All About Auto

Car trouble symptoms:  Steering wheel or steering column feels loose.

Car problem possible cause: Loose component of steering shaft/column

Car problem diagnosis: Steering wheels are connected to the steering gears through a steering shaft. The steering column serves as housing of the steering shaft that connected through steering column bracket. Usually a problem of looseness on steering wheel or steering column is caused by a looseness of steering column bracket. Another possible cause is a loose coupling or universal joint, the coupling or universal joint is a component that connects the steering shaft and the steering gear. When these components are loose it will be transferred on the steering column and the steering wheel.    

What to do: Bring your car to the car shop and ask the mechanic to check the components of steering shaft /steering column. 

Car trouble symptoms: Steering wheel vibrations at certain speed.

Car problem possible cause: Imbalance front wheels / loose front end parts.

Car problem diagnosis: When the steering wheel vibrates at a certain speed the possibility is that the car has imbalance front wheel or loose front end components.  When the front wheel is imbalance it means that there is a heavy spots on the wheel or simply the weight of the wheel unevenly distributed all throughout the wheel when the wheel rotates and can be notice at certain speed. To make the balance a small metal called wheel weights is place on the wheel assembly, when the wheels weights comes off due to many factors, then the wheel become imbalance again.

Likewise when there is a loose front end part vibration on steering wheel also happens, usually parts like tie rod and ball joints is the one causing vibrations when loose. Severe vibrations happens when the car reach a certain speed, the vibration will then be transferred to the steering wheel. 

What to do: When you encounter this kind of problem the first thing to do is to have the front wheel balance.  Any tire shop has this kind of service. Usually this will fix the problem, however when the problem still occur then bring the car to a car shop and ask the mechanic to inspect the front end for any loose parts. 

Car trouble symptoms: Steering feels loose at higher speed.

Car problem possible cause: Over inflated front tires or One or more loose front end components.

Car problem diagnosis: Steering that feels loose is usually cause by overinflated front tires or a loose front end components therefore the first thing to do is to check whether the front tires is over inflate or not. Using a tire gauge measure the tire pressure of both the front tires, compare the results on the recommended tire pressure for your car model. The recommended tire pressure can be seen on the car owner’s manual or printed on the stickers located on the driver side front door. If the result is higher that the recommended pressure then this cause the problem.  Tire that is overinflated has a tendency to bounce around while the car is running.  When a car runs fast the more the tire bounce, this bouncing will then be transmitted to the steering that is why the steering feels loose or sloppy. 

However when the tire pressure is within the standard then the possible problem is a loose or worn front end component.  Frond end components are those parts located underneath the front of a car those parts are tie rod ends, control arms, and ball joints. When these parts are worn or loose the effect is the steering feels loose or sloppy. 

What to do: If the problem is overinflated tire, deflate the tire to the recommended tire pressure. This will improve the steering, if problem still occur bring the car to the shop and ask the mechanic to inspect the front end for any loose or worn parts then repair or replace if necessary.


What to do: If you encounter this kind of problem the first thing to do is to check the power steering fluid level. If the fluid level is low there is a leak somewhere in the system, locate the leak and repair if necessary then ad hydraulic fluid on the system. However if there is enough fluid on the system then the possible problem is the steering pump, bring the car to the shop and ask the mechanic to inspect the power steering system particularly the steering pump and repair if necessary.