It’s been a good car for me, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s time to retire this old 1993 Accord that has seen every Michigan crap winter.
230,000 miles on it, runs good, 4 cylinder, 5 speed manual tranny.
When you’re driving down the road, 40 mph and up, and you want to make a slight correction with the steering to keep the car going straight down the road, it’s like the steering “catches”. It’s almost like there is a little “burr” in the steering. It’s not real pronounced, just a slight “catch” when moving the steering wheel just a little. It also makes a squawking noise (“errrrrrrr”) when turning the wheel in either direction, which has been going on for awhile. The catching (grabbing) in the steering wheel is a new quirk.
Other than that, I don’t see much or feel anything wrong out of the ordinary with it.
I did siphon out what was in the power steering rack and fill it with Lucas Oil power steering fix it stuff.
Any ideas?
Thanks.
i would have the steering checked at a good repair facility in your area. things that could be wrong, rack mount bushing, column connector, tie rod ends, inner tie rods, rack worn out internally - have it inspected. do not get someone killed wondering what it could be
I agree with Jimgray and would add ball joints to the list. Any of the listed joints if dried and/or worn out can bind, giving you that “catch” when steering, and if one fails you’ll probably end up with a totalled vehicle…if you’re lucky…or a devastating accident if you’re not.
Yikes! You guys are scaring the crap out of this 'ol gal, but I appreciate the info. I always start here with my car problems rather than just taking my car into my mechanic. He doesn’t have time to ‘diagnose’. He just wants to know what he needs to fix on it! Thanks for your ideas!
That’s. . .a very strange mechanic.
Rack and pinion comes to mind, Ask mechanic man to check it.
Yeah, I think he’s just tired of working on my old car! Would rather have me ‘tell’ him what I ‘think’ is wrong rather than having to figure it out himself! The good news is that he’s brutally honest. Even though I’m a girl, he never screws me over. (May not fix everything, but that’s just less I have to pay for in the end!) 
The noise you hear and the grabbing of the steering might be caused from a broken strut spring from rust. This is a common problem on Honda’s of this vintage driven in the rust belt.
Tester
Tester, funny you should bring that up. I just had both front sides replaced back around Thanksgiving. I think it was springs/struts?? The guy said, “your front end is shot”! We found some used Honda parts online that looked brand new. Both my brother and the mechanic who installed them said they were in great shape. A couple guys earlier mentioned tie rods, ball joints. If I had the ‘front end’ replace on this car, would he have seen bad ball joints or tie rods while putting the new parts on, or it that something you might not see if you’re not looking for it?