E85/E86 Steering Problems (Solved)

GuidoK said:
Roundozo said:
I can vouch for this fix. Done it on my coupe a while back and it's transformed the steering. Feels so much more planted on the road now. Great fix OP! :thumbsup:
You had sticky steering on your coupe?
Thats quite rare to have it on a FL car.

I wouldn't call it "sticky" steering like the pre facelift roadsters had it was more of a loose feel. All mechanical parts replaced but was still there. Moved the ring about 10mm and it feels much better. I believe the OP was a Coupe too.
 
Thanks all, will do it myself this weekend, its just the post talks mainly about wheel wobble not sticky steering.
 
Yay! Managed to get bolts loose with a couple of new tools!

So, I have left-hand drive car, and when I’m sitting in the driver’s seat, the motor is to the left of the steering column. Looking up under the column from the footwell, I can see both shoulders of the adjustment ring facing downwards. Anyone know which one to push upwards on to tighten - the one nearest to me (back of car) or the one furthest (front of car)?
 
Did mine this morning with an 8mm ratchet spanner, moved the ring approx 10mm with my fingers. Let’s hope that cures the sticky steering I’ve always had on a long run.
Easy job :thumbsup:
 
mac27040 said:
Did mine this morning with an 8mm ratchet spanner, moved the ring approx 10mm with my fingers. Let’s hope that cures the sticky steering I’ve always had on a long run.
Easy job :thumbsup:

10mm may be a little bit much in my experience.. I normally start with 5 and see how it goes, too much can introduce play and it then feels weird when the motor starts to spin. The ratchet spanner does make the job easier though doesn't it?

Mike
 
Hmmm this is interesting.

Almost all the time I've had the car I've had an occasional feint knock/rattle on rough gravelly farm type tracks.
It also does it on those sharp edged block type speed bumps.


I've never noticed significant wandering at speed, but it's not what I'd call super planted either.

I just had insp2 and asked specifically about rack looseness (again and again over the years) and it was deemed solid.



This is interesting because the looseness is between the 'assistance' and rack, not in the steering connection itself.

I'm very tempted to tighten mine 3mm and see if the rattly noise goes away and higher speed solidity improves.




On a related note. My new F30 steering has a loud knock from the steering when the car is off. But there is clearly no play.

It goes away once it's started. I heard the techs mentioning electro magnetic something or other.

I'm wondering if the newer EPS have a system that simply pulls the gears tight during operation to a desired force, so removing/reducing any issues with thermals, wear over time etc.
 
Ducklakeview said:
mac27040 said:
Did mine this morning with an 8mm ratchet spanner, moved the ring approx 10mm with my fingers. Let’s hope that cures the sticky steering I’ve always had on a long run.
Easy job :thumbsup:

10mm may be a little bit much in my experience.. I normally start with 5 and see how it goes, too much can introduce play and it then feels weird when the motor starts to spin. The ratchet spanner does make the job easier though doesn't it?

Mike

Went for a drive a steering feels more responsive. :thumbsup:
 
Just been playing with mine (my car, that is). On left-hand drive car it is counterclockwise to tighten (same as for right-hand drive), looking at the front of the motor, as in original pics.

Initial testing seems to show that tightening a bit has fixed the twitchiness at 70 mph. Pretty pleased with the result! Thanks so much, OP! :rofl:
 
Drove my car for a week after moving the adjuster approx 10mm, think that’s too much!! As it was a lot stiffer. So I have adjusted it back by 5mm and much nicer drive :thumbsup:
 

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This is for right hand drive models

Right had another play with this, originally moved it 10mm towards the pedals which made the steering heavy and guessing reduced power steering input, moved it back 5mm and still had sticky steering, after reading the TIS manual i moved it 5mm the other way from the original setup and what a difference, no sticky steering :driving:
 

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After moving mine it feels great now on the motorway. But, when I’m driving (more noticeable with one hand) on a straight motorway and go to change lane , The steering wheel needs a slight amount of force to move out of the 12 o’clock position.
Is this typical normal electric power steering symptom I’ve never noticed or is it due to the adjustment I’ve made ?
 
I’ve just had a play with the steering as described. Was fiddly but when I managed to get the bolts loose (8mm ratchet spanner) the ring moved easily. First went 5mm the one way - steering was a little more twitchy so must have turned the wrong way. Tried 5mm from OE position the other way (moving bottom of ring towards the driver) and all is much better!

I reckon you loose a bit of feedback through the wheel but let’s be honest it wasn’t ever great. However it’s more the made up for by the stability. Had a quick bash down a bumpy B road near me and felt so much more confident on it. The wheel wasn’t deflected in the way I’m used to, and so the car held the line better, particularly straight ahead where I always found it would wander more due to no pressure on the rack.

Really pleased with this fix. Thanks to those who have brought this to the rest of us!!!
 
Rob_benton said:
After moving mine it feels great now on the motorway. But, when I’m driving (more noticeable with one hand) on a straight motorway and go to change lane , The steering wheel needs a slight amount of force to move out of the 12 o’clock position.
Is this typical normal electric power steering symptom I’ve never noticed or is it due to the adjustment I’ve made ?

Back the ring off ever so slightly, The smallest amount of movement really changes the feel.
 
I have just done this on my Zed, after having the horrendous 'sticky steering' I have managed to get rid of most of the sticky symptoms. it was originally most obvious when taking sweeping long bends, that feels like it has gone. I did have to move the ring CW (as looking from the footwell up) around 20mm.

However there is still some stickiness then, but only when the steering is only just off dead straight, it feels a bit more stiff and notchy just off centre in each direction. I have tried giving the UJ's under the bonnet a good dollop of grease, but still cannot get it to go away.
 
jamesymurray said:
I have just done this on my Zed, after having the horrendous 'sticky steering' I have managed to get rid of most of the sticky symptoms. it was originally most obvious when taking sweeping long bends, that feels like it has gone. I did have to move the ring CW (as looking from the footwell up) around 20mm.

However there is still some stickiness then, but only when the steering is only just off dead straight, it feels a bit more stiff and notchy just off centre in each direction. I have tried giving the UJ's under the bonnet a good dollop of grease, but still cannot get it to go away.
That seems a big move,most only move around 5mm.
 
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