing the same thing... except its worse. It feels like when im at a higher speed (75mph+), the feel you get when you are behind a tractor-trailer.. that wobble feel... and they say that they think the rack is bad... hopefully it won't be that severe for you.. but just some ideas.

Good call matt, I really didnt give the rack or struts a thought. Could br his prob. But I would still lean toward the tie rod ends at this point. I could be wrong, it's has happened before...lol.

thanks for all the input, I'll keep you posted on what happens... I do know that the struts should be or should i say better be good since they are only a year old and they are the supposively 3rd set that was put on the car...( if it comes out to be the struts, you'll see my car on the news going through the front windows of a dealership) Hopefully it will something simple like a alignment issue, since there are some nasty potholes here in NJ right now...

Hey, Glass in the grill it'e a bitch....LOL.
Good luck, and for your sake I hope it's something simple.

Dan

A quick update, which hopefully someone can help me with. I brought the car in and the only thing found was the alignment was alittle off, which helped somewhat, so the car doesn't pull as much... but it still does. My mechanic looked everything over and said everything was fine... Now I still have the random pulling ( not as bad) but now in addition to this, a lot of shaking and vibration coming from the front end mainly only when i'm accelerating... and sometimes when slowing down.... I think it maybe all interrelated.... can anyone point me in a new direction of what it could be...

how old are your tires?

jack up one side of your car so your front tire is off the ground. Grab the tire at 3 and 9'oclock. and shake the tire. If there is alot of movement there, then your tie rod ends are most likely bad. Did the mechanic check like that. and did he look at both inner and outer?

My 96 GAGT was doing the same thing it was the outter tierod end, the threads where stirooed out under the adjustment bolt, hard to see, Make sure you get a close look at it.

Good luck,
Dan

ok i agree with everyone that has posted about the tie rods. one other thing to consider and it may be a long shot you might want to get your hub assemblies checked. they might have a lot of play in them which would cause a pull while driving at hi speeds. just a thought

My situation still has not been resolved, but i do know that they tie rods are fine as well as the wheel bearings. they were all replaced about 2 years ago and were just checked... I have come to the conclusion that the problem is my power steering , just haven't had time to check it thoroughly. I figure this since the steering wheel stays in place after making a turn and won't always return to center, plus I'm always low on fluid, and recently the fluid smells burnt.... I'm waiting on having it fixed, cuz i may move on to a new or used car... TOO many problems popping up with the G/A....:disappoin

Like previously mentioned jack the front of the car up so the tires are off the ground. Grab the tire at 3 and 9 and push and pull it side to side and check for movement, do the same at 12 and 6. if you can movement on both 12/6 and 9/3 could be the wheel hub bearing, if it only happens at 9/3 it's most likely the tie rods. Don't forget to check the rear end too. How is it when you brake hard at high speeds? It is most likely a failing tierod. Which can be hard to detect unless it is really worn out.

you might be actually right about the power steering if your steering wheel is not coming back to normal position after you make a turn. it actually might be the rack&pinion itself. i know they made them with a nylon sleave that moves back and forth but the down side was that it wore away and caused the system not to work properly. they now have replacement racks with a stainless steel sleave in it to prevent this. i would check the rack. this happened to one of my cars before.

It is most likely the power steering pump, especially since you smelled burnt fluid, the low fluid is not allowing the the wheel to return on it's own. It coule very well be the fact that since the fluid is low and you do not always have even pressure in the system you are getting "play" because it is allowing back pressure from the rack.
Just a thought.
Dan

Ok i may be wrong but its just an idea. Could it be broken motor mount maybe? I mean if it does it when accelerating and slowing down maybe there could be a broken motor mount and putting the motor in a twist. from the different loads on the engine. you know what i mean. seems like it could be but then again not. maybe something to look into since it sounds like your suspension is fine.

I'm still sticking with the idea of the power steering. the car has new tires, brakes, rf tierods, bearings, maybe a new rack( can't remember) front struts... and all of this is within the last 2 years. As I said the power steering fluid smells burnt, I'm constantly adding, either every week or every couple months( it varies). Plus sometimes i can hear it making noises like hissing and moaning as i turn the wheel... I feel it's not holding the correct pressure as dan (hoags) said causing the problems, especially since it;s a variable effort power steering ( or at least that's what i was told) Maybe by the weekend I'll get the time to get it looked at....

Examine the entire steering linkage, especially the cross link from the top of the motor compartment by the firewall.

My '93 had a pull problem and a slight clunk when turning, but not all the time. It turned out, after a lot of investigation, that there may be a slight design flaw in the amount of pressure on the link. One of the bushings in the connection at one end had completely worn out; only a couple of large washers (I think, can't recall) were holding the parts together. The pull was caused by the excess play; the clunck was the metal on metal sound of the inside tie rod bouncing around in the socket from one side to the other on a turn. Note: The washers make noticing the missing bushing difficult. I saw worn polished metal when someone was turning the tires that tipped me off.

Needless to say, when I saw it, it looked extremely dangerous. Unlike many other parts on this car, however, it is not too difficult to replace.

Do you have any snapping or popping sounds when you are turning? I had a bad ball joint on my 95, it would "stick" after making a turn, and pull to either side, and at high speeds it was difficult to keep it straight. It was discovered after I almost ate a guard rail at 70, had it towed off the highway (too scared to drive it after that), mechanic in a little jerkwater backwoods town fixed it cheap, and its been fine since.

Do you have any snapping or popping sounds when you are turning? I had a bad ball joint on my 95, it would "stick" after making a turn, and pull to either side, and at high speeds it was difficult to keep it straight. It was discovered after I almost ate a guard rail at 70, had it towed off the highway (too scared to drive it after that), mechanic in a little jerkwater backwoods town fixed it cheap, and its been fine since.


>>Yes, a banging sound on a turn on occasion. However, as I said above, the problem was not a ball joint. More info: I looked at the assembly again, and if you look over the engine at the firewall, you'll see the tierods bolted to the centerpoint of the powersteering assist assembly, with a metal plate or washer over the top of both of the ends. A little investigation will reveal if a bushing is missing or not; pull off the plate or have someone turn the wheel back and forth and watch for loose travel.

Note: The upper engine mount on this car also tends to wear out after a few years and can also cause some drifting, but usually always in the same direction...

u might have a radial pull. Basically all this means is the cables inside one or more of your tires are not straight. I had this problem with a new set of tires and got them replaced. I havent had problems since. The symptoms sound very similar to the ones you are experiencing. Check that out