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Hi, I have a 1999 Civic LX that I bought new. It now has 215k miles. It has always had problems with tight steering. It was in a major front accident when only 3k miles on it. At 60k the steering was tight and then the steering rack broke. Had it replaced but the place doing the repairs were shady operators. The new rack was a little tighter than normal. It has gotten a little tighter through the years until now it wont even return to center when making a turn. I recently changed the front struts, upper lower ball joints, tie rod ends and stabilizer links. (This was not for the tight steering.) I did change the power steering pump hoping that would cure the tight steering. No luck. I also noticed that when up off the ground with no fluid in the system and the car not running the steering was like butter. Nice, easy to move, beautiful. When I put the fluid in and ran it, even off the ground the steering became hard. I am going to try adjusting the steering rack guide adjustment. It is hard to believe that the rack is bad. No noises etc. Can anyone advise me here? Thanks.

 
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I had a 1994 Coupe that had tight steering. It simple felt like it just didn't have enough power and made the steering harder to turn. It was like that brand new. Other then a bellow boot broke at 100K, it never failed. Think there are checks like using an inch lb torque wrench on the steering wheel to check for bad bearings.

 
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Hi Folks,
I have a problem with my power steering. It has been going on for a long time. I have a 1999 Civic LX. Bought it new. It was in a bad front end accident with only 5k miles. It now has 220k miles on it. Wonderful car. My problem is tight power steering. I don't think it is the rack. No other symptoms except tight steering. It gets worse when its hot. No rattles, shaking etc. I just replaced the front struts, inner and outer tie rod ends, upper swing arms and ball joints, lower ball joints, brakes and stabilizer bar links. Had an alignment. I thought the tight steering was a bad pump so I replaced the pump. No change. Now this is the crazy part. While I had it off the ground. I turned the wheels lock to lock with no fluid in the system. It worked very very easily. But when I put the Power steering fluid in the steering tightened up dramatically EVEN WHEN IT WAS OFF THE GROUND. I am stumped. What would cause the system to work slicker with no fluid in it? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

 
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Merged threads because this is pretty much the exact same thing that was asked before.


I'd guess replace the rack.

And yeah an empty rack might be worked with less effort than one with fluid in it simply because you have to push fluid through the hydraulic system as you move the rack, but that alone doesn't mean a whole lot to me without more info.