My steering wheel has about half an inch of play in it and the steering feels very loose. When I say play, I can turn the steering wheel (and steering column) without the front wheels moving at all. It feels like a video game steering wheel with a broken force feedback system. It has been this way for over a year, I’m not sure if it gradually became loose or happened at once. I didn’t realize how bad the steering was until I was driving another 350Z, which had double the mileage but much firmer steering (had no play at all).
I have a 2007 with 50k miles. The car is not lowered and all suspension is completely stock. The car has seen about 12 HPDEs. Stock rims and stock tire sizes. Definitely not a tire issue. I recently purchased a bushing set that I have not yet installed (front upper control arm bushings, inner front lower control arm bushings, shock mount in lower control arm bushings, compression rod bushings), but after looking under the car all of the bushings visually appear to be good. The issue does not change whether the car is on the ground or lifted. I had an alignment done two thousand miles ago, but I’m not sure if this problem started before or after that. Also, the steering wheel makes a squeaky noise.

Anyone have any ideas? Is it possible I just need to tighten a bolt somewhere?

 

Has the car ever been in a crash?

 

First place I would look is at Tie rods , then ball joints

 

The car has never been in an accident. I have hit the track curbs many times, as in this photo:



That is the worst impact the car has seen.

I think you got it Terrasmak. The tie rod boots all looked good, but I just tried moving the outer rods and I can turn them by hand, on both the driver and passenger side. I couldn't get the tie rod ends disconnected so I haven't checked the inner tie rods yet, but the ends definitely seem bad, so I will start with that. Once I get this issue fixed the car will be so much better. It doesn't really feel like a sports car at the moment. Thanks a lot for your help!

 

Jack it up and shake the wheel in every direction and see if you feel any play. Engage the steering lock before you do it

 

In terms of shaking the wheels with the steering wheel locked, I get no up-and-down movement in the wheels when holding at 12 and 6. When holding the wheels at 3 and 9 I get side-to-side movement only to the extent that the steering wheel can move freely - with my steering wheel locked it will move an inch or less. Does this mean the ball joints are good?

I’m going to pick up some SPL outer tie rods even though I’m at stock height, as I plan to do some suspension upgrades in the future (once I have more track experience). Will these work with the OEM inner tie rods?

 

12 and 6 would be ball joints , and yes the tie rod ends work great with OEM tie rods. Just make sure it's not an inner that is bad

 

Switched out the outer tie rods, unfortunately there is still play in the wheel but it seems slightly firmer. The outer tie rods were definitely bad. The inner tie rods seem fine based on the testing techniques I found on youtube. Ball joints seem solid. Next up I will be changing my compression rod bushings (unless anyone has a better recommendation), but first I need to assemble the cheapo 12 ton shop press I picked up from Harbor Freight.

 

You want to check the inner and outer tie rods, ball joints and compression rod joints by shaking the tire as described above, but if you still have the noise and movement it just natural slop that develops in a steering rack over time.

If you get under your car WITH JACK STANDS and look at the steering rack, you will see on the left side of the steering rack there is a (maybe 22mm) hex nut. Set the steering wheel to center and tighten that nut a little at a time, not much turning should be necessary. Don't over tighten because then it will cause the steering wheel to stick when turning. DO NOT TIGHTEN A LOT- just to where the nut doesn't not turn freely and then back up 1/4 turn Might need to try a few times to find the sweet spot.

 

Thank you for the advice, AARONHL. I've been really busy so I haven't even changed my bushings yet, but I will definitely try tightening the steering rack nut when I get under the car next weekend.

Hopefully that nut will fix it, because I wouldn't expect bad compression rod or control arm bushings to cause this amount of play. A 370Z HPDE thread stated "Check steering rack mounts - they have been known to develop cracks especially if you like 'yumping' kerbs." Otherwise I am wondering if it could be the power steering rack itself. I have heard a clunking noise before from the steering column (maybe indicating the rack?), but only a couple of times.

 

With the steering wheel locked there should be no play. If you have play you should be able to see where the movement is coming from. The knuckle is only attached at a couple points. If its moving, either one of those ball joints is bad or the arm it's connected to has play (in which case you can see the arm moving).

 

So it appears that the yoke is loose. I can move it a little without moving the blue collar, and this replicates the sound from the loose steering.

 

Steering play fixed! I'm not sure yet if the noise is gone; won't be driving until April. The 12MM bolt going through the yoke assembly was loose. This isn't the bolt AARONHL was talking about where I have to be careful about not making it too tight, is it? The FSM says 29-36 ft-lb torque, which I do not think is what he is describing where I would be turning it back 1/4 turn. Just wondering if overtightening would be bad as Aaronhl described; later I will see if I can fit my torque wrench into that space and get it to factory specifications.

Is there anything I should do to keep this from happening in the future, like Loctite?

Thanks for your help everybody! I'm glad my Z will handle like a sports car again, instead of feeling like a Mustang.

 

Now that I've torqued this to spec it is very tight and I am surprised at how loose it had become. There was a huge visible gap in the yoke in the above photos, which it turns out is not supposed to be there.

 

The bolt you tightened is not the one I was talking about, but def one that should have been checked and glad you tightened it. If that connection slipped you could have lost all steering in your car.

The blue part you are referring to is only a cap/cover. The joint you tightened is directly connected into the steering rack and if the steering rack is loose, the sound could appear from that joint

 

And that is weird even with that bolt loosened you still had movement because those splines are very tight. You might want to take the rack off the car and make sure those splines are not damaged.

 

Thanks for the information and the help.

 

I have the same issue.
I will be attempting locating the cause I'm the next few days. I hope to find the same solution.