peugeot 405 - steering loose and wander (peugeot 405)

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Fri 12 Aug 2011 17:47
peugeot 405 - steering loose and wander (peugeot 405) - flowerloverman

Hi, i would like to ask for a little advice , i had the tracking done about 6 weeks ago , the 1st time it took this lad an 1 hour and 30 mins to do and it was all over the place afterwards, i took it back the next day and they spent another 45 mins on it , he showed me that the car was in specification, by taking me under car, right heres the prob, when driving the left hand front wheel feels loose, i could be driving down the road and for no reason it would feel as tho the wheel is steering to the left until i correct it with the steering wheel it doesnt matter what camber the road is set , it has also been clunking over minor bumps since the tracking was supposedly done, also the lad on the 1st occasion was using a hammer to knock some on the left hand wheel so mayb he has bent or dislodged something, it has become quite scary to drive , what i am asking is for any ideas to what come be loose or worn, i have tried the dry park method of check the steering for play and there is no movement lost between the steering wheel and the road wheels, so i`m pretty sure it isnt the steering rack which only leaves the suspension, hope someone could share some advice, thanks in advance ,simon

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Fri 12 Aug 2011 20:10
peugeot 405 - steering loose and wander (peugeot 405) - Peter.N.

If it has only occured since the tracking was done I would say it has to be that. Having said that uneven tyre wear can cause that sort of thing and if the tracking was out before it could now feel odd as a result. Have a look at the tyres and see if the tread is the same depth all over.

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Sat 13 Aug 2011 00:27
peugeot 405 - steering loose and wander (peugeot 405) - flowerloverman

If it has only occured since the tracking was done I would say it has to be that. Having said that uneven tyre wear can cause that sort of thing and if the tracking was out before it could now feel odd as a result. Have a look at the tyres and see if the tread is the same depth all over.

Hi peter, let me just say thanks for all your help in previous issues, the tyre on that side appears to be wearing evenly, it really does feel as tho something is loose on that side, 1 thing i forgot to mention in my original post was if the car has been sat a while , i can grasp the wheel at 12o clock and make a slight clunk by pulling on it slightly, i also get some movement (but not alot ) if i push and pull on the spring seat on the shock tower, i was reading the haynes manual earlier as to find some sort of clue and i wonder if a bush has failed or more serious the top mount/bearing has given up, do you reckon this could be causing the symptoms i have described also as well as the tracking being a bit skew wiff, thanks for your reply, simon

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Sat 13 Aug 2011 10:26
peugeot 405 - steering loose and wander (peugeot 405) - Peter.N.

Hi Simon

Any movement in the suspension/steering needs investiigating. The most likely cause of unstable steering would be the track rod ends, these will also rattle. Have you checked them, especially on the side that's giving the problem? If you jack the front wheels off the ground and try moving them as the steering would, you should be able to feel the slack if there is any.

The problem could be due to a partially siezed bearing at the top of the strut so while you have the car jacked up try moving the wheel from lock to lock and see if you can feel any resistance.

Peter

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Mon 15 Aug 2011 20:43
peugeot 405 - steering loose and wander (peugeot 405) - flowerloverman

Hi Simon

Any movement in the suspension/steering needs investiigating. The most likely cause of unstable steering would be the track rod ends, these will also rattle. Have you checked them, especially on the side that's giving the problem? If you jack the front wheels off the ground and try moving them as the steering would, you should be able to feel the slack if there is any.

The problem could be due to a partially siezed bearing at the top of the strut so while you have the car jacked up try moving the wheel from lock to lock and see if you can feel any resistance.

Peter

Hi peter i jacked the car up yesterday and checked the track rod ends and couldnt feel anything loose plus there is no rattling when driving, also i checked the strut top nut and this was tight plus i lifted the wheel up while watching the top mount and there was only the play you would expect from a rubber bush, i didnt steering the wheel while it was up tho ( i`m not too confident when doing things like this), i took it on a run of about 200 miles today and i have fine tuned the symptoms, when the steering wheel is turned (on a progressive corner ) in the direction of the corner i can feel the passenger side wheel kind of pulling a slight bit further than i have steered and this happens which ever direction i turn , so this means that the passenger side wheel is definatly the offending side, i was going to book it in with a garage but i have booked the mot for 3 weeks away so i might as well kill 2 birds with 1 stone and pay the same amount for other things to be done as well as this problem , you never know it may well turn out to the tracking problem that we 1st thought of, take care simon
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Mon 26 Sep 2011 00:00
peugeot 405 - steering loose and wander (peugeot 405) - flowerloverman
Hi, first i would like to say a big thankyou to peter whom contributed to this thread, i have learnt a fair bit from the symptoms and parts to look for in the future, right, the car went in for mot and failed on- brake pipes, some welding required, broken brake valve and a wishbone bush that was said to have caused the problem , the car now has a full years mot and 7 advisorys to be getting on with mainly an crankshaft oil seal leak and a power steering leak although this was confirmed not to be the rack seals but some sort of damper as the mechanic said, again a big thank you , take care simon

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Mon 26 Sep 2011 12:28
peugeot 405 - steering loose and wander (peugeot 405) - Peter.N.

Could possibly be the top bearing as that would change the camber setting. If it is worn you should be able to move the top of the strut with the car jacked up, try levering it if you can't move it by hand, if it moves more than a few though that could well be the problem - very unusual though.

Peter

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Wed 11 Jun 2014 19:11
peugeot 405 - steering loose and wander (peugeot 405) - vmturbo

Years out of date I know but it may help someone else!

Number one question is are the brakes spongy? Years ago I had this on a Ford Granada that was guzzling tyres. I paid to have the tracking done but all along it was a failed front wheel bearing that had never been noticed! (It was noticed at the tyre fitters where I had to go after all my spare wheels were knackered) Five or six quid for a bearing kit and the problem went away. The brake pedal became hard too!

On the Pug 405 the rubber bushes in the wishbones often wear out. The bushes are not expensive but fitting them can be rather time consuming. Watch out for rolled-thread bush bolts that have their thread a larger diameter than the bolt shank. I saw this on a 306 van that had failed its MOT on worn bushes (slack bolts actually!) You just cannot get the right staff these days! All that was needed was to spanner-up the bolts well hard as on a Sunday it wasn't possible to buy new bolts that were parallel. Possibly the bolts are made that way to allow the suspension geometry to be altered but its more likely that the factory ordered the wrong bolts.

Bottom ball joints are also suspect but there are several types. Usually the ball joint on Peugeots is fitted into a steel bracket that can be unbolted from the wishbone and this makes the job much easier than on cars where the drive shaft nut has to be removed.

Typically those drive shaft nuts are torqued-up to about 200 to 300 foot pounds but once they have rusted for ten or more years removing them will need a 3/4" drive socket set and a scaffold pole, wheel chocks and a method of wedging the brake pedal. A DIY air wrench will have no chance whatsoever of loosening nuts like those.

Good luck!

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Wed 11 Jun 2014 22:12
peugeot 405 - steering loose and wander (peugeot 405) - vmturbo

Incidentally every single time that I have paid for wheel alignment it has been money down the toilet. The Granada with the duff wheel bearing I have already mentioned. There was also a Rover 800 where the tyres were feathering on the insides. I was having two new front tyres anyway so I said that the steering alignment must be out hence it needed checking.

The boss got a YTS girl to hang the wheel alignment equipment on the tyres. At the rear there were two laser pointers and at the front I seem to remember that there were two little mirrors. The wheel alignment was declared to be perfect and I was charged twenty quid extra! Grand Total £140 for a pair of 195/65 x 15 tyres that were only one grade up from rock bottom! Nowadays I can buy a PAIR of Chinese steel braced radials for half of that price!

I have since done a better job using angle irons recycled from old beds. Bushes need to be made that screw onto the wheel studs. Needless to say the bushes need to be of identical length. The angle irons are then bolted on and they can be set to be parallel using a tape measure. (some simple geometrical calculations will be needed if toe-in is desired) My home made wheel aligner has outperformed those (rhymes with anchors) at the tyre fitters every time as the measurements are derived from the hubs and not the wheel rims. Incidentally the angle irons reclaimed from old beds are high-carbon steel not mild steel which bends easily so there is method in the madness.

Edited by vmturbo on 11/06/2014 at 22:24

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