Steering Wheel slightly off - I'm stumped

football76

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Late last year I did two things, 1) replaced the OEM steering wheel with a Swedit unit and 2) repalced the OEM tires with Michelin PS4S. Both were done within ~1 week of eachother. Ever since then my steering wheel sits slightly off (which is really annoying since my wheel now has a red stripe at the top). Basically if I have the wheel "straight" the car will drive ever so slightly to the right (most noticable at highway speeds >45mph). I thought this may be due to the road being pitched for drainage, but even on flat areas or areas that are pitched to the left I never seems to drive "true." I took the car in for an alignment and Honda said it's all within spec.

So now I feel like I'm going crazy, is it possible that I warped the steering column when replacing the wheel? It took some effort to get the nut holding the wheel free (had to use a torque bar). Or maybe the car was like this from the factory and I just didn't notice it with the factory wheel? Anybody else notice something similar with their unmodified car?
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Z06Chris

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Mine took a lot of effort to get the nut off holding the steering wheel. It kept turning the steering wheel and locking it off center. So what I did was disconnect the battery, remove airbag, loosen nut, plug battery back in and start the car. The steering wheel went back perfectly centered and then I disconnected the battery again to completely remove the nut.

It could just be that your steering wheel is a little off.
 

tinyman392

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Late last year I did two things, 1) replaced the OEM steering wheel with a Swedit unit and 2) repalced the OEM tires with Michelin PS4S. Both were done within ~1 week of eachother. Ever since then my steering wheel sits slightly off (which is really annoying since my wheel now has a red stripe at the top). Basically if I have the wheel "straight" the car will drive ever so slightly to the right (most noticable at highway speeds >45mph). I thought this may be due to the road being pitched for drainage, but even on flat areas or areas that are pitched to the left I never seems to drive "true." I took the car in for an alignment and Honda said it's all within spec.

So now I feel like I'm going crazy, is it possible that I warped the steering column when replacing the wheel? It took some effort to get the nut holding the wheel free (had to use a torque bar). Or maybe the car was like this from the factory and I just didn't notice it with the factory wheel? Anybody else notice something similar with their unmodified car?
If the alignment is fine, it‘s possible that the wheel wasn’t installed true as well. I know a lot of people on these forums stating that their wheel was off by a “spline” from factory making it not drive straight. You could in theory reinstall the wheel slightly left if it’s leaning slightly right to make it sit true (assuming this is the main issue).

The nut holding the wheel in place does require quite a bit of torque to get it off, so that’s not out of the ordinary. Getting the wheel off the splines is easier using a steering wheel puller which Honda recommends (they also state specifically not to tap or hit the wheel to get it off after the nut is taken off to remove the wheel in their service manuals).
 

SDAlexander8

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Did they check the steering angle sensor calibration with a scan tool?

My steering wheel sits slightly off to the left as well. I brought up steering angle sensor to the service advisor and he asked the foreman. The foreman looked at me like I was crazy and that the steering angle sensor would calibrate itself at idle after I put the battery back in.

So whatever. Might get our mechanic at work to plug his scan tool into my car sometime, but for now it’s only an OCD thing.
 


gaara46

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Late last year I did two things, 1) replaced the OEM steering wheel with a Swedit unit and 2) repalced the OEM tires with Michelin PS4S. Both were done within ~1 week of eachother. Ever since then my steering wheel sits slightly off (which is really annoying since my wheel now has a red stripe at the top). Basically if I have the wheel "straight" the car will drive ever so slightly to the right (most noticable at highway speeds >45mph). I thought this may be due to the road being pitched for drainage, but even on flat areas or areas that are pitched to the left I never seems to drive "true." I took the car in for an alignment and Honda said it's all within spec.

So now I feel like I'm going crazy, is it possible that I warped the steering column when replacing the wheel? It took some effort to get the nut holding the wheel free (had to use a torque bar). Or maybe the car was like this from the factory and I just didn't notice it with the factory wheel? Anybody else notice something similar with their unmodified car?
im having this same problem. off by a slight bit. any update on your end? or have u learned to just live with it?
 

Learn2turn

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Splines have some play in them.

When you righty tighty you push the wheel left against that force and you get max play taken up to the left.

IMO
 

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The steering wheel to front wheel connection is mechanical. EPS is there to assist effort and the sensors are there to sense where you are trying to go. No electronic calibration whatsoever can change the relationship between the steering wheel and front wheel positions.

If alignment is spot on but the car slightly drifts on a flat surface, you have to adjust the mechanical relationship. Assuming the tie rods are not grossly out of spec, there are two places to adjust.

1. Steering wheel spline
2. Tie rods, while steering wheel is held in the center position

If the error is larger than a spline, adjust the steering wheel first, then the tie rods.
If the error is smaller than a spline, adjust the tie rods.

HTH
 


 


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