The problem is that sometimes the steering feels nervous and unstable in the center position. It feels as if the front end is in a constant, if subtle, change of direction from one side to the other. I would describe it as if the front wheels are minutely changing direction on their own and that something is loose in the connection between the steering wheel and the wheels. It is very distracting to me though someone else might not even be bothered by it. There is approximately
1" of play in the wheel at the center position.The interesting thing is that the car is not actually constantly changing direction since with hands off the wheel on a flat surface it tracks straight as an arrow. The steering will follow the crown of the road but less so than my other cars. However, the steering does seem to be more effected by road abnormalities than other cars with more pulling on bad roads than I am used to. The other thing is that this symptom sometimes goes away for weeks at a time only to reappear with no apparent cause.
I would appreciate any thoughts about where to start looking. Thanks.