Pulsating steering

[Darren Calbero]

An update on the problem I had a few weeks ago.  It seems the problem
was the CV Joint.  The replacement of the entire half shaft resolved the
pulsating.  I did a cursory look over the joint but didn't dig in deep
to see what kind of damage had occurred.  Thanks again for those that
chimed in about what the problem could have been.

DC

Original post:

My '91 SE-R hit finally hit 200k miles last week.  As a celebratory
gift, the steering began heavily pulsating to the right 200 miles later
(Friday night).  I believe it started when I had to brake a bit hard on
the freeway from about 60 to 10 and in the process experienced what I
first thought was a gust of hard wind blowing from the rear of my car
(the car shuddered).  Pulsating at the steering wheel began as I exited
the freeway and slowed down to a near stop.  I pulled into a nearby
shopping mall and checked what I thought may be a flat tire.  This was
not the case and I proceeded home, a mile away.  The pulsating appeared
primarily when I was turning left or slowing down.  When I got home, I
checked the car and found the following problems:  driver side tie rod
end boot blown;  driver side ball joint boot blown;  passanger side
outer CV boot blown;  boots on stearing rack torn.  I checked the bolts
on the struts and they were nice and tight.  All other connections
seemed good.  Tires looked good with no feathering or blisters (thank
God because this is my last set of 15" S-03s).  I test drove the car
today to see what may be the problem.  The pulsating did not occure
right away, in fact I needed to drive at least a 1/2 mile for it to
start.  My thought was that it needed to warm up to start before things
began to happen.  My neighbor did a visual check as I drove by and said
that the passenger side wheel seems to slightly toe in and out.  I
considered the power stearing and checked the fluid level and found it
was ok (boots have been torn for years and my tectom has long indicated
that the P/S switch is off anyway).  The pulsating seems to be coming
from the right side which leeds me to believe that this a seriously
failed CV joint.  I ordered a replacement half shaft through
PartsAmerica/CSK and it should be arriving on the 31st.  Cheap I know
but they do have a lifetime replacement warranty which means this is a
free part.