Recently my 90 Accord LX (212K miles) was feeling like something was loose in the steering. Once closely inspected, the lower ball joint on the right side was a little loose. So, I replaced both lower ball joints in the front with ones from Checker auto (they were Mcquay-Norris brand). Well, that was a pain to change, but I got it all done in a couple days. Now, when I'm at highway speeds, the steering seems like it is really light - in other words, it goes straight just fine, but it feels like any minor steering makes the car want to swerve). I can control it, but it does not feel safe. I raised the car back up and checked both sides - everything feels nice and tight. I'm trying to figure out what could cause this - my guesses are:

1. the old ball joints were a lot stiffer since they were old, and the new ones just move more easily, hence the light steering

2. alignment is off (but the car doesn't pull to either side, so it seems unlikely)

3. shocks/struts worn (although it seems OK when I press down on each corner - the car comes back to a resting position within a bounce or two)

4. power steering malfunction - it is supposed to assist fully when the car is parked, but less and less the faster you go. Maybe it is malfunctioning and is assisting at highway speeds.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what might be the problem? Thanks in advance.

 

Hm, good one. I think 4 is the only possibility - check the PS fluid level, make sure the belt has proper tension. How are your tie rod ends looking?

 

I was just paging through my service manual trying to figure out my cruise control problem and saw the troubleshooting guide for power steering - too much assist at high speeds can be caused by unalignment. So get that done first before anything.

 

Yeah, thanks for that reply. The belts are both new and tight, and the tie rods seemed ok. I had called a repair shop and talked with a mechanic who said it probably wouldn't be an alignment problem, since the alignment shouldn't change with new ball joints installed. However, I was thinking of getting it done anyway just to see. The other possibility, regarding the power steering, I read that can be caused by either a faulty speed sensor or the gain control valve sticking (which is inside the PS control valve, near the steering gearbox). Well, I'll get an alignment done and post back here afterwards.

 

Oh yeah, and PS fluid is full (and works great when parked or at slow speeds).

 

...Honda says exactly what you described can be caused by misalignment. They know more than me.

A mechanic saying that new balljoints wouldn't affect alignment is absolutely asinine, it would undoubtedly affect alignment. Changing any suspension component that affects the wheel toe, camber or caster is going to affect the alignment.

 

I agree with what you said, and I only think that the mechanic was saying that usually, alignment problems are apparent by the car wanting to pull to one side. But anyway, today I took my car to a Car X since I had a coupon for four wheel alignment for $60. I dropped off my car, and about an hour later I got a call on my cell phone - the mechanic there said I have a few bushings that need to be replaced before an alignment can be done. He said that one of the bushings is in the rear, part of the upper control arm back there, and requires that the entire control arm be replaced (typical). He quoted a price of $560 for everything!!!! So of course I said no thank you, and went back to pick up my car. I'll probably look at it myself tomorrow. At least the mechanic was nice enough to specifically tell me where he noticed the bushings that were going bad. One, he said was in the front, where the lower control arm connects to the fork (it's not very easy to see, so it is very possible that I missed it when I looked). And the other is in the rear upper control arm (which I hadn't even looked at, since I had only done work on the front end). Well, I'll have to take a look, fix what I can, and see if that solves anything.

 

I just checked prices at Majestic Honda, and apparently what the Car X guy said about having to replace the entire upper rear control arm is not true. They sell all the individual bushings for any steering/suspension components (most of which are around $10-$20 each), so his quote of $560 is even more outrageous now.

 

An update for anyone who might have a similar problem someday: I went to replace the bushings in the front lower control arms today, bought from Checker auto (had to be special ordered, cost $70 for 4 bushings). I got the lower control arm completely off from the front right side, then to my horror saw that the bushings I had gotten were exactly the same size , but they should have been slightly different sized (the inner one is slightly smaller). The part numbers on the boxes I know were correct, because I checked online. So either the wrong parts were put in the boxes, or they were manufactured wrong (probably the first). So anyway, I returned the damn things, reassebled everything with the old stuff, and now I have to wait for the right parts to arrive (this time I'm ordering from Majestic Honda).

Also, I realized that removing those things is gonna take some effort. From what I've read you either need a heavy duty press, a torch and a lot of hammering, or pay someone at a car shop to use their press. I haven't decided which I'll do yet (but I'm leaning towards the torch/hammer). If anyone has advice on this (removing control arm bushings) I'd appreciate it. More updates to come.