Good Afternoon Everybody,

Figured I'd see what the consensus was on my new problem while i'm sitting here at work.

I have a 99 Monte with around 177K miles on it.
The other day I was waiting to make a U turn, pretty much fully turning the wheel left. When traffic cleared I accelerated (I didnt smash down the pedal or anything crazy) but now things seem wrong. The steering wheel is now turned roughly 20 degree to the right instead of being straight. Also, the car feels kinda harder to control, as if its permanently hydroplaning or the front end seems to wobble back and forth between left and right. It's not impossible to drive just seems to be a problem. Car still goes straight and when i break I dont veer to one side or anything.

I took a look under the car with it jacked up and my dad turning the wheel. The turning seemed smooth and worked normal, the rack and pinion was not loose from the frame or anything. If the pinion jumped a tooth on the rack or soemthing like that, would the cars handling still feel wobbly like it does?


Anybody have any ideas??

Thanks,
Steve

 

check the rag joint...

that's the connection between the steering rod and the rack..

also check all the inner and outer tierod ends and sleeves..
It could also have a worn out rack...

I would have it professionally checked out!

God forbid it should come apart in traffic...
You may injure/ kill yourself or someone else...

I personally...
wouldn't continue to drive it until its safe to drive.

 

What ^^^^ said

Something shifted or moved, and now the front wheels are now fighting each other. Control arms, strut mount/ bearing plates, rack mounting or front sub frame mounts are all possible culprits. That needs to be checked out by a shop, or someone who knows what they are doing. I would not drive the car, as something will really let go.

I hope it is a cheap fix.

 

I would agree with STUMPMI, AND THE WIZARD. Does anyone else drive the car that may have taken a curb hard or bounced into a chuck hole?
Food for thought: When driving on the highway or in town shut everything off and just listen, sometimes you hear stuff that is a clue to what could happen soon. I have racked up a ton of miles and can tell by the sounds in the Car if there is an issue with belts, alternators, water pumps, bearings, tires going bad. All by sound or feel. A couple of years back I was riding with this lady and she had a sound in the right rear of the car sounded like a wheel out of balance or something like that.
when I mentioned it to her she took offense to my telling her about it and I said no more. 2 weeks later she called me and said that the tires she had were nearly wore out. An If I knew that when you put on new tires you should get a full all wheel alignment on the car, I said yes, I knew that, but I said you told me when I tried to say something was wrong that I should mind my own business. Cost her a new set of tires she only had 5k on the previous set. Anyway I try to shut everything off on all the cars and just listen sometimes you hear something that could save a big cost. Good luck I too hope it's a cheap fix, keep me in the loop on what it was.