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1993 Toyota Paseo "loose" steering

I recently purchased a 1993 paseo and am having troubles figuring out why my steering seems so "loose" on the freeway. First it pulls to the left pretty hard. Also every time I hit a bump it get's a little squirrly on me. If I do a slight zig zag at 70 mph it feels pretty scary. I noticed last night that the left side of the sway bar is not connected to the A arm (bolt bushing system snapped in the middle). I had an alignment and wheels balanced prior to noticing sway bar issue. That did not help at all. Does anyone know how to adjust the sway bar once I find the hardware to re-attach it to the A arm? Also do you think that re-attaching it is going to cure my issue? I tried pivoting each front wheel while in the air and they feel pretty solid. I have replaced steering linkages before but they seem ok.

Thanks for any help you may be able to provide.

-Chris

Reply to
chris
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There is no adjustment to the sway bar, just re-connect it. Before trying to fix anything else, first re-connect the sway bar. If it still handles the same, check for free-play on the bars coming out of the rack, and double-check tire pressure.

Reply to
Ray O

What gets me is, the guy doing the alignment didn't NOTICE the sway bar?!?! Where I bring my cars, they tell me if the Left Nut on the tie rod end is rusted!

Find someone else!

Reply to
Hachiroku

My guess is that whoever did the alignment broke the bolt and didn't want to fess up.

Reply to
Ray O

The sway bar did take most of the play out. I think I am good now. I appreciate the feedback. My next stop will be to the place that i paid to do the alignment (tires plus). One other question for you guys. Every time I start my car the 3 speed auto transmission will not shift into 3rd until it heats up a little. Have you ever heard of that? After it heats up it works great?!

Thanks again.

-Chris

Reply to
chris

Shift into 3rd, or Overdrive?

Especially on the smaller cars (I had a 1995 Tercel, basically the same as a Paseo with a sedan body) the coolant temperature has to get up to approx

120 degrees before the ECU will allow the trans to go into overdrive. This is built in to the control units.

I always wanted to get a Paseo and do some suspension work and then put a

4A-GE motor into it...va-VOOOOOM!
Reply to
Hachiroku

I'm pretty sure that the automatic transmission in a 1993 Paseo is a 4 speed automatic transmission. If you have an OD button somewhere on the shifter, that would lock our 4th, or overdrive.

The transmission is designed to prevent shifting into OD until the engine has warmed up a little so that the engine warms more quickly.

Reply to
Ray O

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