Dead zone in steering wheel

[Kitten Tooth]

I have a 99' crown victoria police interceptor. When i first bought it last year, it had a small dead zone in the steering wheel. as i owned it the rear bearings went bad and the front was coming apart, He said it was the idler arm and maybe the tire rod ends in the front. Got it all fixed like last year in August. The mechanic who did it said he could not get the pitman arm to go in, he couldn't got the old one off. He said he didn't know if it was bad or not. The last two shops i took it too said it was fine. Afterwards i was supposed to get it aligned but i don't drive the car too often so i just drove it as it was. It pulled like a mofo. If you let go of the steering wheel it would SWERVE. I just had it aligned like 4 hours ago, i also had new tires switched over to my rims and put on as well. It no longer pulls at all, goes straight down the road no problem. But, there is a small dead zone between 11 and 1 O'clock on the steering wheel, maybe even alittle narrower than that. can i just get under the car and adjust something to fix the dead zone? Is there a part going bad? Oh yea and im new here. Um... Hi

[Stick462]

The stearing box is bad and needs replacement as the worm gear is probably worn out. A front end shop could try ajusting the slack in the gear but most times the box needs to be replaced. Phone around your local junk yards for a replacement.

[MagicRat]

Try the adjustment route first. When done properly, the box will feel better for several thousand miles. Eventually, that 'dead zone' will start to reappear at which point it can be readjusted again.
IMO a junkyard box may well be more worn than what you have, not worth the time to swap, imo, unless you know for sure its been rebuilt.

[Kitten Tooth]

Originally Posted by MagicRat

Try the adjustment route first. When done properly, the box will feel better for several thousand miles. Eventually, that 'dead zone' will start to reappear at which point it can be readjusted again.
IMO a junkyard box may well be more worn than what you have, not worth the time to swap, imo, unless you know for sure its been rebuilt.

THIS PLACE ROCKS! thanks guys, didn't even know that box existed.