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Steering Wheel Locking Up Whiles Reversing & Turning

45K views 28 replies 16 participants last post by  SK8URDEAD 
#1 ·
Yesterday my gfriend was driving my car and said it happened to her when she was reversing out of a spot at the Mall. She was reversing and turning the steering wheel sharply all the way to the right but the wheel would not turn back to the center until she moved the car out of R and into D (where it unlocked the wheel) and back into R again to get out of the spot.

Last night I was doing a 3-Point U-Turn on a small street and the same exact thing happened to me. So tonight I mention it and only now she confessed that it happened with her at the Mall.

Today it didn't give any trouble at all but my car at 56k miles is still relatively undriven for it's age and if this is a problem that may come up later I would like to nip it in the bud.

Any ideas?

(BTW: I already did a search and came up with one very vague thread from a couple of years ago describing a similar issue with steering wheel lock during reverse but no one replied to him)
 
#5 · (Edited)
I have the exact same issue, but here is the jist of my situation. When I make a full LEFT turn, the steering wheel turns a little more passed it's "lock" position and causes the steering wheel to almost lock into the turn and takes some effort to turn it back to center. I have been trying to figure out this issue for a long time now, and it's a very rare situation. Did you hit any potholes recently? <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:eek:ffice:eek:ffice" /><o:p></o:p>
 
#9 ·
Knowing you, I know the answer already, but just in case you haven't checked the PS fluid condition and/or level, I'd do that. It sounds like it isn't this, but stranger things have happened, right?

I'd also look around for maybe something that got kicked up into wheel/steering area. Although it sounds almost as if there's a nick in your steering rack or something, that seems unlikely. More likely that maybe a stone kicked up with tar on it, or just happened to lodge exactly where you don't want it, and that's restricting your turning. I doubt any of this is it...but figured I try suggesting easy stuff before you start rebuilding everything.

Doug
 
#11 ·
Only time I've experienced the wheel sticking to one side or the other, the alignment was off by a good bit (e.g. just after a rack replacement, following an impact). In these cases the wheel wouldn't totally lock into place, but would pull violently to one side or the other until it hit the stop.
 
#16 ·
I took my car to my mechanic today. He told that the control arms I had just changed had nothing to do with the steering problems that I was describing to him. He took the car on a drive and said that it was a little hard to turn the wheel so it might be the power steering pump. He also said that because when I turn the wheel the whole way left it goes past its stopping point and then gets stuck, that it could possibly be something called a steering gear. Those he said are like 1500 dollars. He said the only way it would be one of those is if it only happened when I turned left and not right. It has to be only one way. Please advise. Thanks.
 
#17 · (Edited)
I never heard of a steering gear? Did he say where it was?

By the way now that I replace my pulleys and belts my steering has actually improved 100%!

I assume that the old idler/tensioner pulleys were straining the power steering pulley and perhaps taking some power away from the pump system.
Now that the belts and spinning freely without extra vibrations from the old pulleys the pump is getting proper nourishment from the belt drive system
 
#18 ·
He said that the steering gear had another name called like rack and pinion. I asked him about my belts/pulleys/idlers ect and he said that I woukd hear noises, which I don't. So i'm assuming it's the power steering pump.
 
#19 ·
'steering gear' = steering rack

check the power steering, first the fluid and then the pump. i would put money on the power steering being your problem.

i bought a remanufactured steering rack for $140 on ebay and had it installed at the dealership for $380. That's a lot less than $1500.
 
#21 ·
Bump.

I just started experiencing this after flushing out my power steering fluid.
I recently just had my control arms/bushings replaced and an alignment done. Then I changed out the PS fluid and started noticing this. Delmarco and Dmax theory of my pulleys going bad could possibly be right on. I do notice loud squealing sounds where the belts are, but I'm not sure what's normal or not.

I've also had coolant leakage, very slow leak every few months I would have to add some coolant. However, I took it to the indy shop to have them run a pressure test and they could not find any leaks whatsoever and the cap they say still holds pressure. They told me not to worry about, but I didn't mention to them about the power steering (didnt know it was a problem until now) Could any of this be interrelated?
 
#22 ·
The coolant leaking is news to me...but that's another issue...though, coolant spraying onto belts would make them slip and could reduce power of pump...the loud squealing sounds could be that, or could be that a pulley is bad. Take a hose and hold one end in ear, the other by different pulleys...if one is bad, you'll know exactly which one.

While belts are off, check other pulleys...particularly the PS one (it's plastic I hear)...also try to pull the PS pulley off...as the shaft seems to break pretty often.

As far as a cooling leak...no, you shouldn't listen to dealer and not worry about it...wtf they thinking! Now, if this is a real slow leak...as in 3 oz. lost in 6 months...not such a big deal, but you need to monitor level anyway to see if this little leak gets worse.

If it's this slow, check for drips while running and at op temp...remove underskirt if you need to, but you should be able to see most coolant leaks from the front of engine...though I suppose some of the heater/engine cooling hoses might be involved (though I haven't ever read of one of them leaking).

Inspect radiator for a slow seep...mine seeped for a while...very slow leak...finally replaced when it was about 3 oz after a week or so of loss.

HTH

Doug
 
#26 ·
DESIGHN FAULT DOSENT DO IT ON 16" wheels which the base car was designed coupes do it worse the saloons and all cars with 17"s 18"s 19" are a nightmare I got 18"mv1 genuines and it does both ways worse to the right way before full lock really annoying jus do 5-6 point turns everytime now it really lock I beleve it's the track rod end catching the wishbones. Thers a write up on web somewhere actually quoting bmw themselves saying it just a charatistic of the model IE A DESIGHN FAULT LOL I still love the car and dissent bother me all in all but car looks stupid with 16" in my opinion.would like to know if the m3 has
this issue anyone??????
 
#28 ·
i have had the steering lock completely while trying to reverse, not even when my steering wheel was turned ... and it became unstuck when i put the car into drive and accelerated forward
this happened about 3-4 times
after the 2nd time, i actually had the power steering pump checked .. and even had the steering rack replaced
but it happened again after just a few days
however, this symptom has not reoccurred in several years

i also experience a thing where if i turn all the way right or left, the wheel will physically get "stuck" at the fully turned state
this happens all the time, anytime i turn the wheel all the way
:dunno:
i'm going to get an alignment soon ... will see if that makes it go away
 
#29 ·
i feel as though this is a automatic problem as everyone mentions place car into drive lol. sorry, just saying :p Manual FTW!
 
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