1992 240sx : Harsh ride @30+mph and the steering rack is blown..need advice

[Ryan_V]

I took my 92 240sx coupe to a susp. shop today. It's had this harsh ride ever since I bought it. The guy think's that one of the motor mounts needs to be replaced and is causing the "deep" harshness. The car has 137k miles and the vibration start's getting bad around 30mph and then let's off once I'm in 5th gear at about 50+, but it's still not a smooth ride even at that speed...Are there common part's that wear causing any harshness? Most of the susp looked to be in good shape...the motor mount was pretty bad looking

btw....when I'm cruising at say 60mph I can press the clutch in and I can still feel the harshness...but the motor revs smooth seperately(if you know what I mean, with the clutch pushed in?)

The other issue I have is the steering rack..It leak's like a civ..I have no power assist and the tie rod boot's are hammered...I imagine this rack just need's to be replaced right? Any preference on where to get the rack?

Thanks for the help

Ryan

[Ni2s4s0aSnX]

The shop you took it to is probably correct, its most likely a worn motor mount thats causing this harshness. And it does sound like the steering rack needs to be replaced, maybe you just never remembered to replace your power steering fluid. But, the worn motor mounts is probably the root of both of your problems, because its causing the front end to ride so harshly. Also, when was the last time that you had your front end aligned?

[Ryan_V]

I just got this car....it obviously wasn't that well taken care of, but it's not too bad

Lucas brand steering rack stop leak didn't work at all!! lol

He said that an alignment wasn't going to fix this shimmy...either

CORRECTION: I will be doing the motor mount's..sound's too frikn easy....and the Nismo mounts are like $80 a piece so no problem..


Modified by Ryan_V at 1:00 PM 11/3/2005

[NISTECH]

Fix the mounts and see how the harshness is. Could be squiwing the driveshaft causing the vibration. BTW nismo mounts make the mount stiffer so more engine vibration WILL be felt. If replacing the mounts does not resolve this you may wanna have a look at your drive shaft joints and center support.

[sileightysomeday]

sounds to me like your steering rack has a lot of play and needs rebuilding/replacing. I have the same problem. my car shakes between 45 and 50mph, but slower or faster than that and it's smooth as silk. since you mentioned a steering rack leak, this could be your problem. a car with 137k miles shouldn't have motor mounts that are worn that bad. good luck.