Rep Power: 0

Is it just me, or do our cars have VERY fragile alignment.....mine keeps pullin the the left. I got it fixed, and they did some work to the casters, it helped for awhile, but not anymore....man i'm tired of it cuz it costs quite a bit each time to realign it. (which is every two oil changes or so)

 
Rep Power: 0

Everything seems fine on mine.

 
Rep Power: 0

You probably have a faulty steering rack. I had the same problem on my Acura EL and a mechanic friend of mine said the internal gearing of the rack has too much freeplay. So even if you did a perfect alignment the moment you drive off it'll be screwed up again. I tried to explain that to my dealer but the service writer said if my power steering is functional and there's no fluid leak they won't do anything to it. This is one of the reason I sold the EL...the car never tracks the road on the highway and I always need to make correction to the steering. As I drive 100km each day on the highway it gets very tiring and there's no way I'll pay $1000 out of my own pocket to replace the rack on a 14 months old car.

 
Rep Power: 0

I'm glad you told me about that steering rack....i need to get mine checked out...although my new alignments seem to last longer than yours did; mine will be ok for an oil change or two, and then it will pull to the left again...hmm....anyway, how do you like your Protoge 5?...i really like the style and such, but i have yet to drive one.

 
Rep Power: 0

40,000km's 1 offroad experiance that caused $2800CAD in damage to my car..Alignment never adjusted...still dead on [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

 
Rep Power: 0

The P5 is very nice. It's more of a driver's car compare to the EL. The seats, suspension/handling/steering feel and built quality are better than the EL (and in some cases it's alot better). On the other hand the shifter is not as nice. The throw is a bit long and rubbery and the car can use another 30 horses. I've already ordered a B&M short shifter/new bushing and need to find time to get it installed. It's suppose to shorten the throw by 42% and get rid of the rubbery action according to other P5 owners. The engine has decent pickup thanks to more low end torque but it runs out of breath a bit too early. Overall...a very nice daily driver that you can have alot of fun in the twisties.

Back to your problem...definitely get it checked out and maybe your dealer will try to replace the rack for you.

 
Rep Power: 0

Do you have stock tires and wheels? Caster settings if not corrrect will cause pulling, I wonder though how the mechanic sets the caster becasue normally theres no adjustment bolt. I remember back in the day the only way to set Caster on strut type front ends was to bend them. I wonder, hmm I'm going to check my service manual when I get home.

 
Rep Power: 0

To answer your question i have stock wheels and tires, another reason why i thought this was getting rediculous....Firefly, what you told

me about the Protoge5 sounds about the same as the new Protoge ES my gf's mom has....its 5speed feels rubbery also, and i notice the

out of breath feel when you're shifting higher, but like you said the lower end torque is nice.....i like the steering and suspension more

than my civic also, partly becasue its PROPERLY ALIGNED...haha. For awhile, i thought my bad alignment was due to the bad roads out

here....but for the last 4000 miles, i've been soooo good to it, taking it on smooth roads, and going 20/25mph on really bad ones around

my community...i feel like the old guy on my street who drives 20mph everywhere to preserve his TWO 3000gt's and new Corvette.

 
Rep Power: 0

If you have driven the Protege ES then it's pretty much the same as a P5. The handling on the P5 is actually slightly better than the ES because of better weight distribution and additional reinforcement in the chassis.

Is your alignment problem constantly pulling to one side only? Or does it pull left on one day and right on the next day like mine? It does that on the same stretch of highway that I drive through everyday. I told my mechanic friend about this. He tried it himself (set proper alignment, took it out for a 30 mins drive then went back onto the alignment computer and the front measurements are all screwed up). So he concluded I have a faulty rack.

 
Rep Power: 0

Do you have stock tires and wheels? Caster settings if not corrrect will cause pulling, I wonder though how the mechanic sets the caster becasue normally theres no adjustment bolt. I remember back in the day the only way to set Caster on strut type front ends was to bend them. I wonder, hmm I'm going to check my service manual when I get home.[hr][/QUOTE]


There is no Caster adjustment on our cars. I hit some crap in the road, bent a rim and blew out a tire. The caster on mine was off. I had to have the lower control arm replaced, because it was slightly bent and caused the caster problems.