woozy handling 245

I have a 240 turbo wagon, 1983 with 200K miles. It has new rear
shocks, good, new tires all around, tie rod ends, alignment,
wheelbearings tight. The worn suspension bushings have been replaced
and there is no chassis rot, but the car is still kind of wandering
and woozy when I go down the road. There are no real klunks in the
steering and I have taken it back to my otherwise competent mechanic
twice and he says all is well with the chassis and front end. The
steering linkage u-joint things feel good.

Am I asking too much of a 20 year old car with 200K miles to ride
straight and solid down the road? If no, what should I look at next?

 

You didn't mention front shocks. The original 240 turbo shock often
failed in a wa that made the front suspension hard as a rock. It'll be
obvious when changing the shocks, but front springs often break up near
the top.
Also I've seen lots of very poorly done alignments that make cars just
feel like crap.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

NOTE: new address!!
Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

A good shop should be able to tell you if your steering is going out.
It sounds like that to me - everything's vague and has play in it.

Q: does it track in a straight line, but respond to changes very poorly?

Another possible problem might be the bushings/bearings. If you can
push on the side of the car and you hear a small "thack" sort of
sound from the wheels(ie - excessive movement), there's your problem.

Lastly, you may look into a better swaybar while you are at it.

My 1975 164E with 270K on it and my 1990 240 with 230K on it both
drove straight as an arrow, so yes it is possible with some
undated parts.

 

Are the rear suspension bushings all in good shape? Unevenly worn torque rod
bushings will make a 240 wander all over. The car should be an excellent
ride with all the suspension in good shape, 20 years old or not, 240's are
well designed and handle very nicely.

 

The mechanic only replaced the worn bushings on the front and rear,
I'm not sure which ones. It sure handles like it has worn bushings, I
wish that he had just replaced all of the bushings like I asked, but
he wanted to save me some money. I'm also going to look carefully for
a busted spring.

 

Keep in mind also the situation in the thread with subject, "Poor
quality bushings, or bad track rod?" Poor bushings can be worse than
old quality bushings.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

NOTE: new address!!
Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

Try an alignment. 1/16 of an inch tow in. Tow out on a 240 will make it
wander.

 

[ ... ]

Also check that your steering box isn't worn or loose--I had problems
in one car that went from wandering to jumping every time it hit a
bump; the mechanics swore the front end was tight. Then one of them
turned the steering wheel shaft in the engine compartment and saw the
steering gearbox twisting...


Gary

 

[ ... ]

In my experience a tow-in is usually $40-$50.



I think you're referring to toe-in.


Gary

 

Why would anyone only replace some of the bushings? The bushing kit is
cheaper than the labor to install it, at least if you order it online rather
than going to the dealer. I always replace all the bushings, with the
occasional exception of the small ones at the front of the trailing arms as
I've never seen them worn.