I am having a strange problem that is very hard to describe, I am hoping someone might have a clue what might be the problem. I will try my best to describe the problem:

When I drive my 2003 TL-S, which has 87,000 miles on it, the steering wheel sort of shakes in a jerking type motion, could also be described as vibrating in a side-to-side like motion, or like a pulsating-type motion. The steering itself feels very “loose”, not “tight” like it should. Sometime I feel like I don’t have full/total control of the steering wheel, as it tends to drift off course or if I turn the wheel a little, the car doesn’t respond. The car also seems to tread or torque in the same rhythm of the jerking/vibrating motion. When I drive on a straight road and let go of the steering wheel, it almost always treads towards either side. Sometime, as I approach a traffic light, just before I stop, the steering wheel will turn on it own almost a quarter of a turn. Not sure if this part is related, but I also can feel every single bump in the road, it almost feels like I am driving on flat tires, but the tire pressures are fine.

I just bought the car, and I don’t think any shocks were replaced. The car has new tires, that has less than 10,000 miles on them

I know it’s hard to visualize exactly what’s going on, but some of you guys really know your stuff and was hoping you could at least guide me in the right direction when I go to my mechanic.

 

First off congrats on ur purchase, and welcome aboard! About your steering wheel feeling kinda loose or u feeling like u aint in control, I would recommend u check your power steering fluid level! It happened to me on ma fossil 92 accord, and recently a friend was trying to buy a camry, when i test drove it it was similar to your description when turning the wheel, in both cases the power steering fluid was below the lower level mark!
As for your side-to-side "vibration" of the steering wheel while driving, first try balancing your wheels! a good mechanic will tell u if he cant balance any of ur wheels or if one of em is bent! if they all balance on the machine but u still have the problem, and ur wheels are aftermarket then u might need hub centric rings, our cars are 64.1 Inner Diameter, and you will need to know your center bore (Outer Diameter) of ur aftermarket wheels!
Not sure about the problem when u are slowing down, sounds like brake related though!
I would say try those two first, they might be the cheapest, but if they fail then you might have a bigger problem, but you came to the right place here! Good luck and dont forget to post some pics!

 

Thanks for the feedback. Turn out to be an alignment that was needed.