Steering Systems - Part One

Vehicle manufacturers use two types of steering systems.  A parallelogram system, and ‘rack and pinion’ system.  Rack and Pinion (R&P) systems have fewer parts than a parallelogram system.  R R&P has two outer tie rods, two inner tie rods, and center section, which is called the “Rack and Pinion.”

A Parallelogram system has two outer tie rods, two inner tie rods, two connecting sleeves, one or two idler arms, one center link, one pitman arm, and a gear box. 

Since a R&P system has fewer parts, there are less parts to wear out, and it takes up less space under the car.  This has become important as manufacturers make  cars smaller and there is less space for steering components.  Similarly, as car have been made smaller, manufacturers have done away with “springs and shocks” in favor of struts.  Struts have fewer parts, and takes up less space than a ‘shock absorber/spring suspension system.

Above is a picture of a Rack and Pinion system.  The ends are the outer tie rods.  The Center section is the Rack and pinion, and the straight metal rods coming out of the black bellows are the inner tie rods.

This drawing shows all the parts but the gear box.

When you go for an oil change and hear the words “Lube job, “ this refers to lubing the steering components.  Years ago, with a parallelogram steering, we’d lube about seven places- outer tie rods, inner tie rods, center links, and the idler arm.   With a R&P system there were only two places to lube – the outer tie rods. Most cars made in the last ten years come with ‘Sealed’ outer tie rods.  This means the outer tie rods never need to be lubed.  With R&P steering, the inner tie rods cannot be greased, and the outer tie rods are only greased if they are not sealed. 

I don’t think the parts in the parallelogram steering system were made to last the life of the car, then again, very few cars made in the 70’s or older, ever lasted over 100,000 miles.  Today, that has changed.  Cars made in the 90’s and later will easily run over 100,000 miles.  Most cars made since the 90’s will last over 200,000 if they are properly maintained.

I have a 1993 Buick Park Avenue with over 260,000 miles and it runs without any problems.  I have never replaced the engine or transmission, or any other major component.  I do normal maintenance and the car keeps on running.  Rack and Pinion systems last a very long time. 

The outer tie rods, at some point need to be replaced, but the inner tie rods and the rack and pinion rarely go bad.  When they go bad, they usually leak power steering fluid.  If your rack and pinion as a very small leak, I normally suggest that you just add more fluid.  If the leak is a continuous dripping or greater, then you will need to replace the rack and pinion. 

After replacing any steering component, you’ll need to do an alignment inspection.  Our alignment system is accurate to 1/100 of a degree.  The only way to know if the alignment is good, after a steering component is installed, is to do an alignment inspection 

Shocks and Struts:

 

 

Starters:

Watching old movies, and mean really old movies, I’d see a man take a crank from the inside of the car, insert it into the front of the car, and turn the crank.  The driver was turning a “watch spring.”  Once the watch spring was wound up, he’d get inside the car and release the watch spring.  As the watch spring unwound it would turn the engine. 

Around 1913 Henry Leland and Charles Kettering developed the electric starter.  An obvious improvement over the hand cranking method to start a car. 

Electric starters have three parts.  An electric motor, a starter gear, and an item referred to as a “Bendix.”  Also a flywheel is bolted to the back of your engine.  The flywheel has teeth similar to the teeth you see on the back of a bicycle wheel. 

Bicycles use a chain to turn the rear wheels.  Cars use starter gear which meshes with a flywheel similarly to the way a bicycle chain meshes with the teeth on the rear bicycle wheel. 

When you turn your key to the “start” position, 12 volts are sent from the ignition switch to the bendix.  This causes the bendix to extend the starter gear so it meshes with the flywheel. At the same time, the bendix starts the flow of electricity from the battery to starter motor.   When this happens your engine cranks. 

A starter does not cause a car to start; it just causes the engine to “Turn over.”

When you release the key, it bendix causes the starter gear to retract back inside the starter, and stops the flow of electricity from the battery to the starter motor. 

A starter needs replacing if the bendix is bad, the starter gear is bad, or the starter motor does not work. 

If electricity does not flow from the ignition switch to the bendix, the starter will not turn.  This can happened if the ignition switch is bad, or the alarm system on your car has not been ‘turned off.’  Also, a small amount of corrosion at either end of the wire from the battery to the starter motor can prevent the starter motor from turning by reducing the amount of power which flows through this wire.

A discharged battery or a bad battery cannot provide enough power to “turn-over” an engine.

Understanding all this, if your car’s starter does not crank your engine, it does not mean your starter is bad.  It means you need to bring your car to a qualified mechanic to have it properly diagnosed. 

There’s MORE to know about TIRES than you might think….

Tire Basics:

Underinflated tires reduce gas mileage and causes tires to prematurely wear out.  Many years ago tires were inflated to approximately 32 psi, today most tires are inflated to 40 psi.   A simple, inexpensive tire gauge is used to measure tire pressure.  If you don’t know how to use a tire pressure gauge, most repair shops or an automotive parts store will show you how to use one.

Tire Sizes:

The size of your tire is printed on the tire and it starts with a “P.” After the “P” are two numbers an “R” then two more numbers.  For example a common tire we replace is a P215/65R15.   The “P” means passenger tires, the 215 is the width of the tire in millimeters, 65 is the ratio of the height to the width of the tire (basically the distance from the edge of the rim to the face of the tire), and 15 is the radius of the rim in inches.

Load Index & Speed Rating:

After the size is a group of two to three numbers and a letter.  The numbers are a “Load Index” and indicate how much weight the tires can support.  A load index of 94 supports up to 1477 pounds.  The letter after the load index is the speed rating- the maximum safe speed for the tires.  A “T” speed rating is safe up to 118 miles per hour.  A “W” speed rating is safe up to 168 miles per hour.  Between T and W there are many other speed ratings.  The higher the speed rating the better the tire ‘grips’ the road.  However, since it grips the road better than a lower speed rated tire, the higher speed rated tire wears out quicker. 

You may use a higher speed rated tire than the manufacturer recommends, but you should never use a lower speed rated tire.

Winter- Summer Tires

I remember as a kid helping my father change his tires in the fall from summer tires to winter tires, and in the spring we’d change them back.  I don’t know how the tire manufactures did it, but we no longer have to change tires for the winter and the summer.  There are winter tires, but you probably don’t need them.  If you look at your tires and see “M + S” printed after the speed rating then your tires are good for winter and summer. 

Tire Manufacturing Date Stamps:

Starting in 2000 tires have a manufactured date stamped on the side of the tires.  Sometimes the date is on the inside of the tire, and sometimes it is on the outside of the tire.  It is a four digit code.  The firs two digits indicate the week the tire was made and the last two digits indicate the year it was made.  So a ‘4010’ would mean the tire was made in the 40^th week of 2010.

TPMS (Something new):

A few years ago a rash of roll-overs was attributed to old and underinflated tires.  After investigating why these vehicles rolled-over Ford recommended that tires be replaced every five years regardless of wear.  The NTSB mandated the use of a “Tire Pressure Monitoring System.” This system is referred to as “TPMS.”  All cars and trucks manufactured since 2010 have this system. 

TPMS use a wireless pressure sensor in the tire to communicate with an onboard computer.  If a tire is underinflated by 20% or more a light on the dash illuminates indicating an underinflated tire.  The sensor in the tire is battery operated and the valve stem is part of this system.  When the battery goes bad, or the valve stem breaks the sensor must be replaced, and they are not cheap.  While it’s too early to tell, I have been told the battery will last for seven years.

On some cars, after the tires are rotated, the TPMS computer must be reset or the dash light will come on falsely indicating an underinflated tire.

While TPMS have added a measure of safety, they come with a cost.

Alternators

Batteries provide power to start your car, run the engine, computer, radio, headlights, etc.  Anything that requires power is run off your battery.  Since batteries have a limited supply of energy they continually recharged by the alternator.  Alternators work by rotating a coil of wires (rotor) inside a magnetic field.  The amount of power produced is related to the rotor size, the strength of the magnetic field, and the speed at which rotor turns.

The engine turns the alternator (rotor) by a belt.  Years ago the alternator had a dedicated belt. Newer cars have a ‘master’ belt, referred to as a serpentine belt, which turns the alternator, a/c compressor, power steering pump etc.

The amount of power produced by the alternator is controlled by a voltage regulator which is located inside the alternator.  Since the voltage regulator cannot change how fast the rotor turns, it changes the strength of the magnetic field to vary the amount of power the alternator produces.  Based on the speed of the engine, and how much power is needed, the voltage regulator increases or decreases the strength of the magnetic field.

Starting your car requires a great deal of power from your battery.  Therefore, once your car starts the alternator goes to maximum to recharge your battery.  As the battery ‘charges-up’ the voltage regulator scales back the quantity of electricity produced, until the power into the battery equals the power out of the battery.

There are two reasons alternators need to be changed.  One, the alternator doesn’t produce enough electricity (measured in amps and in volts) to keep your battery fully charged.  Two, the alternator only produces maximum power.  If the alternator only produces maximum power, it will destroy the battery.  Also, a bad battery may cause the alternator go produce maximum power.  Since alternators are not designed to produce maximum power for a long period of time, a bad battery may destroy an alternator.

When I check a charging system I must check both the battery and the alternator.  If I have a bad battery I must replace it before I can be certain the alternator is good. 

I have seen cars towed here and the customer tells me, “They put in a new battery because they thought it was the reason the car would not start.  With a new battery the car started.  A few weeks later they had the same problem, the car would not start, so they replaced the alternator.  A few weeks later the car does not start.” At this point they bring the car to my repair shop.  The problem…. The alternator was bad and destroyed the battery.  When the customer replaced the battery it lasted until the alternator ‘fried’ the new battery (by continually producing maximum power).  The customer then replaced the alternator not knowing the alternator and the battery are bad.  The fried battery tells the new alternator that is needs “maximum” power, and the production of maximum power for a long time makes the alternator go bad. 

To prevent this from happening the battery and the alternator must be replaced at the same time.

One more item related to batteries

November 17, 2010

Batteries have two posts which are used to connect it to your car. One is positive, and one is negative.    The ends of the wires which connect to the battery are called “Battery terminals.”  Remember, these terminals are on the wires not the battery.  If the area where they meet is contaminated,  your car may not start.  I have had cars towed here which only needed to have the battery and the battery terminal cleaned to get them started.

When you battery is replaced, it is important clean the battery terminals and the battery.  Over time you might see a solid white mass around your battery posts.  This white substance is acid- be very careful.  This acid corrodes the wires and the battery terminals.  Sometimes you must replace the battery terminals because the acid has badly damaged the terminals, and sometimes you must remove a few inches of the battery wire because the acid “crawled up” the wire.  When a few inches of wire are removed you must also use a new terminal.

The battery terminals fit over a battery post or screw directly into the battery.  These connections must be tight.  If you can move the wire at the battery, you must tighten the connection or your car may not start. 

The negative wire goes to the engine.  The other wire goes to the alternator, and to the fuse box.  With over 26 years of experience, the ends at the battery are the only one which go bad. 

November 3, 2010 --- MORE about Batteries

November 4, 2010

More about batteries:

Batteries come in a variety of sizes and power.  Also, the positive terminal is sometimes on the left side, and sometimes it is on the right side.  When you choose a battery you need to have one that is correct for your vehicle.  If your battery is too big, it will not fit in the spot dedicated for a battery.  Forcing it into a tight space (and yes I have seen this) causes wires to be unusually pushed aside,  and because it’s too big the hold down strap cannot be used.  If the battery is too small, the hold down straps cannot hold the battery in place.  Therefore, when you get a battery you need to be sure you get the right sized battery. 

Batteries are measured in “Amps.”  A typical battery for a Honda is rated about 550 amps.  A battery for a large V-8 is rated about 750 amps.  Amps are a measure of ‘oomph.’  A bigger engine needs more oomph to get it to crank than a small engine.  When you buy a battery you need to get one with the right size and the right oomph. 

How long will my battery last?

Good question.  Generally, the less you pay for a battery the shorter its life span.  Batteries age, and as they age they have less power to start your car.  I use Interstate Batteries because they guarantee (pro rated) their batteries for at least 75 months.  Additionally, if one of their batteries needs replacing within the first 24 months, they are replaced for FREE!  I could buy less expensive batteries, but I don’t want my customers to become stranded.  I have seen batteries that are only guaranteed for 24 months.  That’s not very long.

Most batteries are easily replaced, but as manufacturers shrink cars, they have come up with some unusually places for their batteries.  I have seen batteries in the trunk, under the rear seat and some are inside the wheel well.