Vauxhall Cavalier (1981 - 1988) - 94 1.6 Slack steering

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Sun 22 Mar 2009 20:52
94 1.6 Slack steering - Archie
Hi, my son is complaining of vague sterring on his car. I had a look yesterday and would have to agree. On occasions you can have 1/4 of lock on but still be going straight, esp when recovering form a turn. There appears to be no play in the steering at standstill. The PS fluid return hose from the rack to resevoir looks like it could do with replacement where it has rubbed against a brake pipe, but other than that there is no sign of leakage or any other fault. The column pinch bolts are tight and the flex coupling is in good order. Any ideas what could be the matter?
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Sun 22 Mar 2009 22:01
94 1.6 Slack steering - piston power
The PS fluid return hose from the rack
to resevoir looks like it could do with replacement where it has rubbed against a
brake pipe.


Forget the steering replace the brake pipe before you can't stop!

As for the rack any air in the system? whats the mileage?
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Sun 22 Mar 2009 22:45
94 1.6 Slack steering - Victorbox
Possibly the dreaded Cavalier cracked bulkhead problem? www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=431
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Sun 22 Mar 2009 23:07
94 1.6 Slack steering - topbloke
very possible, i sugest that the vehicle be inspected thoroughly before its driven again these were quite prone to the rack mountings on the bulkhead breaking away (the spot welds were not good enough) unfortnatly if this is the case if would be an un-economical repair as the engine would have to be removed, Regards TB
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Wed 25 Mar 2009 16:31
94 1.6 Slack steering - Victorbox
If you want to know where to start looking here are some SAAB photos - bulkhead & underpinnings are the same as a Cavalier. tinyurl.com/4xaxd7


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Thu 26 Mar 2009 14:21
94 1.6 Slack steering - Archie
Thank you for all your suggestions. The car has only done 116k. Thanks to the photos I know where to look for the cracking. Fingers crossed it's no worse than a dodgy rack.
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