172 pulling to the left when accelerating and clunks the steering wheel back when braking again

[Clionas]

When i accelerate and let go of the steering wheel the car moves in a straight line forwards but the steering wheel turns to the right and stays there until i press the brakes. When press the brakes (still with my hands off the wheel) there is a "CLUNK" sound and the steering wheel pops back into its original position.
Does anyone have an idea as to what this could be, or has anyone had similar problems?

 

[General Dave]

Something sounds very loose!! Get a jack and do a nut a bolt check.

 

[imprezaworks]

Had any work done recently

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

Ffs why on earth would you accelerate.. And then brake without holding the steering wheel...

 

[Clionas]

Ffs why on earth would you accelerate.. And then brake without holding the steering wheel...

You should be able to do that in any well-maintained car. Its not like im doing it on public roads.

 

[Clionas]

Had any work done recently

I just got the car about a month ago. It's been getting worse and worse over the last couple weeks and the clunk if more evident now than ever.

 

[imprezaworks]

Get it checked mate. What work was done and since that work have you used the car much?

 

[STEVE.M]

Location?

 

[Clionas]

Get it checked mate. What work was done and since that work have you used the car much?

I didnt have any work done.

 

[Clionas]

Location?

Århus, Denmark.

 

[STEVE.M]

Århus, Denmark.

A bit far for most of us.

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

Is there play in the steering whilst the car is stationary?

 

[Clionas]

Is there play in the steering whilst the car is stationary?

Nope, the steering is pretty tight for a 17 year old car

There is only a clunk when starting from a standstill, and then one when braking. If i brake once the clunk is there, but if i do it again without having accelerated there is no clunk or jerking in the steering wheel. Very wierd.

 

[Clionas]

A bit far for most of us.

Yes i thought so!

 

[STEVE.M]

Is the clunk definitely from the front?

 

[Clionas]

Is the clunk definitely from the front?

Yes. You can feel it in the steering wheel as well.

 

[Hoppovr6]

I had a similar issue, which ended up being the tie rod end being cross threaded so the nut wouldn't tighten up.

 

[Clionas]

I had a look underneath it today with a skilled mechanic from work, and we found the steering rack to be loose, and after a bit of searching around its clear that these very well could be the culprits. I'll report back when i've replaced the old ones with some powerflex ones.

 

[imprezaworks]

At a guess I would have said that.

 

[Clionas]

At a guess I would have said that.

Some other guys in the facebook forum said the same thing. But why didn't you guess then?! :smile:

 

[imprezaworks]

Ha true.

 

[Clionas]

Hello everyone! Replacing the steering rack bushings didnt fix the problem, so i took it to an allignment shop, and he found the mounting point bolts on the left ball joint was loose. So after tightening those it has been driving like a dream.

 

[White16valver]

Thanks for reporting back

 

[MrCube182]

Glad you sorted it. Was going to say check ball joint bolts! I had the same issue, loose bolt resulted in a clunk when starting off and braking. Took off the bolt and retightened to a bit above spec with some loctite on there, problem solved.