Ford Excursion :: Steering Wheel Not Returning To Center
Jan 15, 2015
I'm stuck failing a vehicle inspection for the steering wheel not returning to center after a turn. It turns most of the way back but you definitely have to finish the job yourself. I've jacked it up and turn the wheel lock to lock with no bind at all, one finger, nice and smooth. I've replaced almost everything up front (ball joints, u-joints, bearings, drag link both ends, etc.).
Mechanic that did the inspection seems to think the steering gearbox and/or the power steering pump could be the source. I have only seen threads for loose/wandering steering (which is why I replaced everything up front already) pointing to the gearbox. I brought the state trooper in to verify it and he said while he wouldn't necessarily fail it, he can't override the mech's call because it does require assistance to straighten out.
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My 'new to me' 01 Ex has 129k miles on it and the one problem is the steering. I read (all 34 pages of) the wander cure thread and I played with my steering box extensively over the last 3 weeks. The initial tightening really worked with the slack in the steering, as did adding air to the passenger front tire to even it out with the driver's side. But it did not cure everything. In fact, the tightening of the box revealed something else - the steering now exhibits what feels like binding. And now I must make minute corrections every second or two all the way down the road, even perfectly straight, flat roads. It's sorta driving me crazy(er) and my wife won't even consider driving it until it's fixed.
I was so caught up in diagnosing this problem that I completely missed that the steering wheel would not re-center itself after turns. My father noticed when he visited last weekend and tried to drive it but parked it after going around the block. If making a 90 degree turn, the wheel will maybe make it back to 45 degrees and stops. So you must manually turn the wheel back to center if you want to go straight.
So I've gone back and tried to loosen up the steering gears to start again, but now the gears seem tight regardless of how I adjust it.
I have already planned to replace the ball joints and get the alignment adjusted when I do the shocks and rear sway next week. Should i wait to see if the ball joints fix the problem or should i plan to replace the steering box at the same time? What say you all?
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My friend has a 06 Prius with about 85,000 miles.
Ever since he purchased the car (used) at about 67,000 miles, I've noticed that the steering wheel is slow to return to center and the steering lacks the "springy feel" of the low-mileage Priuses that I have driven. I noticed abnormal tire wear on the car so I suggested 4 new tires and an alignment-- which was done without any improvement. The front toe was set to 0, and the rear toe is minimal (0.05 and 0.1 on the LR and RR, respectively). However, I did not have a zero-point calibration performed at the time of the alignment.
There is no obvious damage or wear to the suspension, as far as I know. Recently though, the steering wheel has decided to clock itself to the right so I know it needs another alignment. It has only been 17k since the last one. Are there any parts that I should consider replacing before doing this alignment?
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Purchased a Prius C II last weekend. I noticed that when not accelerating hard the steering wheel needs to be nudged back to center after making a turn. Or, put another way, if I move the wheel 5 degrees to the left or the right from dead center, it stays that way, and the car veers off in that direction instead of straightening out on its own.
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We just took in a 2001 Grand Marq with just shy of 170,000 on the clock. Super clean old man's car, runs great. I took it for a test drive with it today, and I noticed the steering does not return to center after a turn. It seems to stop at about the 1/8-1/4 turn mark, and you have to manually have to turn it back the rest of the way. It makes for some odd feeling driving. Now the car has already been through our shop, but they did not see any problems. The tires are like new, and otherwise, it runs great?
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Ok try this. On your 2011-13 Elantra if your driving below 60 on backroads and the road slightly turns to the left or right when you get back to a straightaway does the wheel automatically center itself or will it stay turned in the direction you just slightly turned? My wheel stays turned in the direction of the turn and I have to manually move it back to go straight. I have a 2013 Elantra GLS Auto.
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If I make a turn either right or left when bringing the steering wheel back to center it feels jerky or twitchy.
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Starting having a problem with the front suspension on my 01 excursion. When you go over a incline I am getting a big bang in the front suspension also when you turn the steering wheel to the middle it has a jerk right before its in the straight position.
I have new wheel bearings and new locking hubs coming, this problem still happens without the hubs in. Could it be a front axle or U joint but it happens with the 4x4 disengaged.
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I've got a 2005 F350 that i recently did balljoints, tierods and shocks/stabilizer on. Just stating that because i don't believe anything could be binding up to cause this.
If i am to take a left turn, more than 45 degrees, the truck will seem to lose power assist on the return to center and be very stiff when i return it by force until i jerk the wheel past center and let it come back the other direction and it seems to regain power assist.
Also, the steering is just generally bump. I have not driven a better condition 2005 to tell the difference but i'm sure this isn't the way it's supposed to be
I am not having any issue with braking force, as of yet. The first winter i got the truck i blew a power steering line that goes from the gear to the cooler, in which direction i don't know. It's been a year and a half since then so not sure that caused any failure.
Before this symptom the pump would whine when on left turns only, no problem turning right if i feel like doing right turns the rest of my days. I guess what i'm getting at is, does this sound like a bad pump? Bad gear? Both?
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06 F250 6.0 CCSB 4x4 163K Truck was in a pass side wreck about three weeks ago. Aside from bumper, head light, etc I had to replace the track bar and then I had the alignment done. Mech said the steering was loose and was either the steering box or column.
PROBLEM: Truck drove and parked fine last night, I went to leave the driveway this morning and I had to turn the wheel full right while backing up. The wheel locked up and wouldn't turn back to the left to straighten out. Hood wouldn't pop either to check anything
I crawled under the truck, the belt was in place and I didn't see any power steering fluid leaking. Thinking it was a PS problem and the hood not opening, I basically floored it and yanked on the wheel and it broke loose. Also, for what ever reason the hood opened after that
Now the steering is heavy and the wheel doesn't center on it's own. It will stay turned when I let go of the wheel. Scared that it would happen I didn't try turning it full lock on the way to work. but it happened again exiting the parking lot, again full right lock and the wheel stuck.
I managed to yank the wheel to the left again and I heard a distinct pop from what I'm sure was the pass side wheel area.
The PS fluid is dark and I'll figure out how to change it. I've read issues from the U-joints, ball joints, Steering box, steering stabilizer, and failing PS pump could all lead to this. Being the truck had a pass side fender bender, and I'm pretty sure the pop sound came from the pass side how do I check all of these items.
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I have a 2010 F250 King Ranch FX4. I have an odd problem that I am trying to get to the bottom of. We went on a 2,500 mile road trip last year and I noticed on the way home my steering wheel had worked it's way off center counter-clockwise at a perfect diagonal. I had gotten an alignment right before we left and it was perfect center at that point.
I took it back in when I got home and had a tire rotation and another alignment. Within a week the wheel was off again to the same degree, counter-clockwise at a perfect diagonal.
Two weeks ago... tired and annoyed of driving like this, I crawled under the truck and adjusted the steering wheel to center via the drag link adjustment. I tightened everything down tight and this lasted all of three days.
Wat would cause this? Tires are wearing normally, alignment checks out and it tracks straight. I do see some grease like leakage where the pitman arm meets the top of the drag link and again have some small grease where the drag link connect to the passenger side tire. I lifted the front end and tried to move/wiggle the tires and I have no movement... everything is solid. The truck never wanders when on the road... steering wheel is just off.
Truck only has 90k on it of highway miles and an easy life thus far. I am not hard on the truck.
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I took my truck to work and needed a pitman arm. So took it home put a new one on and the steering wheel was crooked which didn't bother me. but after in cranking the torsion bars I noticed how Badly I needed an alignment. So took it back in for an alignment and I cant turn the steering wheel back to center because the tie rods are maxed out. I tried to take the pitman arm back off center the wheel and everything but the key ways just line up the same way. Any chance the after market pitman arm is off or any clues?
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I have a 2009 screw with ~60k miles. It is used for DD and tows our small camper or my flat deck w/jeep.
The other day I noticed an issue when turning right. The wheel gets hard to turn and does not want to return to center. There is also a low speed clunk you can feel in the steering wheel/column itself.
The truck is at the dealer now and they said the rack needs to be replaced and there is something in the column they need to replace too. I have the extended warranty, so this is all but covered 100%. I just have a deductible to pay.
I have not hit anything with the truck, so I am not sure what caused these issues.
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Ok just swapped out the stock steering wheel(polyurethane) to the oem leather wheel...
The diy install went fine then i went to sleep, in the morning i took the car for a spin, i noticed when keeping the steering wheel straight i kinda veer to the left, ok maybe i got the install wrong so i popped out the wheel and adjust...but now it veers to the right!
How can I now keep my steering wheel straight w/out it veering left or right? I did change rims about 2 months ago, wheel alignment perhaps? Probably wasnt paying attention to the steering wheel before..
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When I picked up my car I noticed the steering wheel is slightly off center to the left. I brought it back to the dealer who checked the alignment which was spot on. Toyota was notified and another C on the lot was driven which it's wheel was also slightly left. Dealer notified Toyota and offered to adjust wheel one more click but at the risk of it possibly moving to far to the right. I left it as is and as long as alignment is in specs I'm not to worried.
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The steering on my truck has become a little heavy after making a turn and bringing the steering wheel back to center. The steering feels heavy like I had a front tire half way down. There's a lot of drag then once on center it's gone. Could it be the beginning of the end for my ball joints?
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My 01 f-250 4x4 diesel has some steering wander Ive been fighting for a while. It feels like the front end is stiff and not returning right. All four spindle ball joints were replaced in the last year and a half. The tie rod ends seem to spin easily enough with a wrench but are not loose. MY question is how hard should it be to rotate the spindles with no tires or tie rods on them, wondering if my newer ball joints are too stiff and causing the wander or if everything checks out it my alignment being a little off would cause poor return?
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Just got my golf R 4 door/Nav. When driving straight on the highway (regardless of road crown)... my wheel was about 4 degrees off to the left. No problem alignment wise, but the nice flat bottom wheel is cockeyed.
Car has only 330 miles on it. Took it back to the dealership, they put it on the alignment rack - actually had me sit in the car ensuring the wheel was straight as the tech adjusted the Tie Rods below.
This made it better - I instantly noticed it was better when I took a short test ride with the tech, just as they were closing. However, on the highway home I noticed its still about 2 degrees to the left. Really frustrating as now I have to take it back to the dealer a second time.
The tech actually showed me the alignment printout which was close to-but not totally perfect. Said the only way to make it perfect is to adjust the sub-frame? Really? on a new vehicle.
I do have plans to mod the car's suspension with H&R Coilovers - but will not touch anything until I get this wheel thing square and I am 100% satisfied.
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2012 Sonata ... I took it to dealer for alignment. Steering wheel off center.
mechanic said the left camber is off, cannot be corrected.
My question is, can the steering wheel still not be put to center so as it is not tilted to the left aprox. .5 "
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The center of my steering wheel rattles (part that you press for your horn) is there any way to tighten this?
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13.5k, 2.2 Ecotec, Automatic
The MAF had to be replaced, while the car was at the dealer the power steering motor was replaced (recall). When I got the car back the steering motor (reman) was making a lot of noise and I took it back. This time the motor and the steering column were replaced. After a week I got the car back last night.
This morning I noticed the steering wheel is off center (~1/2 to 3/4") to the right. The car tracks straight with no pull to either side.
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