Steering rack?

[SHOspazz92]

This has been a issue with the car since I purchased it. The steering rack has always made a very quiet groaning noise at lower speeds (5-10MPH Range) But the steering still feels great, No complaints there. However my dad brought up and issue that I seem to remember when I drove the car for the 3 weeks I was home this past march. When you are making a slower turn (As if cruising through a parking lot, For instance) and you have the wheels turned nearly all the way the car steering wheel will all the sudden turn in further then you want it, As if somthing was not allowing it to turn the wheels at a angle that coincides with how far you have the steering wheel turned. It RARELY does it.

What would cause this? Is the rack going out? Slipping belt? Its not a serious issue as it very rarely happens but I want to at least have it figured out before it does turn in to somthing serious. Thank you.

-Sam

 

[Phoenix]

Food for thought : I had that kind of thing when I had busted rear subframe bushings , turning ok , then lock , then unlock later on in the curve.

How much 360 degrees can you turn the steering wheel?

 

[SHOspazz92]

Food for thought : I had that kind of thing when I had busted rear subframe bushings , turning ok , then lock , then unlock later on in the curve.

How much 360 degrees can you turn the steering wheel?

You can turn the wheel all the way. And would Alluminum subframe bushings really just "Break" ?

-Sam

 

[SHOspazz92]

Bumpizzle fo' shizzle.

-Samdizzle

 

[93rev2sev]

is the car equipped with VAPS? If so, try unplugging the electrical connector on the rack. That will disable VAPS and steering will be light all the time. If it stops happening, I would suspect the rack.

 

[Phoenix]

You can turn the wheel all the way. And would Alluminum subframe bushings really just "Break" ?

-Sam

No idea , but in my case it was the crappy original rubber ones. The rear left one was completely GONE

 

[Shoaz]

You can turn the wheel all the way. And would Alluminum subframe bushings really just "Break" ?

-Sam

There's a small chance that the subframe might be shifting under hard cornering, at least that would seem to match the symptom. I'd think that'd also hose up the alignment enough that it would be obvious, too, as in the steering wheel wouldn't be straight going down the road.

 

[SHOspazz92]

There's a small chance that the subframe might be shifting under hard cornering, at least that would seem to match the symptom. I'd think that'd also hose up the alignment enough that it would be obvious, too, as in the steering wheel wouldn't be straight going down the road.

Well, The problem does not persist under hard cornering, Its more so doing slow sharp Turns (Like your turning in to a parking spot) and as stated, it does it very rarely. The alighnment is nice and straight. Diagnosing a car from 5500 Miles away sucks! haha...

-Sam

 

[SHOMON]

Axles?

 

[green91SHOPlus]

In both of my gen2's the steering would do something similar to that. I'd play with it sometimes by turning the car on, and while in park, turn the wheel all the way in a direction to lock, and then barely hold it there with my fingertips. The wheel would kind of pop intermittently. Like "power steering on" then "power steering off" kind of thing. Is this similar to what you're trying to describe?

 

[K-Dawg]

The groaning could be strut mounts/bearings, endlinks, or tie-rod ends.

The surging could be because of something screwed up with the VAPS.

 

[SHOspazz92]

In both of my gen2's the steering would do something similar to that. I'd play with it sometimes by turning the car on, and while in park, turn the wheel all the way in a direction to lock, and then barely hold it there with my fingertips. The wheel would kind of pop intermittently. Like "power steering on" then "power steering off" kind of thing. Is this similar to what you're trying to describe?

Yes sir, Exactly what I'm describing.

-Sam

 

[green91SHOPlus]

I just thought it was Ford Quality, since it's happened to both of my gen2's. But not to any of my gen1's that I remember. So yeah, it's definitely VAPS related. Now to find out if it's normal or not, haha.

 

[shomesomesho]

This has been a issue with the car since I purchased it. The steering rack has always made a very quiet groaning noise at lower speeds (5-10MPH Range) But the steering still feels great, No complaints there. However my dad brought up and issue that I seem to remember when I drove the car for the 3 weeks I was home this past march. When you are making a slower turn (As if cruising through a parking lot, For instance) and you have the wheels turned nearly all the way the car steering wheel will all the sudden turn in further then you want it, As if somthing was not allowing it to turn the wheels at a angle that coincides with how far you have the steering wheel turned. It RARELY does it.
-Sam

It's probably the VAPS acting erratically. The '94 and '95 VAPS-equipped SHO's I used to own did what you describe all the time. I would be making a slow u-turn and then the steering would either "jump" or go stiff for an instant then come back to normal, as if someone turned off the power-assist for a second then turned it back on. The first time it happened really scared the daylights out of me.

What I did was the VAPS adjustment modification described at shotimes.com link here, and the problem seemed to go away. I set the boost to run at the highest or 2nd highest level all the time, but you can select whatever level you prefer. In effect this mod disables the variable-level assist and converts it to a constant-level assist.

FWIW, the non-VAPS Gen 1's and '92's do not exhibit this type of strange behavior.

 

[SHOspazz92]

It's probably the VAPS acting erratically. The '94 and '95 VAPS-equipped SHO's I used to own did what you describe all the time. I would be making a slow u-turn and then the steering would either "jump" or go stiff for an instant then come back to normal, as if someone turned off the power-assist for a second then turned it back on. The first time it happened really scared the daylights out of me.

What I did was the VAPS adjustment modification described at shotimes.com link here, and the problem seemed to go away. I set the boost to run at the highest or 2nd highest level all the time, but you can select whatever level you prefer. In effect this mod disables the variable-level assist and converts it to a constant-level assist.

FWIW, the non-VAPS Gen 1's and '92's do not exhibit this type of strange behavior.

This seems to be just a "on and off" switch for the VAPS. What I dont understand is where how you would Adjust the level of boost it is receiving. Maybe I missed somthing.

-Sam

 

[shomesomesho]

The VAPS boost level differs based on the speed of the car.

e.g. (from the article),
Idle- this is max boost for parking and Reverse
20 mph- first adjustment made to lower boost
40mph - next adjustment made only about 1/3rd boost
60mph- last adjustment should no boost or very little

The mod is an on/off VAPS switch, but you turn it off at the VAPS level you prefer, and the boost level stay will stay at that level all the time. It turns off the "variable" in variable assist, but the "assist" stays on depending on the speed the car is being driven.

So if you want max boost all the time, turn the VAPS switch to off when the car is at idle. On the other hand, if you want a little less boost than that, drive 20 mph then turn the VAPS switch off. And so on.


P.S. Oh by the way, definitely read the disclaimer in the article. If done incorrectly (i.e. cutting the wrong wire), this mod could potentially thrash your power steering system and render your car completely unsafe. So if there is any doubt in your mind, don't do it.

 

[AREA 91]

FWIW, the non-VAPS Gen 1's and '92's do not exhibit this type of strange behavior.

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I have had this priblem with 2 91 SHO's before. In both cases, changing out the rack solved the problem.