Steering wheel moves car doesnt...

[flipgyptian]

heres the case. I have a 83 LG4 TA, and when i turn the wheel a couple of degrees, the wheels dont move. its like i can move the steering wheel 30 degrees in each direction without the wheels even moving side to side. what can i do? i heard its something with the idle arm or something on the steering rack?

<br />Omar

[MrDude_1]

for me it was the idler arm.

look under the front of the car at the steering system. on the drivers side there is a arm coming from the steering box. on the other side of the car, there is a arm similer to that one. thats the idler arm. if the joint is ragged out, it can cause the steeing to be loose, or it can make it "stick" so if you let go of the wheel the car continues to turn...

thats what it was in my car.. but also the endlinks could do that too... <img src="graemlins/shrug.gif" border="0" alt="[Shrug]" />

[Wardo]

As dude said, check everything in the front end for play. Jack the nose up, use some jackstands and move the tires as if steering it. If you can't find the problem add to dudes suggestions...<br />Check the steering box itself, they are known to have major "dead spots" in them from wear and tear.<br />Check were the box bolts to the frame and check/tighten the bolts. All GM's have a problem with the frame being weak where the box bolts up.