'95 Honda Civic DX steering problem

[cems70]

Hi everyone,

About 5 weeks ago, the steering became stiff when turning the steering wheel all the way to the right at slow speeds (approximately 5 - 10 mph): the steering wheel did not turn back the other way on its own after finishing the turn. It has been getting progressively worse: the steering is getting more stiff and happens well before the steering wheel is at the end of its range. And it's happening when I turn the steering wheel left now as well. I can now crank the steering wheel all the way to the left or the right and drive in an empty parking lot at 5 - 10 mph with my hands off the wheel, and the steering wheel will stay locked while the car drives in a circle. Is it a bad steering rack? Ball joints? Tie rod ends?

Steve

[add|ct]

I had difficulty steering with worn outer tie rods/torn boots on my 92 Hatchback and got that fixed recently. Replacing the outer tie rods/boots has returned steering wheel to normality. Before this, the CVs were replaced a year ago.

Steering rack could be gone by now if something else has been slide for a long while. If you know a Honda master tech, get him to give you a diagnosis(some places give free diagnosis if you let them do the work); or jack up the car from the front(both front tires off of the ground) and check for play at 3 and 9 o'clock as well as 12 and 6. You could also test the ball joint while it's jacked up. CVs tend to be noisy and have to do with the allowance for continual movement and shouldn't be related to the rack/pinion steering.

It sounds like your steering rack; or at least one/more components are failing there; or something else is hidden that needs to be diagnosed.

[cems70]

I replaced both axles about a year ago when one of the CV joint boots tore and the others were cracking. No noise from the CV joints. The fact that there's symmetry (stiff steering both left and right) would seem to indicate it's a steering rack or something that effects both sides.

[add|ct]

I'm new myself to the car game, so if it is the rack why not get a reliable tech to diagnose it for you and see if they waive the diagnosis fee if you agree to have them replace whatever is the problem?