ST185 issues -- again!

[eViLoNe]

Hey,

So today I was driving my ST185, as ya do, and all of a sudden I hear a thud from the rear of the car, now whenever I drive at or over 80kmh I get a god awful shudder in my car, it's almost as if the rear wheels are unaligned to an extreme point. Any ideas as to what couldve caused this, as I'm looking awfully stumped at present.

Also, my steering wheel seemed to be playing up after the issue, sometimes when the wheel was at center position, car would be going straight, next minute the wheel would be turned about half to the right, and be going straight.

Argh, this car is making me lose my hair , any help appreciated!

Cheers

[barryogen]

Also, my steering wheel seemed to be playing up after the issue, sometimes when the wheel was at center position, car would be going straight, next minute the wheel would be turned about half to the right, and be going straight.

With a comment like that, I suggest that you don't drive it anywhere.
Have it towed to a garage and get them to look at it.

[eViLoNe]

Also, my steering wheel seemed to be playing up after the issue, sometimes when the wheel was at center position, car would be going straight, next minute the wheel would be turned about half to the right, and be going straight.

With a comment like that, I suggest that you don't drive it anywhere.
Have it towed to a garage and get them to look at it.

Yeah, exactly what I did when I noticed the issue. Got the car towed home safely, just trying to figure out the best plan of attack from here..

[RunningRich]

Start by having a look, with the car on axle stands of course.

Check the rear diff mount for failure, the clunk could have been your diff moving around.

[85AW20v]

Check your tyres as well. You could have a separated case, which will look/feel like the tyre being out of round. Puts the affected tyre way out of balance hence the shuddring.

[eViLoNe]

Cheers for the info guys.

I know the rear tyres are really bad, so that's an idea.

But I'm also pretty sure the diff mount will be causing an issue too. My main problem at the moment is the steering wheel wandering off, I need to figure that out. I know I can hear a vacuum like leak under the bonnet now, that I couldn't hear before, no idea if thats related or not though.

[Flannelman]

umm, check the rack bolts? hearing a thump and vibratons followed with steering wheel issues would lead me to the rack mounts.
do you have 4ws? check the rear rack too, if it is

[Boosted_162]

ST185s dont have 4WS (thankfully). I agree with Richard, check yo' diff mount!

[eViLoNe]

Yeah, going to get the diff mount checked in the next day or so.

The steering thing is kinda worrying though. I can hear this hiss when the car is running, but can't locate the bastard. It's only presented itself since these other problems have popped up too.

[85AW20v]

Use a piece of garden hose, one end in your ear and the other wherever you "think" the vacuum leak could be. It acts sort of as a directional microphone - a bit like moving your ear out to the end of the hose

[eViLoNe]

Cheers guys.

I got my axle stands back last night, so I'm going to take a look at the rear diff mount tonight. Also going to try and trace this leak under the bonnet, really starting to irritate me.

[edwagon]

Your steering issue is probably nothing to do with your steering - you've probably got something loose/broken in the back which is changing the wheel alignment and steering the car around, causing it to crab down the road randomly. Check out whatevers causing the vibration/clunk in the rear before you get too carried away

[eViLoNe]

Had a look under the back of the car tonight, the diff looks fine, and so do the tyres, so I'm currently in the middle of a massive brain dumb.

[FXGTV]

have you checked you power steering? Check the belts and fluid. My steering in my old celica was doughy as when i first got it. Same symptom, could turn the wheel without turning the car. I replaced fluids and belt and was good as new.

[eViLoNe]

have you checked you power steering? Check the belts and fluid. My steering in my old celica was doughy as when i first got it. Same symptom, could turn the wheel without turning the car. I replaced fluids and belt and was good as new.

Yup, I'm going to be changing the power steering belt and fluid, and getting a set of new tyres, I have a feeling the tyre has seperated, which is causing the shuddering.

[mr30%jr]

all the hub knuckle bolts and etc. would really want to check everything

[RedMist]

By checking you aren't simply looking are you? You need to grab a bar and swing on the suspension arms and diff mounts. Might I suggest you have several ways of holding the car up there and make sure you arent under the car when you do this.
Diff mount is weak in the 185 and is almost certainly the cause of the clunk (if someone hasnt done the diff mount presviously). It shouldnt change rear suspension geometry though so I wouldnt think this is the steering associated issue. Others are right though, you need to thoroughly check every bush and bolt.
The 185 is a car that requires a reasonable amount of maintenance compared with other Toyota's. It's not a car that you can neglect and get away with it.

[eViLoNe]

Bit of an update;

I've pretty much ruled the steering problem down to power steering. The hissing leaky noise under the bonnet seems to be coming from the powersteering pump. So I'm going to have a look at the whole power steering setup on the weekend.

Also, the shuddering over 80km/h has gone away, but there's still a fair bit of movement in the rear of the car, so I'm going to replace the rear diff mount and most of the rear end bushes, as they seem to be quite worn.

I'm hoping that'll solve the problems, if so, bonus, cheapish fix :S.

[eViLoNe]

Finally getting around to fixing this properly! Cars been dormant for far to long now .

Put some new shocks/springs in last week, it has helped the rear out a little bit, think I just need new tyres back there now.

I'm also going to put a new alternator belt and power steering belt in, in the next few days.

Anyone got any recommendations on what else to try, if these two don't help out the steering problem at all? I have a feeling the ps belt will help out a fair bit though, especially since the wheel still has the movement around, even with the cars going straight. I'm also going to be taking a look at the idlers due to the fact the car tries to stall when turning the wheel with no power on.

[MrOizo]

With your almost stalling problem, sounds like the idle up for the PS isnt hooked up right. did you end up taking the PS pump off or swpping it or anything?