Lincoln LS: How stiff is your handling/steering?

[Kirk Washer]

I have a 2001 Lincoln LS. I am questing whether my steering/handling is too stiff. I question it because when I make a 90 degree turn the steering wheel doesnt come back by itself

For Example: If I am making a full right turn, the steering doesnt come back to the left as I drive. I have to manually turn the wheel back to the left.

When I make a slight turn or bend on a curvy road it comes back ok, but at full turns it doesnt.

Is this normal or do I have something wrong with maybe the power steering pump or something?

Thanks for any guys who can respond...

 

[joegr]

Not normal. You have a problem.
I don't think that poor return would be a power steering problem. It seems more like it would be a mechanical steering problem (includes the rack) or a suspension/alignment issue.
I would start by spraying some good lube on the steering shaft where it enters the top of the rack, and on the two u-joints of the intermediate shaft (just above the rack). If this makes it better, then you know where your problem is.
Is your steering otherwise smooth, or does it have rough spots?

 

[Kirk Washer]

Not normal. You have a problem.
I don't think that poor return would be a power steering problem. It seems more like it would be a mechanical steering problem (includes the rack) or a suspension/alignment issue.
I would start by spraying some good lube on the steering shaft where it enters the top of the rack, and on the two u-joints of the intermediate shaft (just above the rack). If this makes it better, then you know where your problem is.
Is your steering otherwise smooth, or does it have rough spots?

Hi thanks for the response. The steering is smooth, but its tight. I suspect it is not normal. Maybe it is not as tight as I think, because I drive my other vehicle and the steering is really loose and the steering wheel straightens out after my turn by itself very easily. I would think that a luxury car would have better steering then my 1999 Taurus. But it doesnt. I wish I could take the steering on my Taurus and put it on my Lincoln. As I said, I dont think that should be the case as the luxury car is 2 years newer then the 99 Taurus and is also a more expensive car.

But then I got to thinking that maybe because the Lincoln LS is a luxury/sport vehicle that the steering is supposed to be tighter. But It really takes away from the driving experience and I dont like it. So, I dont think it is normal at this point.

 

[joegr]

I have two LSes, and I have driven several Tauruses. IMHO, the LS steering is a little better than the Taurus. It is tighter/stiffer than the 91 Grand Marquis I had. You could steer that with your little finger. However, it is much lighter than the steering on my 325i.
In any event, it does always easily return to center by itself (if you are moving forward). I had a problem with the intermediate shaft on my 04 that was making some noise and it made the steering on the 04 noticeably stiffer than the steering on the 06. I could oil the shaft, and that made it a lot better for several days. I replaced the shaft to resolve the problem.
It's also possible that you might have a rack/fluid problem.

 

[FDR]

I currently have an 02 LS and a 97 Taurus. The Taurus steering is very light, but the LS is very heavy, comparing to all the new cars I drive at work. The LS steering weight is close to BMW's style. One thing to note is that Gen 1 LSes don't have variable steering dampening, so they are biased towards a heavy steering system (biased towards "sport" instead of "luxury" in the LuxurySport name).

I'm not entirely sure how the steering wheel reacts when you let it go in a turn. It's not something I've really noticed in the 2 years of ownership because it's just very intuitive to me. I'll have to go for a drive, but I'm pretty sure the wheels return pretty quickly and forcefully.

If you're turning a corner and the car continues making a sharp turn, there's definitely something wrong.