Steering and Shifting Problem

[M10Fan]

This is a very strange problem to me. Hopefully one of you many geniuses can help. 
A few days ago I was backing my ‘76 2002 out of a parking spot. I turned the wheel left to pull out of the lot and felt a dull thud under my hands and heard it in the engine bay. Fairly subtle. Not loud. 
Started driving and the alignment felt a little off. Shortly after I noticed that when turning the wheel left, instead of allowing the wheel to gently correct itself back to 0 degrees, it had to be pulled back to center manually. In fact, if the turn was especially sharp necessitating a lot of left wheel turn, the work of returning the wheel to center was noticeably difficult (and a little scary!). 
Almost simultaneously I noticed that when accelerating from a stop to speed when I would clutch to shift, the car would lurch forward fairly aggressively. And the shifter would lurch as well which would make the pattern of movement from 2nd to 3rd gear with the shift knob quite different! Felt as if the transmission was shifting forward and to the right as this would make 3rd gear (from 2nd) further forward and further right. Hopefully that makes sense. 
Lastly, and also corresponding temporally to these symptoms, the red L battery indicator on the dash has begun occasionally lighting up for a second at a time. Almost fading on and off seemingly at random. 
I have looked all over the engine bay and can see nothing odd or out of place. I put the front end on jack stands and crawled around beneath the front end and also could find nothing. I thought maybe the control arm, stabilizing bar, steering assembly, suspension components could all or individually be damaged. Found nothing - though I’m not a pro by any means, so I should say there is no obvious problem. 
Any help appreciated. Thanks so much. 

[tzei]

Engine brackets/rubber mounts? Steering rubber disc? How they are doing?

[M10Fan]

Looks like the engine mounts are ok. Not sure where the steering rubber disc is. Will look that up. 

[tzei]

Well they might look ok but…

Grab the engine & yank. Shouldn’t move much. Or handthrotle and see that it does not bounce all over the place.

 

 Look those tranny mounts too.

Edited August 27, 2023 by tzei

[visionaut]

In addition to a possible bad motor mount, I’m suspecting you’ve might have a loose connection or some interference happening with your steering linkage in the area highlighted…

 

[Son of Marty]

The left motor mount metal arm just by the steering box is prone to cracking, Tezi said rock the motor while watching for any movement at the mount arm.

 

[M10Fan]

Hellfire. The engine rocks exactly as in that video. That is... a problem...

Would that cause the steering problem described? With that broken driver's side motor mount? I'm trying to imagine how that could cause the steering problem. But regardless it needs to be fixed.

Do folks recommend trying to weld in a piece of metal like the one IE sells? Or replace the whole subframe? Neither looks terribly simple!

Thanks much.

[Son of Marty]

A very good welder may be able to weld in the reinforcement in the car after removing the steering box but space is tight, I would drop the sub frame and you can clean the x member up and weld in the reinforcement  fairly easily. Any of the vendors plates will do the job or you can fabricate one your self, just remember which ever way you go leave clearance around where the mount nut is so that all the threads engage. A new or used sub frame will develop the same cracking it's just a matter of time.

[TobyB]

Also, if the engine's not sitting on the center link, your strut top bearings 

may be sticking.

 

t

 

[Mike Self]

You didn't specify the year of your car, but if it's a 71 or earlier, it may have the early style right motor mount.  I know they were used at least through 1969, and possibly into 1970 and '71.  These mounts were a single piece of metal, folded over to form the mount.   The would stress crack at the fold, allowing the motor to drop down--far enough for the OEM air cleaner to hit the hood, and also allowing the pan to hit one of the steering rods.  Later mounts are welded up from weveral pieces and rarely fail .

 

We're talking about the metal mount itself--the part that is bolted to the subframe and hold the rubber engine mount.  If you have one of the early ones, examine it very carefully--that crack is kinda hard to see given its location.  When mine failed the factory 1 barrel air cleaner started banging against the hood and the motor had a noticeable list to starboard.  

 

mike

[M10Fan]

It is a 76. I have looked at the subframe and can confirm it is the one in the video posted by Son of Marty. 

Looks like I am going to learn how to remove the subframe. 

[slowbert]

2 hours ago, M10Fan said:

It is a 76. I have looked at the subframe and can confirm it is the one in the video posted by Son of Marty. 

Looks like I am going to learn how to remove the subframe. 

 

Before going through all that trouble, make sure that the engine mount is actually broken, as opposed to the nut working itself loose.  It may be as simple as an M10 nut (and lock washer) on the engine mount.

 

If not, removing the engine/subframe takes a bit of time, but it is not hard.  

 

Take lots of pictures of the car beforehand, noting all the connections between the engine/transmission/subframe and the rest of the car.  Slowly, methodically, remove the connections (electrical, mechanical, water, brakes, linkages, etc.) and label everything.  Remove the hood to make your life easier and get access.  Probably easier to remove distributor to give clearance, too.

 

With the car on jack stands, use an engine hoist to hold the engine/subframe while you remove the six bolts holding the subframe.  Then gently, slowly, lower the subframe on a furniture dolly.  Once you disconnect the hoist from the engine, you can use the hoist to get the car way up in the air and roll the engine/subframe out from under the car.

 

It will take a bit of time, but it is not hard.  Just be patient.

 

While you have it out of the car, you can make the project extra expensive by disassembling the suspension, powder coating all the parts, new bushings, new shocks, new wheel bearings, painting the engine bay, new insulation in the engine bay, refresh the brake lines, refresh master cylinder, new clutch/pressure plate, 5 speed...by then, you probably need to do the same thing on the rear suspension.

[Son of Marty]

You could also put a add in the parts wanted section for a used sub frame and have it reinforced if it hasn't been already and switch them saving time. You can also hang the engine on a overhead support bar or some chain or straps and a couple of 2x4's no need to remove the engine unless you want to. 

[M10Fan]

Thank everyone for the advice. Once I got down into the engine bay and looked at everything I realized the previous owner had already reinforced the bracket. The subframe has a nice powdercoat finish on it and has no indications of damage. That was a relief!

The driver side engine mount has ben sheared in half though. With some rangling I managed to pull the bracket off the block and have a new mount on the way.

I had purchased the engine support bar pictured above in preparation for removing the subframe. Glad I had it on hand because once I removed the sheared mount, the engine wanted to shift quite a bit! That little device is pretty awesome for the money.

Again, thanks so much for all the advice. I'll update this thread further if anything else interesting transpires. Gotta figure out the electrical issue now. So please excuse another post from me... 

 

[Son of Marty]

Was it the early round mount or the later square one? The later one fits right in and is much stronger, just say'n.