Steering wheel off-centered?

[Trades46]

This is bothering me more than it should. The car is about a month old - a 2018 SE Touring in Canada.

After the first week I noticed the steering wheel is about 15deg off-centered when driving on a straight flat road. Center the steering and the car would have a tendency to veer left. I took it to the dealer to have the alignment checked - they came back with readings that were within specifications, stated that it was likely a tire pressure imbalance. OK then.

The car is now worn in a bit more with 1100km on the odometer. However the steering still feels like it is 10deg off centered, always towards the right. Center it again and the car would sometimes go straight, but more often than not it would always want to dart left on the slightest road imperfection. I never seen a car that does this before.

Any thoughts?

 

[Trex]

This is bothering me more than it should. The car is about a month old - a 2018 SE Touring in Canada.

After the first week I noticed the steering wheel is about 15deg off-centered when driving on a straight flat road. Center the steering and the car would have a tendency to veer left. I took it to the dealer to have the alignment checked - they came back with readings that were within specifications, stated that it was likely a tire pressure imbalance. OK then.

The car is now worn in a bit more with 1100km on the odometer. However the steering still feels like it is 10deg off centered, always towards the right. Center it again and the car would sometimes go straight, but more often than not it would always want to dart left on the slightest road imperfection. I never seen a car that does this before.

Any thoughts?

The PHEVs I have driven are all good unless the road has a extreme camber.

A Holden ute from brand new I owned had the steering wheel off line and I ended up lifting it off its spline and straightening it up. Probably built late on Friday afternoon that ute. But with airbags in the steering wheel these days I would definitely be leaving that to the experts.

What would I check if I had to fix myself? I would check tyre pressure, wheel alignment at 2 different places, brakes, and bearings.

Did the mechanics drive it themselves?

Try not to look at it as a problem but a challenge. I know we want perfection especially with new vehicles and that is why we have warranty.

Regards Trex.

 

[jaapv]

We had that complaint when the car just appeared on our roads. It turned out that they were cross-cambered to drive straight and the flatter roads in our country made them veer slightly. Have your dealer check the camber.

 

[greendwarf]

We had that complaint when the car just appeared on our roads. It turned out that they were cross-cambered to drive straight and the flatter roads in our country made them veer slightly. Have your dealer check the camber.

I was thinking the same - although I never been to North America, I get the impression from films & TV that most roads are poured concrete slabs so no camber. What is worrying is that, unlike Japan, the US & Canada drive on the right, so the bias identified by the OP means the car will tend to steer INTO oncoming traffic! Did they learn nothing from Ralph Nader? This needs fixing by the dealers urgently.

 

[NightPHEVer]

After the first week I noticed the steering wheel is about 15deg off-centered when driving on a straight flat road

I'm not 100% I've got this correct - but do you mean that the actual steering wheel inside the car is slightly 'off-centre', ie the top of the airbag/centre 'boss' is not perfectly horizontal when you are going straight ahead?

If so, mine's the same. It bothers me too! As far as I understand it, from past experience of this phenomena it can be corrected by relative adjustment of the trackrod ends that connects each end of the steering rack to the wheels. This would mean that 'tracking' and alignment are still correct but the steering wheel ends up in a slightly different position relative to the precise direction that the wheels are pointing, which can then make the steering wheel appear 'straight' in relation to the vehicle going straight ahead. When the trackrods are adjusted the steering wheel will actually move slightly to correct its position. This should obviously be done correctly at the factory in the first place. If the tracking is ever adjusted without the steering wheel firmly held dead centre I think it can result in the wheel ending up off centre. I think all this is quite hard to do!

I tried the 'moving the steering wheel around one spline' idea on a Jeep that I had, but it was far too much correction so the wheel was then 'off centre' in the other direction!

 

[Trex]

Hi,

As someone who worked in a tyre shop for over 3 years, while I was going to high school, on weekends to pay for my pilot's licence flying lessons (I went solo on my 16th birthday before I could legally drive a car by myself) I got to see first hand how a wheel alignment works at least over here.

The bloke I fetched tools for would lock the steering wheel straight and then start adjusting angles like castor, camber and toe. He did a great job IMO and I still go to the same firm to this day. I do not trust my dealer as much doing this. Tyres shops do heaps more wheel alignments than my dealer I am pretty sure. That is why I said get wheel alignment at 2 different places. Some people take more pride in their work.

Now as NightPHEVer said what we call the tie rod ends here can be adjusted for fine tuning of how straight the steering wheel is but this will also affect toe angle from memory so you lock the steering wheel straight first then make other wheel alignment adjustments.

Well that is how this bloke here used to do it.

I suppose it could be different now. :roll:

BTW there should be no road completely flat or no Camber or Cant for drainage reasons is what I was taught.

Regards Trex.

 

[jaapv]

Not quite the way it is done today:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLXAtQ-eQc4

 

[NightPHEVer]

I suppose it could be different now. :roll:

Well the track rods on a PHEV still look the same as they used to 20 years ago on any other car, so I'd have thought the actual adjustment principle is the same. That Bosch device looks like clever stuff - I hope the end users know precisely how to operate it and what to do with the information it gives them.

 

[Trades46]

Well went back to the dealer again today and sat in the car with the technician and he does note the problem.

After an hour later & a day worth of driving (90km and still getting 3.5L/100km thanks to rigorous scouring for charging stations) tells me the problem is solved.

Thanks to all your comments.

 

[Harald]

... the problem is solved.

Can you describe how your problem was solved?

This might help the next in a similar situation.

 

[OutlanderPHEV2018]

Well went back to the dealer again today and sat in the car with the technician and he does note the problem.

After an hour later & a day worth of driving (90km and still getting 3.5L/100km thanks to rigorous scouring for charging stations) tells me the problem is solved.

Thanks to all your comments.

Morning Guys,

I just got an Outlander PHEV 2018. at first I thought the wheels were not alligned properly was pulling the car to the left when I drove straight. I went for a alignment and my steering wheel is still off centered. I went back 2 times to the dealership to get it resolved and they cannot find the issue why the steering is off centered. then I googled my issue and stumbled on this thread. Trades46 says it was resolved. Id be glad to know what is causing this so it can get resolved. My car does not even have 1000km on it yet.

thanks for your time.

 

[Trades46]

Well went back to the dealer again today and sat in the car with the technician and he does note the problem.

After an hour later & a day worth of driving (90km and still getting 3.5L/100km thanks to rigorous scouring for charging stations) tells me the problem is solved.

Thanks to all your comments.

Morning Guys,

I just got an Outlander PHEV 2018. at first I thought the wheels were not alligned properly was pulling the car to the left when I drove straight. I went for a alignment and my steering wheel is still off centered. I went back 2 times to the dealership to get it resolved and they cannot find the issue why the steering is off centered. then I googled my issue and stumbled on this thread. Trades46 says it was resolved. Id be glad to know what is causing this so it can get resolved. My car does not even have 1000km on it yet.

thanks for your time.

The dealer for the first two times said the alignment was good & did the alignment again the 2nd time which solved nothing.

Get a technician to take a drive with you as the passenger - find a flat road with no center crown. Set the steering straight & drive - if it pulls to the side you have a problem. I did that the 3rd time, they aligned it and it was fixed.

 

[OutlanderPHEV2018]

Thanks for the insight. However I drove with the technical advisor not the technician, but he believed once he drove it and the steering was off center. Now they have no clue how to remediate and they have placed a case with Mitsubishi. We'll see where this goes. i'll update once I have a response.

 

[OutlanderPHEV2018]

I have not posted in a while. I just wanted to update on the Off center steering wheel. The dealership alerted mitsubishi of the issue. They came back weeks after. They just told me they received the specifications for my car. then i brought it over for the winter tire change and thats it. steering wheel is perfectly centered. but could not tell me exactly what was off.