tartilc

I've got some sort of odd issue that I can't figure out. Although I haven't finished going through everything, I decided to post here about it. My steering feels sort of unstable at speed, possibly excessive bump steer maybe. My upper ball joint on the passenger side was shot, so I went ahead and replaced both lower ball joints, both upper control arms, and all four sway bar links. I was really hoping this would fix the issue but it really only improved it a little. In other cars I can usually keep a really light grip on the wheel when driving on the freeway, but this issue is causing me to have to sort of fight it (not really badly but just enough to be annoying) There does seem to be about 1-2mm of slack in the steering but that could be normal. My alignment seems to be fine as the car does track straight on smooth roads and all my tires are worn evenly. The car is lowered (struts+springs) if that helps.

Things that could be related or unrelated: I sometimes have a really faint scraping sound that seems to be coming from the back, I'm planning on checking the rear calipers and greasing the caliper slide pins; sort of randomly when I turn the steering wheel to full lock I get a squeak that really sounds like my tire is just rubbing on some plastic but it doesn't happen all the time so I don't really know (didn't see the tire touch anything or any marks in the wheel wells); my power steering reservoir had some slight bubbling when I checked it today right after parking; my brakes feel a bit spongey (more travel than other cars), this could be normal for the 2g, but I'm planning on bleeding the brakes and putting new fluid; when at a stop with moderate pedal pressure, the car feels like it wants to move forward when the a/c compressor cycles on (I feel like I read about this on here but can't remember)

Thanks in advance!

sysuleman

Have you checked the rear end stabilizer links?

tartilc

I've replaced both rear sway bar links (is that what you're referring to?) when doing the ball joints and such. It was a massive pain, had to cut grooves into the ball areas and torch the bolts to get them off.

sysuleman

Yes, that's what I was talking about. I used impact and a vice grip. Took a couple of hours.

murky

Have you checked the tie rods?

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but obviously you've done an alignment, right?

tartilc

The tie rods seemed to be fine when I was doing the other suspension components, so I didn't really touch em. They passed the "shake wheel from side to side" test and that's about as in depth I got. Nope, didn't do an alignment, do you think I should do one? The car tracks straight it seems.

tartilc

Update on this. One of my caliper slide pins wasn't sliding so I took it out and put brake moly on all the caliper pins in the back. This made that wheel not feel hot after driving so it definitely helped (I do think I also get better braking performance now too), but the faint scraping is still there. Its very weird, I only really hear it when I'm passing by other cars as if the sound reflects off of them? I don't feel like the car is actually dragging though. The steering is also better now. Unsure if anything I did had to do with it. Haven't bled the brakes yet or done an alignment. I think the A/C surge thing may be related to a worn IACV, going to see if replacing that fixes it.

One newer issue is that I seem to sometimes get a weird double bounce sound from somewhere under the back of the car when I go over dips in the road around 45mph. I can't tell where it is coming from, wondering if I left anything loose (haven't checked yet), any pointers though? I also get a little sound when going over uneven roads, sounds just like a sway bar link would but more often and a little more muffled. This is a remaining sound after I replaced everything, which only serves to make it more annoying...

Definitely not giving up on this car, I like it too much, just gotta get it perfect.

01acls

You need to do a 4 wheel alignment. It will eliminate some parts or it could point you in the right direction.

Camber and rake is what makes a car track. Without readings from an alignment sheet you're just guessing.

thoiboi

Sounds like you have a sticking caliper if the wheel is getting hot.

FreeIsGood

Have you plugin a OBD2 scanner to see if anything specific pops up?

tartilc

I guess I'll have to do that then, was trying to avoid it.

Yup, it was sticking before, but after greasing the pins the wheels are all an even temperature after

Nope, all clear.

Chojun

Do you have a TL-P or TL-S?

The -P has power steering assist via the transmission. You mentioned bubbles in the P/S reservoir. If you have a TL-P, do you have any leaks at the back of the transmission? If you have the TL-S then this wouldn't apply to you.

I'm also assuming you've checked your CV boots etc.