Steering wheel off center
03-11-2018, 01:22 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Steering wheel off center
So I have been having a problem with the steering wheel being off center slightly to the left. I've had it to the dealership 3 times in the last 6 months. They have done two 4 wheel alignments to no avail. The last time I was there, the technician even removed the steering wheel and turned it 1 spline to the right and I drove the car and it was slightly overcorrected to the right. I asked for the wheel to be put back the way that it was because I didn't want to go from one extreme to the other. This is already driving me crazy as it is. The car is aligned perfectly. When I let go of the wheel, the car goes perfectly straight, the wheel is just off center to the left. When I am driving down a straight road and I purposely center the wheel, I start veering off to the right. I don't understand why the dealer cant fix this. From what I've read online, centering a steering wheel is supposed to be one of the easiest things to do on a car. Oh, I own a 2014 E350 by the way. Its only got 32,000 miles on it. I haven't hit any potholes or curbs or done anything that would knock anything out of alignment. I'm ready to take it to an independent shop and see if they can fix it even though I shouldn't have to especially since the car is still under factory warranty. The dealer tried to give me the explanation of how the roads are crowned and that would cause your wheel to be off center........blah blah. That's a load of crap. I've owned 6 Mercedes in the last 9 years and every one drove with the steering wheel dead center. I just bought a 2018 GMC Sierra last week and I drive it down the same roads that I drive the Mercedes down and the Sierra's wheel is dead center. So I don't want to hear from the dealer "that's normal". Its not.
I found this online while doing research. This is what was done to another Mercedes after a 4 wheel alignment was done "alignment complete, necessary to perform initial start of electric steering rack and perform adaptation to correct steering center". I don't think that this was ever done to my car after my 4 wheel alignments were done.
Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions or has anyone experienced this in the past and how was it fixed?
I found this online while doing research. This is what was done to another Mercedes after a 4 wheel alignment was done "alignment complete, necessary to perform initial start of electric steering rack and perform adaptation to correct steering center". I don't think that this was ever done to my car after my 4 wheel alignments were done.
Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions or has anyone experienced this in the past and how was it fixed?
03-11-2018, 05:17 PM
#2
Junior Member
John,
Sounds like you are describing the last 12 months with my car. I even found the post about the steering rack and forwarded it it my dealer. I have had several alignments done also, talked to my local indi-shop as well. First, I discovered my power steering fluid was low, not even registering on the dipstick. No leaks that I could find but, low none the less. I topped it off. Second, I went to a set of dedicated snow tires about the same time. These two things corrected the problem. I have a feeling it was the tires even though they were not showing any signs of unusual wear. I did have about 30,000 miles on them. My off center steering wheel was driving me nuts!!! The guys at my dealership were very understanding but, could not definitively fix the problem either.
Another steering related issue I had was when the dealer changed my engine mounts. After, my front ride height sensors went haywire. And when they did the steering would really pull when the suspension was not level. The dealer replaced the sensors and all went back to normal.
Sounds like you are describing the last 12 months with my car. I even found the post about the steering rack and forwarded it it my dealer. I have had several alignments done also, talked to my local indi-shop as well. First, I discovered my power steering fluid was low, not even registering on the dipstick. No leaks that I could find but, low none the less. I topped it off. Second, I went to a set of dedicated snow tires about the same time. These two things corrected the problem. I have a feeling it was the tires even though they were not showing any signs of unusual wear. I did have about 30,000 miles on them. My off center steering wheel was driving me nuts!!! The guys at my dealership were very understanding but, could not definitively fix the problem either.
Another steering related issue I had was when the dealer changed my engine mounts. After, my front ride height sensors went haywire. And when they did the steering would really pull when the suspension was not level. The dealer replaced the sensors and all went back to normal.
03-11-2018, 06:04 PM
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
John,
Sounds like you are describing the last 12 months with my car. I even found the post about the steering rack and forwarded it it my dealer. I have had several alignments done also, talked to my local indi-shop as well. First, I discovered my power steering fluid was low, not even registering on the dipstick. No leaks that I could find but, low none the less. I topped it off. Second, I went to a set of dedicated snow tires about the same time. These two things corrected the problem. I have a feeling it was the tires even though they were not showing any signs of unusual wear. I did have about 30,000 miles on them. My off center steering wheel was driving me nuts!!! The guys at my dealership were very understanding but, could not definitively fix the problem either.
Another steering related issue I had was when the dealer changed my engine mounts. After, my front ride height sensors went haywire. And when they did the steering would really pull when the suspension was not level. The dealer replaced the sensors and all went back to normal.
Sounds like you are describing the last 12 months with my car. I even found the post about the steering rack and forwarded it it my dealer. I have had several alignments done also, talked to my local indi-shop as well. First, I discovered my power steering fluid was low, not even registering on the dipstick. No leaks that I could find but, low none the less. I topped it off. Second, I went to a set of dedicated snow tires about the same time. These two things corrected the problem. I have a feeling it was the tires even though they were not showing any signs of unusual wear. I did have about 30,000 miles on them. My off center steering wheel was driving me nuts!!! The guys at my dealership were very understanding but, could not definitively fix the problem either.
Another steering related issue I had was when the dealer changed my engine mounts. After, my front ride height sensors went haywire. And when they did the steering would really pull when the suspension was not level. The dealer replaced the sensors and all went back to normal.
03-11-2018, 07:43 PM
#4
Junior Member
I rotated mine round and round too. I even have a complete separate set of wheels and tires. Same basic issue which makes me think the power steering had something to do with it. Or both sets of tires were problematic. My car has 102,000 FYI.
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johnlk25 (03-11-2018)
