Steering wheel wants to turn right while idling, steering gear adustment or front-end alignment?

[MoPar~Man]

1967 Monaco. Front stub replaced, steering gear moved to new stub. No alignment done (yet). Tie rod adjusters adjusted by eye. Upper control arm bolts tightened in center positions. All new bushings, tie rod ends, ball joints, etc. Torsion bar height adjustments made. Front end has suitable height, maybe not perfect. Wheels look straight. Only requirements I have is that I can maneuver the car in the driveway for now.

Upon engine start, with wheels pointing forward and steering wheel in correct center position, the steering wheel will start turning by itself to the right and basically point the tires all the way hard right. It takes almost no effort to put a hand on the wheel and prevent this from happening, and if I steady the wheel while the engine settles down I can let it go and it will stay still but it's like on a hair trigger to go hard right. This is power steering.

I looked at the service manual, in the power steering section, looking at the list of problems - solutions. They do not describe this problem.

I vaguely recall that if you take the valve body off the steering gear that you will get this problem unless you putz with it during re-assembly? In this case, I did not remove the valve body.

Could this be just a case of wrong camber / castor? I totally don't know where I am in this regard, I aim to get that set correctly at some point soon.

Comments?

 

[Big_John]

I vaguely recall that if you take the valve body off the steering gear that you will get this problem unless you putz with it during re-assembly? In this case, I did not remove the valve body.

That does sound like the valve body is off. That is the only cause I've seen.

You removed and replaced the engine, correct? It's not out of possibility that the valve body got a little knock by a swinging engine. It happens.

Lots of threads on the subject here. I've never had to adjust one, so I'm not the guy to advise on that.

 

[CBODY67]

Adjustment procedure is covered in the USA C/D/P factory service manuals. Takes a bit of time, unfortunately, but done once is all it has to be done. Not a model-year-specific item.

Enjoy!
CBODY67

 

[MoPar~Man]

Adjustment procedure is covered in the USA C/D/P factory service manuals. Takes a bit of time, unfortunately, but done once is all it has to be done. Not a model-year-specific item.

Enjoy!
CBODY67

Adjustment of what? The steering gear, or the castor / camber / toe ?

Why doesn't the service manual describe this situation in the problems / solutions section?

And one more variable to add to the mix - the power steering fluid. I was using ATF+4. After the stub swap, I have some sort of generic, actually labelled "power steering fluid" fluid. And again, this gear unit was operating properly before the swap. I did replace the worm shaft oil seal and a big o-ring.

 

[Davea Lux]

The top of the steering gear has a valve body (Pressure assist valve/spool valve) that is held in place by two bolts. The bolt holes on the valve body are slotted so that the valve body can be moved up or down. Moving the valve body will correct the self turning of the steering wheel, this should be noticeable if the wheel turns itself with the engine running and the car stopped. Scribe the position of the valve body before you take the bolts loose. That way you have a reference as to your starting point on the adjustment. You should have the wheels off the ground to make this adjustment. Note: it takes a very small amount of movement to cause the steering wheel to jerk violently to one side or the other if the adjustment is wrong. It will usually take only one or two mils to correct a self turning steering wheel. Adjustment of the spool valve is in the service manual section 19-11.

If the car only pulls to one side when driving, this is usually an alignment issue or a problem with unequal braking.

Dave

 

[JMC85284]

Go easy on the valve body adjusting (as in, don't start whacking like crazy with a ball peen - 1 or 2 light taps at most) and whatever you do, do NOT put your arm through the inner portion of the steering wheel when you start the car after adjusting it.