my steering wheel shakes a bit from 15-35mph. i had the tires balanced but didnt do anything. also during a cold start the power steering works when turning right but not left, after a minute or so it works fine.


87 cavalier auto

Sounds like your rack may be worn out. Many early J-cars and other GM FWD cars from around 82-87 had a problem with rack & pinion "morning sickness" where the seals inside the rack would fail until the fluid inside was warm. So the cars would not steer well (or at all in some cases) until your car warmed up. Nice, huh?

Once your car is warmed up does it only shake when you are turning? Or is this also a problem when you drive in a straight line?

I had gave NIck the same advice Daryl about the rack over in maintenance.Also the other ovbious stuff like low ps fluid and check for leaks.Glad to see I was on the right track with the info I provided almost a wk ago.

it doenst shake while turning only going straight

Worn rack/pinion worst case bent or out of round rim.I would think ur rack is toast and recommend replacing it.Mines been replaced bc of just that reason.U could rotate the rear wheels to the front if the same case the rack is the issue.And new struts may be a issue,if u push down on the left/right side of ur car sitting u should only have it bounce one time if floats around or is slow coming back up the struts need to b repl.That's a cheap way to see if ur suspension has served it's purpose.one bounce is norm for a OK strut/shock and could cause this shimmy or shake as u said if the struts are just worn out.