Technical Tips > Brakes, Suspensions, Steering, Wheels & Tyres

Further testing

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scottp:
Took out my '68 l36 for the first time on recent club run to Bathurst, have recently purchased the car and not driven it much before.  The 400 kms out to Bathurst and back gave me a great opp to find out more about the car.

One thing that required some extra driving attention was that there was a steering black spot between 11 and 12 on the steering wheel.  What I mean by this is that the steering did not respond to the initial 15 deg turn of the steering wheel on the left hand turns.

So from a driving perspective, when turning into a left hand corner, I had to over steer to get the car to turn in enough to take the corner (the small to medium grade corners the trickiest) and then when exiting the corner quickly return the steering wheel to a straight line or right hand turn.

The steering in a straight line was correct, there did not seem to be any alignment issues.  And steering to the right was responsive and as expected.

The car is original LHD, so no conversion here.

If anybody could offer any suggestions, as this would be helpful in getting the right repairs done.

I would not go for another run until I can get the issue fixed as not sure of how serious the problem could get, and besides it was very challenging to compensate for this problem when driving.

Chromie:
Hi scottp;ay
If you have the factory power steering I would look at the control valve and its joint one or the other is causing the problem. Assuming that your wheel alignment has been set correctly.
If your Corvette does not have power steering i would look at the pitman arm to draglink joint.
Look at the rest of the front suspension for wear/play while you are at it.
Hope this helps:luv

77CVT:
;51    I need a new one for my '71 too.

If Chromie hasn't got one go - here

scottp:
Had another look at it and found that the power steering issue (on left hand turns only) does not occur until after 5 or so kilometeres of city driving, so heat must be a factor in this problem occurring.  Component/part in question must be failing when a certain temperature is met.
This was supported by fact that when car was parked for a number of hours, the problem was not apparant until again drove some kilometres.  

Final test, car hot (after driving 10 - 15 klms) but parked, response to steering wheel was normal on left side.  So heat not only factor, but loading also required, under driving conditions.

So part/component fails only in driving conditions after temperature has risen to normal operating level............
Or perhaps abnormal heat is being created and this is causing failure nder driving load.

Keeping in mind that this is not a full failure but, only in a certain range indicated between 10.30 and 11.30 on steering wheel.

Think that next step is take to an experienced Corvette repair shop and get a closer look.  Summer's on the way and the car has been waiting.....  Anybody got any suggestions?

77CVT:
Get someone to wiggle the steering wheel just a tad to see if the rag joint is worn.  I'd say it is a seal or valve in the p/steering though.

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