Vague Steering

[mooranger]

Bought my IS about a month ago - soon noticed that the steering felt as if the front wheels were starting to 'drift' at speed (90+). By drift I mean the front felt like it was getting light, almost as if it was on ice. Found uneven tyre wear on the fronts (inside edge almost bald) so got tracking checked at serice. Camber slightly out on 1 wheel but otherwise OK - all green now. Changed tyres today to set of 4 new SP9000 Lexus. Driving home car still feels a bit odd - again light at front end at speed. Is the power steering supposed to be speed sensitive? Doesn't feel like it is to me, but would I be able to notice the difference? Bit confused :duh: . Car going back to dealer tomorrow for replacement front caliper - any suggestions what to check next? Any advice welcome. Surely the IS should feel well 'planted' to speeds well in excess of 100 mph (on private land of course! )

[scott]

It should NOT feel light at anything greater than car park speeds. The SP9000 tyres are good tyres and well rated for the top speed of your IS200. I'm on my second IS and have never felt the steering too be light. I'm assuming you/dealer have checked tyre pressures etc. If you're unhappy let the dealer have a look and take it for a test drive/rolling road. I assume you're not carrying several large bags of cement in the boot ?

I once bought a Mitsubish shogun that was light on the steering. Checked the tyre pressures and found that one side of the car had been well over inflated. Returned tyres to normal pressure and then spotted that the car had a distinct 45 degree lean to one side

Promptly returned the car to the dealer for an immediate fix/money back situation. They sorted the suspension problems but it never felt right so I got shot of it and traded it in for a Jeep Grand Cherokee (still got). Boy was that a mistake

EDIT: whoops, It should NOT feel light at anything LESS than car park speeds.

[ColinBarber]

Most Lexus models have light steering but not the IS. Get your dealer to test drive it, they should be able to locate the problem.

[mooranger]

All tyres exactly 33psi. Will get Lexus to check it out today when they've fixed the offside caliper.

[dipstick]

I'm going to have to try another GS I think - mine is definitely NOT light to steer. You have to positively haul the wheel when going around corners at any speed.

New tyres, correct pressures, just had it aligned.

[mooranger]

Great - took the lexy into my local dealer today for work to stop the suspension knock and they did nowt! Took it for a test drive at the end of the day, used an amazing amount of fuel for the 10 miles covered, and just told me to book it in for a wheel alignment check after easter. Suspension still knocks, calipers still creak when braking on a corner, and Lexus do naff all. Seriously annoyed, and still don't know what's knocking. They blamed caliper slides originally, but took wheels off and both calipers have same amount of 'play' in them on the slides. Should they be like this? I'm talking about movement between the part fixed to the hub and the actual caliper section. At a bit of a loss what to do next. Help!

[TonyGoose]

Lexus service bulletin CP-0015 July 2000

Rectification of rattling from caliper.

[mooranger]

Anyone know how I can get hold of this service bulletin? looks like I may need to take it in to them.

[sage]

Bought my IS about a month ago - soon noticed that the steering felt as if the front wheels were starting to 'drift' at speed (90+). By drift I mean the front felt like it was getting light, almost as if it was on ice.  Found uneven tyre wear on the fronts (inside edge almost bald) so got tracking checked at serice. Camber slightly out on 1 wheel but otherwise OK - all green now.  Changed tyres today to set of 4 new SP9000 Lexus. Driving home car still feels a bit odd - again light at front end at speed. Is the power steering supposed to be speed sensitive? Doesn't feel like it is to me, but would I be able to notice the difference?  Bit confused :duh: . Car going back to dealer tomorrow for replacement front caliper - any suggestions what to check next? Any advice welcome. Surely the IS should feel well 'planted' to speeds well in excess of 100 mph (on private land of course! )

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This is exactly what my is200se does and its pretty scary at times, (mine DIDNT do it till i took it to lexus for a 40k service) they swapped the front and rear wheels around and said i needed front/ back pads (something ive been pre warned about lexus and their worn pads crusade)so im gonna get a full wheel/camber alignment done at a local garage and put two new tyres on the front and i'll let you know how i get on.....sage

[aido]

Same here mate, the backend just feels like it's gone at 110 and above - you can feel it sliding / drifting away from you...

Took it for a good drive today - got up to the 120 / 130 mark and she was okay on the dry roads, took it onto the wet and the backend went completely at less than 20 mph coming off a roundabout - got it under control quickly but I'm starting to get worried now - do all your cars do this - the road looked a little damp - it hadn't rained for a good few hours anyway!

Makes me wonder if theres a setting way out on one of the back tyres - there's more room on one side of the car than the other which could be the problem.....

Going to get the car checked over again, will take it somewhere different to last time to see what their opinion is - @ sage - you might want to have a word with Tony at (Wheels-inMotion.co.uk) to see if he can sort this out for you?

[Anees]

Took it for a good drive today - got up to the 120 / 130 mark

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Sorry but:

Aido - where do you go to get up to speeds of 130mph without fear of being pulled by the cops or getting a speeding ticket?

Is their some parallel universe that I don't know about? :P

Do you own a private track or something? B)

[aido]

Yep :)

Usually sit at about the 85 mark on the motorways round here, the roads near here are full of police....

[Scorpion]

Take measurements between the tyres and wheel arch on the back,im no expert but Tony will help you,he explained things to me on Saturday and said something about the thrust angle of the wheel i.e the car sitting more forward over the wheels,maybe one side sits more forward than the other.

Get in touch with Tony on his web-site Here, have a read through his pages.

:) :)

[Whitebeam]

I'm having some handling problems at present and I've noticed a few threads here & on other sites about the same.

I've had mine to the dealers 4 times now & had two full alignments done. They swear there's nothing worn or broken then say 'its typical for its age' (56k miles). After the last visit I was told that they wouldn't look at it again until I replaced the front tyres (about 2mm now - fair enough, especially as its getting into winter) and slagged off my michelin pilots (new when I bought the car). Problem is when I first took it in the fronts had 5mm and I only swapped them (front to back) just before the last visit (& told them).

Problem I have is that even at parking speeds it doesn't feel like it did 6 months ago - noticible feedback going over road humps, driveways etc. I'll change the tyres but I'm not convinced it will fix the problem.

If the tyre change doesn't work I'm guessing the next stop will be ball joints and bushes although I have specifically asked these be checked on the last two visits.

Any comments welcome.

[Scorpion]

Read the post above yours. :)

[sage]

got my alignment done at my local garage on a piece of kit costing £30k+ called

The John Bean V3DW high resolution 3D imaging, the readings were way out so they put them right then i took it for a test run. but it was pulling to the left so back i went and i got two new tyres put on the back and put the ones that came off the back (only 3months old) on the front and that got rid of them s**t bridgestones, we then realinged it once more and took it for test No2 this time perfect no pulling,no vague steering,and my confidence back to 100% the tyres ive put on all round are Federal SS595 215/45R/17/87V the cost £65 each and I know a lot of you may snigger but ive used this make on all my motors and to me

they are the dogs danglies.... ps this kit called the v3dvisualiner,

http://www.agequipment.co.uk/visuliner.htm

[Rob]

the place i go has the same machine but we have found a flaw - u have to attach plates to the wheels which clamp on by gripping the tyres - u can set it up and adjust the car, take it off, then put it back on and u get different readings!