steering problem

[jveik]

i have an 88 accord, so far, my problem has occured 2 times and only while it is raining and the road is thoroghly wet...

at very low speed, for seemingly no reason at all, when you attempt to turn the car, sometimes it doesnt work... you can turn the wheel, but at regular intervals as you turn it, it feels like two gears slipping past each other, like the sudden "damnit" feeling you get when you strip the head off a screw. its wierd as hell, you can see the car turn a little bit as you are slowly moving, but every time the wheel "slips" it stops turning and just goes in the direction the wheels happen to be pointed to. scared the crap outta me when i almost hit a parked car the first time.

the wierdest thing is that the steering wheel both times has ended up right back where it is supposed to be, perfectly centered when the wheels are pointed straight ahead.

i took the m-f-er to a local honda dealership here in omaha, and described my problem, only to be told that i would need to pay them to put it on a lift and check it out. they suggested that it may be tie rod ends or maybe even the rack itself. i suggested it may be one of them male-female connectors that are interlocked with grooves that sit in each other (basically they are universal joints in the steering column and stuff) and that maybe when water gets in there, one is loose enough to make them slip past each other.

what do you guys think it might be? i think ill just have to get a different car for about a year until i get done with my truck's restoration (cant drive that sucker cause im waiting on the new smallblock 383 for it lol)

[SilverY2KCivic]

I'd say it could possible be the rack itself. But you mentioned it's done it ONLY when it's been wet out. How's your tires? If you have all-season or balding tires, that very well could be the culprate. I've made 20mph turns from one street to the other and had SEVERE understeer affects on a couple occasions with some crap ass tires that sucked badly in the rain. Scared the crap outta me too since I as well almost hit a parked car when my car only made half the turn then decided to go straight from there even with the wheels at full lock.

When this happens, do the front wheels SLIDE (like the wheels are turned but the car still goes straight) or does the actual steering stop and the wheels stop turning eventhough you're still turning the wheel more? Still a scary situation eitherway, be careful out there!!

[jveik]

Originally Posted by SilverY2KCivic

When this happens, do the front wheels SLIDE (like the wheels are turned but the car still goes straight) or does the actual steering stop and the wheels stop turning eventhough you're still turning the wheel more? Still a scary situation eitherway, be careful out there!!

yeah when it happens, the wheels themselves are not sliding, they simply are not pivoting when i turn the wheel, so they literally do whatever they want lol. i think so far it has only done it in right turns, but that may be a matter of chance, also i has always been at very slow speeds a.k.a. slower than an average person walking