I have '91 240 that over the winter has developed stiff spots in when steering. Basically when I turn the steering wheel, it gets stiff at 4 oclock when turning right and 8 oclock when turning left.

I jacked the car up so there is no resistance from the wheels but I could still feel the stiff spots even with the engine off. I have pretty much narrowed it down to the steering rack by disconnecting the tie rod ends and it is still stiff.

Anyone have this problem? I can't really come up with what would go wrong in the rack that would cause such symptoms.

 

Does it get loose again if you keep turning past the "stiff" spots? Then it's likely the U-joint in the steering shaft on the way to the rack. One of the bearings has seized, so it's only flexing (easily) in one direction.

You can either replace it outright, or try pulling back the tiny rubber boots inside the joint, soaking it with penetrating oil (or just regular oil), and working the wheel back and forth until your arms get tired, to see if it loosens up.

If it's really bad, you may have to remove the joint from the car and whack it back and forth with a hammer to get it moving. This way, you'll get a better idea of just how far gone the joint really is, and you can stuff grease under the boots instead of just oil.

 

Thanks for the response.

It does indeed loosen up again when I get past the stiff spots. Sometimes I can actually feel it release suddenly and it gets easy again.

I had originally considered the u-joints as a potential issue but I kinda ruled it out because I can hear the engine labor slightly when I hit the stiff spots. I assumed that the power steering pump was trying the overcome the stiffness within the steering rack. I had figured that if it was one of the the u-joints, I didn't think that the power steering would have any effect.

Does logic make any sense?

 

No it doesn't.

Resistance is resistance anywhere in the steering linkage.

You're going to have to isolate the tie rod arms from either wheel pivots, or from the rack, to figure out exactly where it is, but typically it is not in the rack.

 

Logic is a little tweeting bird chirping in a meadow.
Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers which smell BAD.
- Spock: I, Mudd

Your logic is sound, since the fluid control valve is in the rack, *after* the questionable joint(s). The laboring engine could be a figment of a marijuana-induced hallucination , or maybe just a response to the steering shaft suddenly changing rotational speed as you "hit the spot". The only way to know for sure is to disconnect the joint and see if it moves easily.

 

Thanks for all the help. I think it confirms my diagnosis in the rack since I have already disconnected the tie rod ends and confirmed the wheels turn freely when disconnected from the rack.

Since it is easy to try and lube up the u-joints - I will give it a try since they are readily accessable.

Thanks again.

 

Has there been any recent repairs prior like the ignition replaced?

 

No repairs like changing the ignition.

I have had the car for about a year and a half. I got it as a replacement for my '89 wagon which my son totalled in an accident. When I got this car, the steering rack was leaking (along with various other problems). We swapped a lot of parts from my old '89 onto this car. Some of the items we swapped was the steering rack and power steering pump. The old car had ~175k miles before it was wrecked but there had been no problems with steering. Also, we really haven't had any problems for the past year an a half.

My only thoughts was perhaps the rack was possibly damaged in the crash and now is just starting to fail. It isn't bent or anything of that sort though, and it has worked fine up to now.

 

No, no, no, no, no.
I'm not talking about the tie rod ends, or the wheels.
I'm talking about the universal joints in the steering "intermediate" shaft.

At rest, the joint is usually flexed, as in the top red circle in the pic. When you turn the steering wheel, the shaft also turns, so the joint has to swivel and flex in the opposite direction. If one of the bearings inside the joint is seized, it can't flex like it should, and you feel the tight spot as it resists and the whole shaft is forced to bend.

The "loose" spot is when the sticky joint is at the end of it's travel, and doesn't need to swivel back the other way yet. This is typically about 30-40 degrees of steering wheel motion (as you have).
.

 

You were correct MasterBlaster. It must have been a hallucination about the engine laboring. I went ahead and treated the u-joints to a nice soaking in WD40 and the steering loosened up nicely - with no more stiff spots.

Thanks for all your help.

 

I had the same issue with my 1990 240, I sprayed penetrating fluid on to my lower steering universal and then I worked the wheel back and forth. This technique solved the problem in less than 10 minutes.

Thanks