Honda Civic Steering

[NickMorgan]

Our elderly neighbour, bless her, has decided to give up driving and has given us her 2003 Honda Civic for me to teach my daughter to drive in. It has only ever done local trips and has spent much of its life sitting outside her house. In recent months it has hardly been used. I put it in for an MOT and had to replace a front calliper and un-seize the hand brake to get a pass. However, it still has a steering problem. The steering doesn't self centre for the last quarter turn of the wheel. It will self centre to that point, but the last bit is really stiff. The local garage suggest that it needs a new rack.
Does this sound like the only cure, or can anyone advise something else that could be the problem?

[Toledo Man]

It might be from lack of use. It might improve once it gets more use. Were there any steering related advisories on the MoT?

[dollyman]

One way to check if it is the rack, is to jack it up and disconnect the track rod ends and see if the hubs swivel freely. It could be a siezed ball joint which will have no play and will not be picked up on the mot
The other thing to check, is there any joint between the steering wheel and the rack?
These can also seize up through lack of use Also you can check for tight spots while it is up in the air.

Cheers, Tony.

[Carledo]

My own take on this is that it's more likely to be a stiff lower balljoint in the suspension. On higher locks, the cars natural tendency to self centre overcomes any stiffness, as it gets nearer the middle the tendency decreases. Other possible suspects include the track rod ends and the macpherson strut top mount bearings.

The best way to check is to disconnect the track rod ends from the hubs and try turning the legs by hand, any marked disparity between the 2 sides will give you a clue.

It's unlikely to be the rack itself, (which I am assuming is PAS) the normal wear or failure tendency in a rack is the other way, sloppy in the middle and stiff at full lock.

If a lower balljoint is at fault, they are a bit of a PITA to change, being pressed into the bottom of the hub carrier, but it IS do-able as a home job with not much more than a vice, a big hammer, some suitable size sockets and a tad of lateral thinking.

Steve

[dollyman]

It looks like Steve and myself came to the same conclusion within a minute of each other
Great minds think alike

Cheers, Tony.

[NickMorgan]

It might be from lack of use. It might improve once it gets more use. Were there any steering related advisories on the MoT?

This is what I am hoping, and what the local garage suggested when they MOTed it for me. They told me that this fault wouldn't be picked up when they MOTed the car as it is purely a static test.

[NickMorgan]

It looks like Steve and myself came to the same conclusion within a minute of each other
Great minds think alike

Cheers, Tony.

Thank you Steve and Tony. That is a great idea. Yes, it is PAS. I will give this a try this weekend.