Wobble when I turn

Karen89027 · Post by **Karen89027** » 29 May 2005, 04:03

Hello all,

I have an 89 Volvo 240 with 142,000 miles. I live in extreme heat in Nevada and a new problem just raised it's ugly head! Whenever I have to turn the steering wheel sharply to the left (at very slow speeds) I get a hard wobble on the left front.
I realize how silly it sounds but it started when the temperature went above 100 and I actually thought I was just losing traction on a melting paved driveway. (that's how it "feels") But it happens on all surfaces. No wobble going down the road, no pulling and the wobble only occurs when I'm turning the wheel to the left, sharply.

Have any ideas so I can intelligently ask some questions? I appreciate any input you can offer.

Thanks very much, Karen

LaRy · Post by **LaRy** » 29 May 2005, 04:20

Hi Karen. I actually have the same problem, so I tried to ask this forum 03 of May, "steering servo problem", no reply. I noticed that the servo fluid was rather low in my car and I have never changed the fluid either. Maybe I got air into my servo system, and you too. So I bought a bottle of servo steering fluid and changed all I could get out from the tank. Filled in new fluid, and according to instructions tried to get the air out of the system by turning the wheels to both extreme positions and keeping it there for a while 5 times. You should not press it in maximum position, just keep it there for some seconds. After that almost all of the problem disapeared. If I look at the wheel when turning I can someytimes see small vibrations, but I would say that it is not a problem any longer for me. It would be ineresting to hear from you if this would help you too.

pageup · Post by **pageup** » 29 May 2005, 22:43

Sounds quite logical... Karen you'd need to clarify if the 'wobble' is a vertical wobble (the car feels like it's moving up and down like it's got a big flat spot in the tire) or if it's steering wheel wobble... back and forth type - the wheel wants to wobble while you've got it turned to that extreme.

Interesting response Lary.

adrianpike · Post by **adrianpike** » 30 May 2005, 18:58

Like pageup said, it would help to know if it was a vertical wobble or a horizontal wobble.
It could also be your control arm bushings.

LaRy · Post by **LaRy** » 31 May 2005, 10:41

Hi. In my case it was wobbling in the same direction as turning the weels, close to maximum steering position. This happned just when the car was almost standing still or not moving, as when turning in sharply to a parking spot. As you know, a Volvo can really turn atound in a very small circle.

So I stopped the car, opened the door and looked at the left wheel when steering. I would say that it was wobbling something like

TAFinley · Post by **TAFinley** » 06 Jun 2005, 07:46

Park the car on a level surface. Grab the tire along a line passing through the diameter and parallel to the ground and try to wiggle the tire back and forth. Put some good strength into this or else it won't work; you can't hurt the car.

If there's a noticable wiggle, the steering rod (aka, tie rod) ends are shot and need to be replaced.

Grab the top of the tire and try to wiggle back and forth. If there's a noticable wiggle, the ball joints need to be replaced.

LaRy · Post by **LaRy** » 06 Jun 2005, 12:04

Hi, TAFinley. In my case it is no any noticable wiggle in the steering rods or ends. We have an inspection that is checking this every year. They have special tools and even special wobbling disks to put the frontwheels on to see every eventual wiggle. They speed up the wheel to check the berings. This wobbling is definitely coming from the power steering itself.