Corolla VVTi 2000 - Steering Stiffness . . .

tak

Folks,

Recently I got a s/h 2000 Corolla VVTi.

I had a share of experience with the non-VVTi Corolla (1997-early 2000) and found its balance and light steering a great boon.

But this one tends to stiffen when one goes beyond 45 mph. It acts as if it was programmed to self-centre itself ! Hitting bumps on country roads at speed brings this out even more.

Is this the usual with this model ?
Or is it just a matter of going through the usual suspects like wheel alignment & tracking, belt to p/s pump, loose pulley on shaft of p/s pump, partly-blocked nozzles on inlet ducts to rack, damaged rack, stiff ball-joints on front suspension, rusty thrust bearings above front suspension struts, etc etc .

Apart from this problem she's fine. 68,000 miles, newly serviced, new tyres.

Any owner/ex-owner of this model with ideas ?


Regards,

Tak.

jayok

This is just a guess but I experienced something like this also and it was to do with the electric steering system in the car. It would turn itself off (to save fuel) once it went above a certain speed or type of turns. Maybe this is it?

JHMEG

1. Are there aftermarket alloys on it? Where the offset, ie the distance the tyre sits out from the hub, is wrong, this can cause tramlining and the type of symptoms you describe. My own car suffers from this slightly.

2. The power assistance on some cars reduces as speed increases, known as speed sensitive p/s. Above certain speeds the assistance is zero. I'd be surprised if the Corolla had this tho, as it tends to only be used in cars where a good bit of feedback through the steering wheel is desireable.

bazz26

Alot of cars these days have speed sensitive power assisted steering. This adapts the steering depending on the speed the car is travelling at, I'm not sure if the 2000 model Corolla had this though.

I would rule out the more straight forward things that could contribute to this first such as bald or damaged tyres, buckled rims, wheels not balanced properly, tracking or wheel alignment, etc.

Spit62500

I had a 2000 vvti and found the steering to be too light at speed. I'm almost certain that it didn't have speed sensitive steering. Is there any unusual wear on the front tyres?

tak

Some unusual replies.

There are no alloy wheels on it.
Also the tyres are new and appear to have no signs of uneven wear on them.

As it's a pretty much basic Corolla and 2000 at that, I'd be amazed that it would have speed variable power assistance.

The mechanic I go to suggests that "it's the belt to the p/s pump that's too slack on it - that's the cause of stiffness often in them " . . .

On this type of Corolla there is just one long belt going round all pulleys to alternator, p/s pump, water pump, etc with a tensioner pulley at one point.

It did feel a bit slack so I'll have to get out the wrenches over the w/end.

My real fear is that it would be a pulley that is slipping on the p/s pump shaft under high torque loads but transferring torque where only low loads suffice, eg in slow turning in a car park, where it feels light enough . . .

Regards,

Tak.

Spit62500

With new tyres its hard to detect patterns of wear. Your thinking on the belt sounds like it'd be worth checking out - its also free so definitely worth a go. Might be worth getting tracking/alignment done at some point just to make sure that everythings pointing in the right direction.

You could also try calling into a Toyota garage - if you're able to get talking to either a decent service manager or a mechanic then you might get some information as to whether or not this is a known problem.

Kimbot

Its deffo not normal on a VVTI Corolla, i test drove a few before I got one and the few I test drove had this problem. I can't remember what it was offhand but I will see if I can find out. Not a major problem at all!!

jayok

FYI the EPS and speed sensitive steering this was on my 03 Civic. I noticed that when I was on the motorway it would turn off and minor corrections to the wheel were very heavy. The idea behind this was to save fuel - any steering wheel turn more than say 1 degree and the EPS would turn on again.

No idea if it was on the Corolla hence the suggestion with the caveat

JHMEG

Now that we (I) know the p/s is hydraulic, it would be unusual for a car of its size to have variable assist, owing to the complexities and cost of such a system (p/s pump requires a clutch, controlled by the ECU).

As Spit62500 says, the loose belt rememdy is free, so worth a lash.

Are the steel wheels that are on it the right ones? Could they be off another car? Sometimes on full-lock one or both tyres will "scrub" if the offset isn't right.

tak

A new drivebelt and wheel alignment has sorted the steering.

Now not too stiff or too light.

Thanks to all respondants.;)



Tak.

P.S. There is no variable assistance in the 2000 Corolla VVTi.

Spit62500

Thanks for posting the solution - its always interesting to hear what was causing the problem...