I noticed yesterday that I am having a bit of a steering problem with my 83 w/ manual steering. When I am coming out of a corner and the wheel normally recoils back to the center/straight position, now it is stopping when its still turned about 20 degrees. I have to turn the wheel myself to get the car to go back straight. When I have to turn the wheel it is more difficult than usual, feels like turning with flat tires. Steering/Suspension isn't my forte so any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks
Tim

 

I went trough similar problems, and the (manual) steering rack turned out to be the culprit. It developed too much resistance. You can test it by disconnecting the tie rod ends from the inner tie rods, and see if the steering wheel rotates easily. I would suggest using a scale (e.g. a fish scale from Walmart) to compare the force needed to spin the steering wheel before and after the disconnect. Make sure to support the lower control arms on wood blocks, etc. to avoid addtional resistance from the bearings in the upper strut mounts.
If this is the steering rack, I posted hints on rebuilding it, if you feel like doing it yourself, search for thread: "rebuilding manual steering rack". Otherwise get a rebuilt one or one from a junk yard (dealer price is $$$$).
Remeber to have the front toe aligned at the end...
good luck, Stan

 

and check for play in the wheel bearings-- resistance there could also be a culprit. also check for foreighn material on the tierods (Road junk- plastic bag wrapped around a tie rod etc..) My speedo cable wrapped itself about my tie rod end and caused a steering issue..

 

hi there,i had the exact same problem.
it turned out to be nothing else than dry joints on the linkage from the steering wheel to the steering rack.

of course i checked everything else first,
i spent around 4 hours pulling stuff apart.
and ended up fixing it by spraying some oil(2 minutes).

have you cleaned your engine bay lately?
that's what i did.

eirik

 

Thanks for the tips. I will be digging in this weekend to take a look.
eirik - I noticed you mentioned cleaning the engine bay started your problem, I haven't done that but it has been raining like crazy here lately. I will check that first.
I will keep you posted.

Thanks again,
Tim