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No Brainer: Wheel Bearing... Right? Posted by Arabiflora [Email]  (#1129) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Arabiflora) on Tue, 5 Jan 2010 15:13:14
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'88 900S, 391k mi. Have been experiencing intermittent bouts of steering shake in which the car goes rather swiftly from true-tracking champ to a wibbly-wobly, steering wheel shaking death trap. The shaking is not rhythmic or (significantly) related to gear engagement. It seems to originate in the PS front wheel and at its worst it feels like the lug nuts are missing or loose such that the wheel shifts randomly from toe in to toe out and those changes are transmitted through the steering rack to my hands.
Upon searching this board and inspecting various suspect areas of the car (at its age there are many such) I suspected that one or more rotors were warped and the root cause of the problem. I replaced both and installed new pads. I also swapped tires front to rear (rears were in better shape). That solved the problem... for a while, but it has recently returned.
Here's the oddest thing and a possible clue: Upon transition to bucking bronco, I've found that I can "fix" the problem by parking the car and executing a reverse with turning-- like coming out of a parking lot stall. I'm 3/4 with this fix, with the lone failure early before I recognized that it takes a reverse and turn, a short straight reverse didn't cut it.
I have yet to identify what sets it off. Roads here in Madison are pretty crappy and bumpy this time of year, but asphalt patch speed bumps or potholes don't do it. I have a sense that the onset may be related to engine braking (not intense, just taking the foot off the gas in anticipation of, say, a 35 mph corner). There's a tiny bit of wobble in PS wheel when tested by grabbing top and bottom of tire, but it's not obviously sloppy.
Notwithstanding the last, I still suspect the PS wheel bearing, mainly because I can't see any other likely sources. Control arms look fine, as do ball joints, tie rod ends and CV joints-- and I assume that if any of these were bad the problem would be constant, not intermittent, and not "fixable". The scenario I have in mind for WB is that it's going bad and can slip out of its race and/or bearing tracks. A hard reverse (with turn) pops it back into line where it is stable-- sometimes for >100 miles of driving under an extreme range of conditions.
Does this diagnosis make any sense at all or should I be looking elsewhere? Any thoughts would be appreciated, I'd hate to go through the R&R and find out it didn't help...
Scott
, Tue, 5 Jan 2010 15:13:14 <-- Viewing This Message
, Tue, 5 Jan 2010 17:10:44
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