Hello all. I just wanted to share a problem I am having with my '04 ralliart. I have only noticed at slower speeds since steering quickly at higher speeds is not usually a good idea. When turning quickly one direction and then back the other direction the steering lags/freezes temporarily, usually only for a half second or so. I have almost run into a couple of cars trying to park my car. The dealer has replaced the steering rack in hope of solving the problem. Nice try but no luck. Two days without my car sucked too since they gave me a Neon. I never thought it felt mechanical, leaning more towards a fluid resistance problem. I was wondering if anyone else has been having problems or has any ideas on what this could be. I don't know a whole lot about the steering system and my only idea is the steering pump. I am going to suggest this to the dealer when I take it back on Tuesday. Thanks.

 

When you say your steering lags/ freezes, what physically is it doing to the steering wheel? Not allowing you to continue your fluid turn of the wheel or what exactly? Not to put a damper on anything, but I believe once you've taken a newer vehicle in for repairs on the same exact issue and they can't resolve it...that should be cause enough to list the car as a "lemon" and to have it replaced.

 

yeah, but the lemon law lets them try more than once. in any case they told me, and I agreed with them, that they have no idea and are just trying things to see whether or not it fixes the problem. When I am turning one direction and quickly reverse direction the wheel presents a huge amount of resistance briefly and then begins to turn normally. The faster I am turning the wheel the longer the resistance period.

if they don't fix it, it will definitely be a lemon

 

The Lemon idea can wait, give them a chance to fixe the problem.

Replacing the rack is a big deal. That is where most of the problem should have came from. It is possible the steering shaft from the wheel to the rack is not machined properly which replacing that would be major but could be part of the problem. The PS pump it self can often sometime develop premature bearing wear and can actually stick for a second and then go which would be possible here. I need a more definite feel for your problem or more explanation.

They should also do a fluid pressure test on your car and then do it on a brand new one if available. All this info is in the servic manual, there is huge amounts of information on the rack/and diagnostics they can do. I am actually surprised they jumped to replacing the rack so quickly, that is a good sign.

 

I had some steering problems too and I took my car in and it was magically fixed while they said nothing was wrong... I've had that happen a few times... I think that if it is something small they just fix it and don't tell me... but yeah I took off quickly the other day and took a turn and the steering didn't correct itself after the turn...

 

Possible power steering issue, and lemon law is for 3 attempts to fix one concern or 14 consecutive days in repair.

 

It could be the rotary valve. It blocks the fluid until you start turning the wheel, then opens the side of the rack to push whichever way you are turning. If the rotary valve is screwed, something like this might happen.

 

That a pretty serious issue. I'd raise hell until they replace your car. You don't want to end up crashed or dead, do you?

 

I was thinking the same thing. If I hit someone in a parking lot what are they gonna do for me then? The guys down at the shop have not been the nicest either. When I brought the car in and told the "asst mgr" (as*hole in my book) he asked me what was I doing to make it do that like I was doing something I was not supposed to be. I told him I was steering. If they don't expect us to drive our cars hard why do they make them?

As far as more detaili goes, consider driving autocross style with extreme steering wheel speeds. Now after turning fast to get around a cone you turn fast the other direction to get around another. As you are doing so the wheel is moving at a high rate of speed and all of a sudden it gives a large amount of resistance, almost as if you don't have power steering and are stopped. You can still force the wheel, but it doesn't go very far. After about a half second or so the power returns to the system and the wheel continues to move. Graphically speaking -- is smooth and ** is resistance so ---------change direction---------**-----change direction-----*****------change direction-----***---- The resistance is rarely the same spot or length of time. The only correlation I can find is between the speed of the steering wheel and the length of time of resistance. Faster -- Longer.

Thanks again for your help!

 

Call the Mitsu customer service and file a complaint. Dealers usually start listening then. If not find another Mitsu dealer. This is a safety issue. You could also file a complaint with the NHSTA and even if you like file a complaint with the dealership at the Better Business Bureau. If you raise enough stink they will fix anything you want or even replace the car. Ask when the district rep is going to be in, if he is not a douche bag he should treat you far better. If this is a repeatable issue and not intermittent then the dealer/Mitsu will not have a leg to stand on.

 

The valve is internal in the rack though, and he has mentioned that the rack has already been replaced.

Does the lancer have a vario assist power steering like the dsms used to have?
The resistance of the power steering varied by rpm , so that at higher rpms/higher speeds the power assist was lesser, works great and all but at low speed high rpm situations steering was more difficult.

Kyle.

 

it doesn't matter anyway because it does it in second or first gear at lower or higher rpm's. Thats why I think it is a fluid flow problem. The fluid is at the proper level and it has been doing this since I got the car so it's not an age thing with the fluid (shouldn't be at 15000 anyway). I am leaning towards power steering pump b/c of the fact that it has no discernable cause aside from steering fast. Can anyone else duplicate this issue or is my car unique with this problem? I want to rule out an oem part problem before I let them rip my car apart again. Just try doing what I described a few times very fast and either post or pm me. Thanks.

 

Hey Dan,

I know exactly what you are talking about. I did a performance driving school for learning how to drive auto-x. We had to increasing and decreasing slalom. During the inreasing slalom I had 1st tried it in 1st gear. After about 4 turns the steering wheel was soo hard to turn that I could barely make the cones. I had tried it in 2nd gear and the problem was still there but not as bad. From what I could gather is that the RA has a mechanical steering pump (powered by the serpentine belt) When the throttle is let go the RPM's drop and so the amount of power to the steering rack is reduced, thus giving us this hard steering feel. I also noticed that the fluid might have been overheating from the slalom. Some of the more experienced guys giving the course knew about the issue with mechanical steering as other vehicles with electric assist never had this issue. I think its a design issue with the car. I've only had it happen a few times after repeated side to side use (slalom) and also when auto crossing when braking hard(threshold braking) and turning into a very tight section. It seems that the pump cannot come back fast enough when RPM's are low.

eric

 

You are the first person who has actually exp the same thing, but I think my issue is more random than what you are describing. Correct me if I misunderstood but you are saying that after a few times back and forth the steering wheel offered resistance the entire time you were turning it. Mine only does this for a brief period of time (less than a second) and then regains power. I hope yours is still under warranty.

I would still like some other people, if willing and quick enough with the wheel to try and duplicate my issue. If this is a bad part in general we may all be due for some warranty/recall work. The steering system is a very important part of the safety of a vehicle and if I have to swerve to avoid a little kid and my steering locks up it's mitsu's fault because they know about my issue. That may not be the case for someone who doesn't have documentation. Verify whether or not you have this issue before it's a problem. Up until right now I had only thought about hitting another car, now I am wary of driving around anyone at all. Thanks for everyones feedback so far and I look forward to reading about all of your results.

 

Ah, didn't know the valve was in the rack. P/S pump is the only thing I can thing of too.