I have been doing a lot of work on a new-to-me Civic. It had the worst handling I have ever driven (I should have walked, but I was blinded by the price). I replaced the control arms and front strut assemblies (followed by alignment,) which helped a lot, and I’m doing rear strut assemblies this weekend, because I think the back end wobble is still causing problems. But that’s mostly just background. I didn’t notice the steering issue until doing the suspension work.
In a long corner, or any significant corner at speed, I get extremely erratic feedback from the steering wheel. If I hold constant pressure on the wheel like I normally would through a corner, the car wobbles all over the place. If I put two hands on the wheel and hold it steady, it corners steady. My first hunch was that I was getting irregular pressure from the PS pump, but I replaced that to no effect. When I had the suspension taken apart, I did a visual inspection of the tie rods and all the random suspension sway bars and they seemed in working order. There are no other steering issues, odd noises, uneven tire wear, loose steering, not tracking straight, just the erratic feedback from the wheels. Any ideas for the moderately skilled home mechanic?