Weird steering wheel break over....snaps over

[six2midnight]

So I had a bad steering linkage guibo, which made the steering VERY wobbly. I removed the rack and changed out the guibo to a solid one from akg/catuned. this FIXED the steering wobble.

My problem now is that sometimes if i turn the wheel from center i will get to a point right after turning the wheel where it breaks over. it almost tightens up a little and then snaps over and turns the rest of the way.

To me it sounds like the u joint on the linkage is binding and then snaps over. but im ruling out the linkage, because im not an idiot and was in perfect working condition when i swapped the guibo out.

I also want to note ive had problems with the steering ever since i bought the car, between the wheel wobble, and the steering lock not working. the previous owner broke it or something.


any other thoughts or wear points? Thanks in advance

[turbo55]

when changing the steering guibo, did you modify anything? from what I recall, you need to cut some spacers down because otherwise the linkage will be too long, or something like that

[cgk_iii]

What year is the car?

[AndrewBird]

Sounds like it was binding before, but wasn't noticeable with the worn guibo. Might have even been the reason it wore out.

I'd pull the joint off and make sure the steering column lines up with the rack.

[six2midnight]

No the disk should be a direct replacement. It's same thickened and all.


The car is a 91. So air bag but I have a non air bag wheel on it

[dewme5]

Something is binding. Could be the a loose rack, worn joints, something touching the column in the engine bay, etc.

[six2midnight]

If the car is in the air and I turn the wheel it doesn't do it. Only when the wheels are on the ground

[cgk_iii]

i had that issue when I swapped a non air bag wheel on my 90. Forgot to remove the white pin that's at the 11oclock position on the steering column caused it to catch every time I turned

[six2midnight]

My white pin is def removed but yes that will cause problems.

Now there is an alignment mark on the knuckle to rack. Do you think this matters because I don't have an airbag anymore so if the wheel isn't straight I can just remove the wheel and reinstall in the straight position

Or would the position of the knuckle and mark on the rack still matter? That's the only thing I can think of. I'm not sure it aligns. But I have replaced racks in other e30s and never had this problem

[AndrewBird]

Shouldn't matter.

Maybe your strut mounts are binding?

[six2midnight]

I don't think so because I only changed the guibo. Never did it before. And I haven't touched the struts