It sounds as if your pitman arm might be worn on the splines where it fits into the steering box. Can you move it in relation to the shaft itself. If you can then it is worn and maybe the shaft is too. If it all moves as one unit then the box itself must be worn.
It does sound to me like thats where you should start but if you have any play in the rest of the components you should really replace them all with good stuff.
You should give your wheel a wiggle from the 12 and 6 position to see if you ball joints are done for as well.
All the parts you would need should be available through parts jobbers (I think) still including a rebuilt box.
-- Edited by 66 Grande guy on Tuesday 1st of May 2012 11:42:37 PM
since 1983 said
May 2, 2012
i have a misaligned drivers side wheel on my 65 chev
when i lift the front end up , i feel a little play ( inner outer when i hold the wheel ( not the seering wheel ) in the 9 o clock and 3 oclock position )
i have noticed a play on the pitman shaft ( this one goes strait into the steering box )
so i feel an see some loose in that shaft wich is transmited to the center link then to the tie rod end.
and when driving ( with belted tires ) on a bad road my steering wheel starts to shake like hell sometimes when i hit some bumps ( i have to almost stop and start again
so about that play ( up and down movement ) on the pitman shaft ?????
are we talking only a seal here ( no leaks that i can see ) or a whole shaft , or steering box ??? this is a non power steering unit .
any help appreciated , i want to get the old Bel Air on the road soon to go to my annual lobster party !
i have to take care of a brake issue and this wheel alignement thing
thank you all !
65wagon said
May 2, 2012
has any of this front end ever been redone, steering boxs do go bad but not like that, they feel vague from side to side, it could be the idler, centerlink, tie rods or bushings or a combination of all. the pitman on a pontiac has no were points its in the centerlink
since 1983 said
May 2, 2012
i did give it a 12 .00 6.00 wiggle and i only felt a little play from brake drum thats all
i only felt the up and down play on the pitman shaft , i will have to disconnect the pitman arm to the center link in order to see if it has a play with the circular movement of the shaft
so i might as well get a whole rebuilt steering box instead of a pitman shaft only ?
seventy2plus2 said
May 2, 2012
I say take it to a shop and let the diagnose the problem.
eeluddy said
May 2, 2012
That's a fairly common problem on those cars. Had 2 of them years ago that did that and I can't remember what parts were worn out now. I would take it to a professional steering & alignment shop as already suggested. It may be a few more bucks than you want to spend, but worn out steering can cost you your life!
since 1983 said
May 3, 2012
i know a shop in Montreal that is specialized in diffs ans std tranny s , maybee they couls help or direct me somewhere else
any of the rest of the linkage is no big deal , but a steering box is not the same game
may i remind you guys that the car is a 65 Bel Air i call a Laurentian to feel more at ease to ask info about !!!
66 Grande guy said
May 3, 2012
Its probably best to seek out the experts on this stuff as the other guys were saying. Sounds like you have a lead on it.
As for being a Bel Air, not to worry they're all just brothers under the tin!
since 1983 said
May 10, 2012
well i have to get the steering box rebuilt for arround 250.00 , the pitman shaft is worn out
so between that and finding a good one at the scrapyard , il will go with option A
66 Grande guy said
May 10, 2012
Thats kind of what it sounded like to me. Go for it. You'll enjoy the car a lot more if you don't have to worry about herding it down the road.
since 1983 said
May 10, 2012
armstrong , the front wheel on the drivers side would start whobbling when the road would get bad and the steering wheel would also shake like if you would ground somme 220 volts in it
hope it will fix the problem , or else i will look further into the steering linkage .
cant wait to get it back on the road , it s almost a daily driver to me and so much cheaper on gas than my F 250
-- Edited by since 1983 on Thursday 10th of May 2012 01:36:13 PM
timbuk said
May 10, 2012
is it power or armstrong?
since 1983 said
Jun 23, 2012
this time the heater core is acting out on me , there is prestone on my floor running under the carpet ( pass side )
so does this mean a heater core change or just a leak somewhere i have to find
when i stop the car i hear a little whisle that goes as the car cool s of ( air comming out somewhere )
thank you all for the info
Pontiacanada said
Jun 24, 2012
See if the heater core hoses that connect onto the pipes running into the firewall in the engine compartment are loose. If they are tight and not leaking your core is shot. You will need a new core and they are hard to change.
since 1983 said
Jun 24, 2012
thats what i thought , the hoses are tight at the pipe at the core
but a heater core , hard to change , i thought it was just taking off the cover on the fire wall and changing the unit and thats it
i will by pass it for the warm period and try to find another unit if it really is my problem
Pontiacanada said
Jun 24, 2012
since 1983 wrote:
but a heater core , hard to change , i thought it was just taking off the cover on the fire wall and changing the unit and thats it
i will by pass it for the warm period and try to find another unit if it really is my problem
I haven't done mine yet. Mine is by-passed.
There are conflicting views on whether to detach the inner fender of the car or not. Some people have been able to get the last nut on the firewall core cover without detaching the inner fender. I have big hands, so I will most likely have the detach the fender.
Inside the car, you may have to remove the glove box liner. You will have to remove the electrical wires, and the heater control cables. Make sure you have plenty of newspaper down on your carpet to catch the antifreeze.
Take out your old core before ordering a new one. There are many different size cores made/listed for a '65 Impala. There are different size cores for non-AC and AC equipped cars.
since 1983 said
Jun 24, 2012
ooohhhh , did not see it complcated like that , i have the GM shop manual for that car , and will check it out
i had to by pas my heather core on the road the other day , i was driving to my cottage in the old chev , and my daugther had sticky feet see said ?????? there was quite a lot running on the floor there , and i felt the car heating a bit and was going to stop to check things out
prestone was quite low in the rad , so i stop the car by a golf course to get some water .So walking arround thar golf course i see some irrigation guys ..................so maybee they would be working with 3/4 inche carlon pipe , lets go find out????
So the nice person gave me a fitting and lent me a flat screw driver...................he loved my bel air by the way !!!
by passed the core , dumped 4 to 5 liters of water , and lets get to the country place for a swim !!!
some times you can be lucky in life
Pontiacanada said
Jun 25, 2012
since 1983 wrote:
i was driving to my cottage in the old chev , and my daugther had sticky feet she said ??????
... lets get to the country place for a swim !!!
some times you can be lucky in life
At least she got to wash off her sticky feet! Good stuff!
since 1983 said
Jun 26, 2012
Pontiacanada wrote:
since 1983 wrote:
i was driving to my cottage in the old chev , and my daugther had sticky feet she said ??????
... lets get to the country place for a swim !!!
some times you can be lucky in life
At least she got to wash off her sticky feet! Good stuff!
no more sticky feet but a heater core to replace
yup as you said that cover is far under the fender
i will get back to you guys when i get cold in the old chev
eeluddy said
Jun 26, 2012
You can buy one of the plug in defrost/heater units from Princess Auto to keep your glass fog free until you get it fixed. A must in certain areas of Canada even in the summer!
It sounds as if your pitman arm might be worn on the splines where it fits into the steering box. Can you move it in relation to the shaft itself. If you can then it is worn and maybe the shaft is too. If it all moves as one unit then the box itself must be worn.
It does sound to me like thats where you should start but if you have any play in the rest of the components you should really replace them all with good stuff.
You should give your wheel a wiggle from the 12 and 6 position to see if you ball joints are done for as well.
All the parts you would need should be available through parts jobbers (I think) still including a rebuilt box.
-- Edited by 66 Grande guy on Tuesday 1st of May 2012 11:42:37 PM
i have a misaligned drivers side wheel on my 65 chev
when i lift the front end up , i feel a little play ( inner outer when i hold the wheel ( not the seering wheel ) in the 9 o clock and 3 oclock position )
i have noticed a play on the pitman shaft ( this one goes strait into the steering box )
so i feel an see some loose in that shaft wich is transmited to the center link then to the tie rod end.
and when driving ( with belted tires ) on a bad road my steering wheel starts to shake like hell sometimes when i hit some bumps ( i have to almost stop and start again
so about that play ( up and down movement ) on the pitman shaft ?????
are we talking only a seal here ( no leaks that i can see ) or a whole shaft , or steering box ??? this is a non power steering unit .
any help appreciated , i want to get the old Bel Air on the road soon to go to my annual lobster party !
i have to take care of a brake issue and this wheel alignement thing
thank you all !
has any of this front end ever been redone, steering boxs do go bad but not like that, they feel vague from side to side, it could be the idler, centerlink, tie rods or bushings or a combination of all. the pitman on a pontiac has no were points its in the centerlink
i only felt the up and down play on the pitman shaft , i will have to disconnect the pitman arm to the center link in order to see if it has a play with the circular movement of the shaft
so i might as well get a whole rebuilt steering box instead of a pitman shaft only ?
I say take it to a shop and let the diagnose the problem.
I would take it to a professional steering & alignment shop as already suggested. It may be a few more bucks than you want to spend, but worn out steering can cost you your life!
any of the rest of the linkage is no big deal , but a steering box is not the same game
may i remind you guys that the car is a 65 Bel Air i call a Laurentian to feel more at ease to ask info about !!!
Its probably best to seek out the experts on this stuff as the other guys were saying. Sounds like you have a lead on it.
As for being a Bel Air, not to worry they're all just brothers under the tin!
so between that and finding a good one at the scrapyard , il will go with option A
Thats kind of what it sounded like to me. Go for it. You'll enjoy the car a lot more if you don't have to worry about herding it down the road.
armstrong , the front wheel on the drivers side would start whobbling when the road would get bad and the steering wheel would also shake like if you would ground somme 220 volts in it
hope it will fix the problem , or else i will look further into the steering linkage .
cant wait to get it back on the road , it s almost a daily driver to me and so much cheaper on gas than my F 250
-- Edited by since 1983 on Thursday 10th of May 2012 01:36:13 PM
so does this mean a heater core change or just a leak somewhere i have to find
when i stop the car i hear a little whisle that goes as the car cool s of ( air comming out somewhere )
thank you all for the info
See if the heater core hoses that connect onto the pipes running into the firewall in the engine compartment are loose. If they are tight and not leaking your core is shot. You will need a new core and they are hard to change.
but a heater core , hard to change , i thought it was just taking off the cover on the fire wall and changing the unit and thats it
i will by pass it for the warm period and try to find another unit if it really is my problem
I haven't done mine yet. Mine is by-passed.
There are conflicting views on whether to detach the inner fender of the car or not. Some people have been able to get the last nut on the firewall core cover without detaching the inner fender. I have big hands, so I will most likely have the detach the fender.
Inside the car, you may have to remove the glove box liner. You will have to remove the electrical wires, and the heater control cables. Make sure you have plenty of newspaper down on your carpet to catch the antifreeze.
Take out your old core before ordering a new one. There are many different size cores made/listed for a '65 Impala. There are different size cores for non-AC and AC equipped cars.
i had to by pas my heather core on the road the other day , i was driving to my cottage in the old chev , and my daugther had sticky feet see said ?????? there was quite a lot running on the floor there , and i felt the car heating a bit and was going to stop to check things out
prestone was quite low in the rad , so i stop the car by a golf course to get some water .So walking arround thar golf course i see some irrigation guys ..................so maybee they would be working with 3/4 inche carlon pipe , lets go find out????
So the nice person gave me a fitting and lent me a flat screw driver...................he loved my bel air by the way !!!
by passed the core , dumped 4 to 5 liters of water , and lets get to the country place for a swim !!!
some times you can be lucky in life
At least she got to wash off her sticky feet! Good stuff!
no more sticky feet but a heater core to replace
yup as you said that cover is far under the fender
i will get back to you guys when i get cold in the old chev