"Return to center" Steering Wheel

[Master Apex]

I want to get the "return to center" behavior of the steering wheel and to reduce tendency to swerve right when hands are off the steering wheel.

The car exhibits the following behaviors:
- Steering Wheel is centered. When both hands on steering wheel, at 12 o'clock (Honda logo on the steering wheel) the car drives straight. No problem.
- When hands off the steering wheel, the car immediately swerves to the right. This is a problem I want to fix. It does so more quickly on crowned road but does the same on level road. It does so with the steering wheel maintaining position at 12 o'clock (but hands are off). So the road surface is not turning the steering wheel.
- When I toggle the steering wheel to the left (turn it to 11 o'clock briefly and then release so hands are off), it will re-center itself (back to 12 o'clock) so the car just shift to the left but it is moving straight ahead almost like changing lane. No problem.
- When I toggle the steering wheel to the right (turn it to 1 o'clock briefly and then realease so hands are off), it does not re-center (only return to 12:30) so the car continues drifting to the right. This is a problem I want to fix.

I had the alignment done twice within 2 weeks but the behavior remain the same.
I tried matching caster settings (both at 6.3) and tried un-even caster with more caster on right (6.8) than left (5.4) to make it pull to left.
Neither settings help.

I am wondering if rack guide adjustment is the solution?
Does anyone have idea?

[repiv]

Have you considered checking your tires? Maybe you've got poor inflation pressures, uneven inflation pressures or a bad tire. It may also be improperly balanced. Are the lugnuts on with the proper torque and even? Is there anything about the rims, tires, suspension that you haven't told us? Is it lowered? Any mods? Has it been in an impact with anything that might have bent the frame?
If you had an alignment done in two weeks, was it at the same place? Maybe they did it wrong twice.

[Jasonoff]

This is the wrong question to ask for your problem but the answer is increased positive caster :)

[Master Apex]

Checked tires, all even wears and pressure. good.
Check lug nuts. good.
Checked the front suspensions and there were a few bolts that were not torqued to spec...re-torqued done.

RIght caster is more (positive) than Left; so if anything the right will re-center more than the left but it is not the case.

Alignment was done at two different NTB locations...not sure if this is an issue.

Do you guys know how to reset the steering rack Torque Sensor Neutal position ?
Will this help?

[Stratocaster]

Ok, since you are a member here, I will look up it up in the service manual for you.

[WestSideBilly]

Your first two statements, together, are not possible. Either you are correcting the pull with your hands on, or the wheel is moving with your hands off. Note that because of the EPS boost curve and the high steering rate, you can put in a very small effort and a small wheel angle and accomplish what you're saying in #1. If you use a more precise measurement of your wheel angle, you will find a difference.

That said, this is not a problem with your steering rack.

Caster is also not the problem. Caster is a measure of camber gain; when you're going straight or putting in tiny steering angles, caster changes mean very little other than the torque required to move the wheel off center - which is why caster is the least important setting on a street car.

So what is it? Several possibilities:
You have a significant disparity in toe-in (more on the left than on the right). This should be evident from the printout of your alignment. If you didn't get a printout, take it back and get one. This is the only thing I can think of that causes both the pull and the non-centering behavior.
You're getting camber thrust due to more negative camber on the left side (probably front, but possibly rear), again look at the printout. Roads are rarely flat, even when they appear to be. You can test this on a divided 4 lane highway by comparing behavior in the left and right lanes. With that much caster, you shouldn't have the return-to-center issue, though.
Your right rear tire is dragging. This could be caused by excess toe, a problem with the e-brake or a warped rotor, or something bent and touching the wheel. Jack the car up and compare how hard it is to spin the various wheels. Again, this would only cause a pull.


I would start with getting a printout of your alignment (please post it), then verify your first and second posts and see how much steering input you're really putting in when holding the wheels. You can probably do this using masking tape (center the wheel [hands on, driving slowly in a straight line] and put a strip of tape on the top of the wheel hub and the airbag shroud, then cut it in two). This gives you a short range reference to see if the wheel is not straight.


Cliff notes: I think your toe-in is messed up. :LOL:

[repiv]

I was quickly skimming over your post in the "other" forum and you indicated that you were on the track and spun out but never hit anything. Perhaps this may have been something worth mentioning here? Did all this begin after you spun out? Dragging your tires sideways over a changing suface (both type and contour) can bend something in the frame where the control arms mount even if you didn't "hit" anything.

[Master Apex]

Problem solved.
It was a loose castle nut that holds the lower arm ball joint on the left (driver) side.
I did not check it because it has a an intact safety pin, color paint mark that was still here and it was never open.
During initial inspection, I did not check this nut because the safety pin was there, so it could not have turned. I was wrong...it was loose. After re-torque, everything is fine.
Thanks for all the tips and attentions.

[repiv]

Good to hear. A lesson can be learned here. If you spin out at high speed, EVERYTHING must be checked.