Removing Steering wheel to correct dead ahead position relation to the tyres

[guest3222]

Hi.

I'll jump straight to it... Basically, when the steering wheel is in the straight ahead position the wheels are pointing quite noticeably right.

I'm aware that I can get underneath the car and tinker with the track rods but to me this seems possibly unnecessary and potentially costly if I get it wrong with uneven tyre wear and poor handling.

I'm hoping that the notches that lay underneath are incremented enough that I can just pull off the wheel and reposition it a few notches to the right. 

Now, since the wheel has an SRS Airbag and controls for the CD player built in to the wheel, am I likely to run in to any problems? * Oh and it also has the 7 speed paddle shift too.

I have found a Honda guide on how to remove it safely... but am I likely to run in to any issues?

Just after general advice please. Is it a stupid idea? Should I get under the car? I'm no mechanic and value your knowledgeable opinions.

Thank you

[chrisc]

Remove the battery lead first.  Be gentle when taking off the hooter cover, you don't want to damage it, but you need a fair amount of force to remove it.  Do you have the correct size socket?  You may well find that the wheel will not budge even when you have removed the nut.  It requires some judicious banging at the edges of the wheel to loosen it.

And of course before you slip it off the splines, make a note of the position!

[caseyjones]

Before you do anything, I would say you must try to establish how this anomaly came about. Obviously when the car left the factory everything was lined up perfectly. The present situation could have been caused in a number of ways, depending on which part of the steering system has been disturbed. So, have you had the car from new? Has the steering wheel ever been removed before (and possibly put back on wrong)? Have the track rod ends ever been disturbed? Has the steering rack ever been worked on? It's very important that you address the thing that is wrong rather than trying to correct the fault by adjusting something else. For instance, it's quite likely that the current problem could have been caused by incorrect adjustment of the track rod ends in the past. Instead of being careful to adjust each track rod end by the same amount (but in opposite directions) to adjust the tracking, someone could have carelessly turned one of them in the wrong direction, or just turned one of them but not the other, and ended up with a situation where the tracking is apparently correct, but the two sides of the steering system are in the wrong relation to each other. This would cause misalignment of the steering wheel, as well as increased tyre wear on cornering and potentially handling problems as well. If you try to correct this by simply moving the steering wheel round a couple of splines, you won't actually solve the problem.

So, if it was me, if I couldn't positively identify the cause of the problem from my knowledge of the history of the vehicle, I would probably take the car to a competent garage with the relevant equipment, who could assess which part of the steering linkage had actually been moved.

[VicW]

As Casey says repositioning the steering wheel is quite the wrong way to cure the fault.
The front wheel alignment must be out of specification and must be corrected to cure the fault.
Take the car to a competent,recommended alignment centre,in other words a reputable tyre centre or your Honda dealer and get it sorted.
Is the Jazz steering wheel on a spline or is it keyed?

Vic.

[guest3222]

Hi guys. Thanks for the replies.

The car was given to me by my grandma which she bought from brand new. It has done about 6,000 miles.

I know she had a bit of a bump in it causing the front cross member behind the front bumper to bend in slightly towards the radiator. The repair job is rather appalling if I'm honest especially on what is effectively a brand new car.

I'm fairly sure that it was taken in to the garage and simply had the track rods realigned without the steering wheel pointing dead ahead. The steering wheel doesn't look like it's been removed before.

So yeah, I'm fairly confident the tracking is correct on the car. The wheels are in great shape, I've owned the car for a few years now and done a fair few 400 mile round trips up the M1 and back and there is no sign of any wear at all.

If there's any other pointers to look out for I'm all ears, but yeah, if all is well and I wish to go with my original plan is it the right thing to do?

Oh and Vic... I have no idea. How do I tell if the steering wheel is on a spline or keyed? Thanks.

Thanks.

[guest2865]

Front impact damage says it all!!  Take it to a Honda dealer if you value your 'neck' and that of others you encounter on the roads.  You say you are no mechanic - that is why there are folks making it their business to deal with car repair!!  From your name you are in Wales? - if you tackle this yourself please post here, a warning if you come up to Scotland so I can keep out of your path.   [;0)

[guest3222]

Front impact damage says it all!!  Take it to a Honda dealer if you value your 'neck' and that of others you encounter on the roads.  You say you are no mechanic - that is why there are folks making it their business to deal with car repair!!  From your name you are in Wales? - if you tackle this yourself please post here, a warning if you come up to Scotland so I can keep out of your path.   [;0)

The car was taken to a garage and repaired after the crash and has just passed its second MOT, the car is perfectly safe and sound. Yes, I'm no mechanic which is why I wasn't under the car fixing it myself!

As I've said, I believe the only thing that is wrong is that the steering wheel wasn't pointing dead ahead when the track rods were adjusted...

I'm of Welsh descent down the line on my Dad's side, but I'm English. I enjoy walks in the park and sunsets and action films... lol 

[guest2865]

The steering wheel could be mis-aligned on the column or the wheel alignment adjustment could be wrongly distributed with respect to the straight ahead position - it needs dealt with by a mechanic who knows the ropes for this car's steering.  What is the angle error (approx.) on the steering wheel when the car is moving straight ahead on the road?  You did say " The repair job is rather appalling"  - what did you mean? - despite passing 2 MOTs?

[caseyjones]

Let's stay focussed guys!!

It's pretty clear now what's happened. The tracking has been readjusted after the accident, but rather carelessly, without bothering to check that the steering was centred. The car is perfectly safe (it's got through 2 MOTs) but the steering geometry will be slightly wrong. It will be perfectly fine in a straight line, but when you corner, the wheels will not move quite correctly in relation to each other, and this could lead to increased tyre wear, noise, and in the worst case, handling issues.

The two track rod ends both need to be rotated slightly, but in the same direction, i.e. so that both rod ends move towards the right of the car or both towards the left of the car as the case may be, so as to leave the tracking unaffected but the steering wheel centred. Any decent tyre dealer should be able to do that if you explain the situation to them, and it won't be expensive.

It's up to you whether you bother to do this. As I've said above, the car is probably perfectly safe and will drive perfectly well most of the time. The worst you might get is a bit of extra tyre wear and possibly a bit of noise. However, the fact is the car is not right, and the steering wheel is annoyingly off-centre! Please either learn to live with that or get it fixed properly by a tyre dealer. Please don't play around taking the steering wheel off, or it will end in tears!!

[chrisc]

This last reply is the most sensible and I thoroughly recommend it

[guest3196]

I had the same problem once with my wife's Civic.

20 minutes and £30 at the dealers - sorted. Seemed like the line of least resistance to me.