In my car steering is really hard, noticeably hard. Compared to my Lexus and Acura or any other car I have driven for that matter. I feel like I am turning very heavy weight. Is that normal? Anybody else having that problem? The car is in pristine condition in and out !! with low miles.
It is not a problem for me, unless there is something wrong mechanically or electrically. I f that is the way it comes, I am fine with it, but I searched on this forum and others and there is not anybody complaining about steering, which means there is a problem with my car.
I also checked the power steering fluid and it was in normal range. And the car has not been parked for a long time without driving, according to the previous owner.
Thanks, everybody in advance.

 

Perhaps it would be a good idea to go to a Nissan dealership and test drive a 350z to see if the steering feels the same. It's very hard to diagnose how something "Feels" over the internet.

(although I'll take a wild guess and say your steering is broken)

 

Welcome. If you didn't like the steering why did you buy the car?

 

I would take it right back to the dealer asap

 

Tire pressure ???

 

That was the first thing I checked. They are all where they should be.
It is far worse that having low tire pressure. If you have ever driven a car without power steering, that is how it feels.

 

How much fluid does it have, Full?

Bad bushing, bad ball joint, etc etc

 

I know that taking it to the dealer is one of my options..but wanted to know what else is out there. Plus I really don't want to take it to them and get charged a bunch for something an independent shop could do for free. That is why I want to leave that option as my last.

 

yes the fluid level is full.

 

My old cougar had a power steering leak and never actually had steering problems just made hella irritating noise when I turned left or right..you could just tell when you turned the wheel all the way in either direction. Im not sure if a 1987 ford and a 2003 nissan have anything in common besides having 4 wheels but I'd like to know if theres any whining that occurs when you turn all the way left or right.

 

It’s not your imagination.

In fact I posted the same message here. And, I received the same replies you are getting. The dealer also refused to acknowledge the problem (no surprise on that one).

I had a 2003 Enthusiast and a 2003 Performance Z. The Enthusiast steered much harder than the Performance model, and its braking (pedal feel) was not nearly as smooth as the Performance.

I got rid of the Enthusiast. It’s probably the there were some Enthusiasts with poor master cylinders or something else that lowered the assist for power equipment. Anyway, it was the worst driving car I’ve ever owned (It was definitely a lemon, and not typical of other Enthusiasts I drove).

I thought my experience was an isolated incident, but reading your message I now know there was a “bad batch,” maybe isolated to the 2003 Enthusiast model.

Thanks for posting your experience.

--Spike

 

if the steering is heavy, my educated guess would be that the power steering is out or starting to die...so, you will probably need to change the power steering pump.

 

This is the link to a thread that discusses the same issue the OP (premedstudent1) mentions.

https://my350z.com/forum/2003-2008-n...different.html

This thread was posted here two years ago, but now apparently has a new life.

--Spike

 

That's not exactly what I suggested.

 

Spike is definatly right about this one , all Z's seem to be different. I've driven Z's that are stock and up to 275 front tires, all different. My 03 has lighter steering then our 05, the 04.5 i do most of the work on can be turned with 1 finger.

 

did you check the sepantine belt condition/tension?

 

^^ That’s a good suggestion, but I would think if a belt was the problem, it would be obvious (like a squealing noise or other symptoms, such as poor charging, etc.).

--Spike

 

I would have thought so too, but my old jeep cherokee had this problem and overheated slightly for months becuase of slippage, and the only noise i heard was the coolant reservior whistling like a teapot when I shut it down. Its all engine and environment dependent, but I think in general a loose belt will screech and worn belt will slip in silence.

OP, did you ever figure it out?