Steering Binding...

[cheapohubby 12]

For the last while, I've noticed the steering on our smart has been getting harder to turn. It feels like it's binding somewhere; roughly every quarter turn. My first thought is that it's the universal joint on the steering column is seizing up; anybody ever had something like that happen? Up until the last couple of days, it was barely perceptible. But now it's getting to the point where I have to use some significant force to turn the wheel through it.In case anybody makes the connection; this started happening before the car bounced into the mail truck, so it's not related to that.Btw; does the smartie have any old fashioned grease points? I've never seen anybody mention any other forms of lubrication other than the oil being changed, so I assume all bearings are sealed and maintenance free?

[cheapohubby 12]

Oops; should have done some research first... Evilution has a page on stiff steering and mentions that it's not an uncommon problem on the 700cc (that was an older model than ours, wasn't it).Also describes how to get in there and lube it. Guess I'll have to give that a try and see if it fixes the problem. Too bad it didn't decide to do it in the summer....

[dieselkiki 7]

Take a look at your rack&pinion cross joint.

[cheapohubby 12]

Sprayed a bunch of white lithium grease onto the universal and the joint; and after a fairly lengthy period of exercising the stearing, the binding went away. It seems to be back to normal again.

[bilgladstone 13]

Well result! <-- my effort at a North London accent Bil

[smart142 605]

Sprayed a bunch of white lithium grease onto the universal and the joint; and after a fairly lengthy period of exercising the stearing, the binding went away. It seems to be back to normal again.

I did that as well as heating it up the joints with a hair dryer. Probably allowed the grease to penetrate better.

[dieselkiki 7]

cross joint = universal joint. Sorry. Me and my english vocabulary...Unfortunately, this joint are not desinged to be greasable. It's kind of weird how every parts on this car is not built to be serviceable. Almost every part are built as "disposable". For a car we called "green build", I still think that they could did little better!

Edited January 15, 2013 by dieselkiki

[stickman007 309]

I did that as well as heating it up the joints with a hair dryer. Probably allowed the grease to penetrate better.

Never thought of that! Awesome idea!

[cheapohubby 12]

Yeah; might have to do try heating it up... I noticed today that it's binding a little again, either because it's cold, or because the fix was only temporary. Hopefully it'll get through the winter, and I'll worry about giving it another good spray in the spring.

[2seatragtop 3]

Just got a similar fault on mine . Steering is very heavy and doesn't return to centre when released when moving.Did greasing the UJs work or was there further problems?

[FlossyTheSmart 81]

I had to do this back in late July, and it's been excellent up to this point. I could barely turn the wheel it was so stiff.I found it was a bit of a pain to get to the UJ, but it did the job for sure.

[strawboss 5]

I had the same trouble last year and recommend using Wurth HHS 2000 spray grease as it sprays out thin to penetrate the U-joint first then thickens up in a few moments.Haven't had a problem with them since.Not easy to get but a little goes a long way and is probably better than the lithium stuff from Crappy Tire......

[WudzRydr 0]

I just had this problem come up on mine. Since Evilution is now a pay site I cant get to the fix. Is it the Ujoint that is under the dash or is it another that is hidden?

[turbomar 13]

Jack up the left front, turn the wheel hard left. You can see the ujoint from inside the L F fender well

[dmoonen 54]

Took this photo (video attached) a couple days looking down inside of the front end while working on the car, the lower plastic is removed so you can see the gravel where you can gain access to lube it but I do recomed try to do it from the wheel well like turbomar mentioned

*Note the front end of the car I was working on was hit by a deer so everything above the rad was removed hence why I could take the video like this*

Edited January 11, 2014 by dmoonen

[WudzRydr 0]

Awesome! Thanks guys!

[cheapohubby 12]

When I had mine, it took a couple of attempts, but eventually lots of spraying fixed it. Haven't had any trouble with it since. Unfortunately, I wasn't willing to take the time to do one joint at a time, and did both. So I can't tell you if it was the inside or outside one that was really binding.Bummer about Evilution becoming a pay site; although the 10 pounds per year is worth it (at least to my mind). I'd rather they went that route, then simply disappearing (I pulled a copy of their site back in 2008, just in case that happened).

[WudzRydr 0]

It was the outside one. I was able to hit it through an opening in the front with the straw on the can of lube. Worked like a charm.

[2seatragtop 3]

Finally did the UJ lubrication. Now we'll see if it frees up the stiffness in the steering.Now on to the next snags. They're unending

[Utopiacdi 3]

Mine just started with the "heavy" steering. It was parked for 3 weeks while the wifey and I were in Paris and when I took it out, I thought a tire was flat. Anyhow, I will grease the U-joints and see how that works. Can't hurt!

Updated 2014-06-02: I took it to a buddy with a hoist and sprayed it with some white lithium grease, worked the wheel and repeated about 5 times. It is fine now, actually better than ever. We'll see how long it lasts.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Utopiacdi

[darren 192]

Yup, i just started getting the heavy steering feeling in the last few days as well, and like you, i thought i had a flat!I guess i know what i'm doing this weekend!

[jenkinskg 1]

my 2013 smart started binding after a couple of times sitting in driveway.

Have sprayed a few things on u joints so far, no luck

 

May just get new joints

 

going to try and heat it up

[cheapohubby 12]

It can take a while for the lube to work itself into the joints.  If you do go the new joint route, let me know how much they are.  Squish's steering has gone past being stiff, to now rattling.