ae82 steering/suspension problem

[oldae82]

I have a problem with my '87 fx16 front end. After about 30 minutes of driving I start to get a click and small kickback in the steering. It's noticeable at both low and high speeds. It's not evident when starting out with a cold car, but after said 30 minutes or so it's very noticeable. It shows up more quickly in town driving than in Interstate driving. When it becomes evident, and I stop the car, bouncing the front end produces a noticeable 'creak', which goes away after about 15 minutes of sitting. I can't reproduce the sound with a cold car. I can't reproduce any of the symptoms when driving in the rain. I pulled the steering column and checked the u-joints, and replaced one that was iffy, and got no improvement. I had an extra pair of front struts, not new, but different, and I swapped them out and got no change in symptoms. I've had the car on the rack and checked ball joints, inner and outer tie rod ends, control arm bushings and sway bar bushings. Everything checks out OK. I'm wondering now about cv joints. Anybody got a clue? I'd hate to have the front wheels disagree about the direction of travel. And yes, I have had WITNESSES to this crap- I'm not delusional, at least about this.
An additional observation- in 5th gear, on and off the throttle produces a noticeable (1/2") fore and aft movement in the shifter, which doesn't happen in the lower gears. Transmission and steering rack have about 250K on them.
jm

[taroroot]

I dunno, you say everything checks out. Maybe the rack itself? Which gets amplified as it and power steering gets warmed up? I had a kick back problem that was caused by worn tie rod(s). Was pretty easy to detect though.

The 5th gear play is a chronic problem with these transaxles as it ages. Changing out the bearings in the transaxle usually makes it better. It can get so bad it pops out of gear.

[oldae82]

Thanks for the thoughts. An edit- it will produce the symptoms on a rainy day. It FEELS like a control arm bushing. It FEELS as if it's coming from the LF. It FEELS like something binding and releasing. I dunno . . .

[taroroot]

Have you pulled the CV shafts? They are easy to pull out on the FX16. I wonder if the joint is binding. That usually shows up as a clicking noise when turning. Other than that, check wheel bearing? You can detect that by jacking up one wheel and grabbing the wheel and rocking it to feel for play, although play at wheel can be hard to separate from play from ball joint and/or tie rod end.

[oldae82]

Inner tie rod end! Felt tight when checked, was actually binding. sorry dog just about made me nuts. Feels good to push it and not wonder if things are going to hold together. Thanks for the suggestions.