Tharussian45

So i did a bit of a search, and i have not found anyone with a similar problem to mine. I have an 05 RL, rebuilt title. Car ran fine for the most part, but lately after driving for a while (20-30 min of driving) when I hit the gas or let go of the gas, the car jerks to the left real quick... No clunking noise coming from underneath like if it were a bad axle... and the boots look fine and they are not torn... so i am stumped... it only does it when i've been driving for a while, when I first get in the car and drive it seems fine... let me know your thoughts.

Carbon Legend

bad tie rod. lift up the left and right side of the car. take your hands to the 9 and 3 position on the tire and try to move the tire if it moves there may be a problem with the inner or outer tie rod

Tharussian45

Hi, thanks for your reply. Wouldn't a bad tie rod end cause it to jerk the steering wheel left all the time? It seems to only jerk left after driving for a while... its like whatever part is failing needs time to heat up in order to start causing the jerk... and then, it only does it after letting go of the gas... as far as the tie rod... i just had an alignment done yesterday after getting the a-spec suspension installed... and the jerking steering wheel has been around before that. I just hope it's not the actually tranny going out...

oo7spy

Tie rod makes more sense than the tranny...

Maintenanceman

After that 20-30 min drive when it starts pull to the left, stop and check out if the left front brake is dragging. You can feel it from the rim, it will get hot (hotter than right side)
That 20-30 min could be the time what things need to heat up like you said.

Tharussian45

well, its not a "pull" at all... its more of a jerk to the left. the steering wheel jerks for a split second, then its back to normal until i accelerate again and let off the gas...

Tharussian45

Update: took it to the dealer this morning and they are almost certain it has something to do with the front transfer case/transmission... Which would make sense since it doesnt do the jerk until the car is warmed up and has been driven for a bit. Not the news i wanted to hear but i'll keep everyone posted on the progress...

Carbon Legend

fluid levels low?

oo7spy

How would the tranny cause one side to act different than the other?

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

ichi d

maybe u need to do a full flush.

Tharussian45

Worth a try to flush the tranny and see if that does anything before i go spending 1k on a used tranny... As far as why its causing it to jerk... Beats me. Is there a front diff or is it all part of the tranny? I had a similar problem with my 94 Supra, and it was cause the rear diff broke and caused one of the wheels to periodically lock up...

Tharussian45

F**k if i know... If theres a diff in the front like there is in the back i could see it happening...

Maintenanceman

Years ago i had a Turbo Fiat, powerful (for a front wheel drive Fiat) it acted little bit like this but mainly when i was backing out my driveway and i changed from reverse to 1st gear car just stuck and i get it going again just to reverse little bit again, i thought that tranny was going to broke. Little bit later the reason literally came out... It was diff that spit out some parts straight to clutch and destroyed flywheel pressure plate and clutch disc, also the tranny.
The stud was broke and the other diff pinion carrier was split to two pieces and one piece was stuck between ring gear and pinion.

db22

A one wheel drive Fiat? What will they think of next!

Carbon Legend

well if there was a serious issue with the front diff I'm sure you would have heard some noises or felt the problem the whole time driving. also should have thrown some fault codes.

BTW DO NOT FLUSH... do a 3x3 fluid change

oo7spy

Maybe you should weld the differential and make your car a drifter.

Tharussian45

UPDATE: So i noticed when the steering wheel is all the way to the left as far as it can go that it seems to cause one of the front tires to lock up for a split second... not fully, but it also pulls the steering wheel back and forth, especially when turning in reverse... anyone else familiar with this?

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

I think your issues may be related to the "rebuilt" part of your title.

Do you know what repairs were made? or the extent of the damage?

That could help lead you in the right direction.

Maintenanceman

Measure if wheels turn more to the left than to the right, if it do turn more to the left maybe the cv joint turns more that it can handle and it is going to broke, this might be first symptom of that. With these joints there is certain max angle that you cant go over.

This all can be caused of that rebuild thing if for example other side of the front was hitted, after repair if there was parts changed and because of that now the steering turns more to the other side.

Tharussian45

Sadly I dont have the contact info for the previous owner any longer... So my only hope would be the carfax... But i doubt it would say what side the car was hit on... I know it was a front end colission... But thats about it. :-/ the random jerking hasnt ocurred in a week or so... So something obviously shifted in the right direction and isnt causing it to jerk the steering wheel like it was doing before... Im gonna run by another mechanic shop tomorrow and get a third opinion. Dealer wasnt able to help and neither was the original shop where i took it to get the struts replaced. Would bad motor mounts possibly cause this? I ordered the new ones cause they need to be changed anyway... Front 3 mounts are completely shot.

Tharussian45

I will try this in the morning. Do you mean measure the distance with the edge of the wheel and fender?

Maintenanceman

Basically yes, just try to find some way to measure both sides same way so that you get measurements as accurate as possible, that fender edge might not be accurate enough specially if it has been front collision.
My main point is that if those steering arms what connect to the steering rack have been changed and the rack wasnt exact center position when they put those arms back and adjusted wheel "toe in" it might cause other side turn more than other. Those cv joints might broke if the wheels turn too much.
Or if it is bad joint, it has got some injury when the car was hit and now it is going to broke.

chip aroo

i think i'm having the same problem i know your post is very old but i think my problem is the side motor mount u hope im going to fix it to day an see if it helps cuz i know that side mount is shot ..