Steering wheel off centre

[CJS1337]

Hi All,

In my new SX, driving in a straight line requires the steering wheel to be turned slightly to the right. It's noticeable on a newly surfaced freeway that is flat and even more noticeable on roads that have a camber towards the footpath. (Roads that I'm also very familiar with and don't have this problem in other cars.)

So I took it back to Mitsubishi today and they suggested it needed a wheel alignment, and so sent it next door to Bob Jane. Well this arvo it's still the same!

I tried to explain to them that the car never pulled to one side - it drives perfectly straight even when momentarily letting the steering wheel go. If I DO straighten the steering wheel, I start floating over to the left. So they have me booked in again tomorrow to have another look.

So guys, what else would be causing this in a new car? Is there a specific part causing this that I can tell their mechanics to look at?

Your help would be very much appreciated.

[whitenight]

be sure to go for a test drive with the person who is going to be doing the wheel alignment and show them what the problem is even after they have done it get them to go and test drive it to make sure you are happy with it there is nothing wrong with it just needs a person who knows what there doing which is hard to find i have gone through the same thing three times and gave up in the end . ended up doing it myself .

[aspir3]

It just needs a wheel alignment.

When they do a wheel alignment they lock the steering wheel. They try to lock in centrally but some times they get it off. It is a little hard to line the steering wheell up to while doing it from outside the car with the door open.

[BrownSound]

Interesting... I have that issue too. I wonder if mitsubishi will fix it under warranty for me as well? It was there from new but I just let it go thinking that it is probably normal.

[vr]

Any one know of a good place to get a wheel alignment done Newcastle - Lake Macquarie area

[El-Diablo]

Steering wheel off centre is different to wheel alignment. the steering wheel needs to be removed and rotated to the correct position.

Take it to the dealer and tell them you want it fixed. With wheels straight the wheel should be aligned properly.

[CJS1337]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

The wheel alignment done today makes the car go in a perfect straight line as it did on day 1... but again, only if the steering wheel is still slightly turned to the right!

Will let Mitsubishi know about some of your ideas and will post results after they (hopefully!) fix it tomorrow.

Cheers!

[LZY_EYE]

Actually pulling the wheel off may not fix it.

There is a chance that the wheel cannot be put on straight.

There is adjustment in the tie rod ends. You take some adjustment out of one side, and put adjustment in to the other side.

Troy is right. It is the wheel alignment. My car went in with a straight wheel, and out with a crooked wheel. How do you explain that if the wheel didn't come off in the process?

[CJS1337]

Ah ha! Tie rod adjustment. Will mention that too. Thanks again

[El-Diablo]

I can tell you for a fact that steering wheels are meant to be put on straight - 15 years in automotive including 10 at ford and the last 4 as Ford production system manager for Asia Pacific and Africa. Steering wheel off centre is an end of line pre-delivery check.

Yes the wheel alignment should be right and the front end adjusted properly but the steering wheel should be on straight.

[LZY_EYE]

I understand what you are saying.

But how can you explain a car with 10,000kms driving in with a straight wheel, and driving out with a wheel now not centered.

Obviously the aligner has made a mistake and adjusted the tie rods incorrectly.

If the aligner suggested pulling off the wheel, I would find that a bit of a cop out.

[aspir3]

Rob when they do a wheel alignment now they lock up your steering wheel in the central position and the adjust your toe in or out. If the steering wheel is clamp of centre then the wheel alignment will be right but when you drive down the road your steering wheel be off centre.

This happened to me and I took it back to the where I got the wheel alignment and they redid it for me for free.

[El-Diablo]

My apologies I didn't realise it happened after an alignment. (Alzheimers)

Aspire is right i would suggest whoever did the wheel alignment has done it incorrectly.

[Itachi]

Im not really sure if this will help, but it seems the same so here goes:

I got my car lowered and after the springs had settled, went to get a wheel alignment at Bob Jane. They told me that they aligned everything except that my caster was out. They also said that they didnt have the equipment to fix it. I'm not sure if that was just that one Bob Jane was not equipped to deal with it or all Bob Jane shops, but they said I might feel the car pulling a bit. The result is that I find myself having to turn the wheel slightly just to go in a straight line.

I havent had this fixed yet so I cant tell you if it will fix the problem (or if you have the same problem) but it might be worth checking with Bob Jane?

[CJS1337]

Hi All,

Results are in and everyone here was right!

First of all, Mitsubishi took the steering wheel off and said it could be re-adjusted because it was "multi-splined" and had 50+ possible positions.
They moved it slightly to the next (notch? spline? position?) but must have been a bit too far and couldn't get it 100% accurately in the centre.
So again, off to Bob Jane it went. I walked next door to Bob Jane and pretty much followed my car over there like a stalker and then told the nice man in Bob Jane. "See that beautiful new Effect Grey SX? Well it has a little steering wheel problem..." and went onto explaining the story to him. I thought I may as well give him all the details as he'll be the one working on it, as opposed to yesterday he would have only received a Job Sheet from Mitsubishi that just says "Wheel Alignment."

He said "Arh, it needs a steering wheel alignment too. Yup we can fix that."

Anyway, after an hour or so, I got my car back and was driving in straight lines with the steering wheel exactly straight too. Woo Hoo!

Although we shouldn't have to do it, it proves that a little bit of persistence and some extra explaining directly with the person doing the work, seems to go a long way. Not to mention a fair bit if help from my new friends at ClubCJ

Thanks again guys. Cheers.