Steering is driving me nuts!!
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 8:46 pm
Ok, so this is more of a rant than a question I guess...I've posted about this problem before in a couple threads now I think, and I've tried to figure out what's causing my problem...but I can't seem to get any explanations.
The problem started over a year ago when I went in for an alignment at my local Suzuki dealer (now Kia) in order to straighten out the steering wheel in my Kizashi that I felt was off-center. I didn't think anything of it because I figured it'd be a fairly simple fix...probably just a question of setting the toe. Well, after getting the car back I immediately noticed as I was driving away that the steering felt different than before...the only way to describe it was "looser". At first I thought that maybe the dealer had lubed something up or that the tires would have to adjust to the alignment, so I figured the problem would go away. Weeks went by though and the steering didn't feel any better.
Fast forward over a year, through a couple of alignment checks and visits to the same dealer and another Suzuki dealer north of me, in addition to buying a new set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires...and the problem is still there!!! And it's driving me nuts!!!
Basically the whole issue at this point is that the steering has this "looseness" about it that makes the car incredibly tiring to drive. I almost want to say it exhibits bump steer, but I don't know if that is the correct diagnosis. The steering does however, feel like it wants to follow pretty much any little imperfection in the road--whether it's a pothole or undulation in the pavement. Anytime one of the wheels hits one of these imperfections, you can feel the steering wheel loosen up and want to turn on its own...and if the imperfection is large enough then sure enough the steering wheel will in fact turn in the direction the bump pulls it. And it'll happen anytime...whether I'm just driving straight on a road, whether I'm turning around a corner, or worse yet when I'm braking and coming to a stop.
It's incredibly tiring to drive the car with this steering feel, because the steering wheel constantly shifts between having a heavier feel and lighter feel. On-center feel is total crap as a result and the car in general doesn't feel connected to the road anymore...a stark contrast to how it felt when I first bought the car. It even gets to the point where you can feel a jitter in the steering wheel while driving at high speeds down the freeway (which is not something I experienced with the car before) and when taking an onramp, if there's an uneven expansion joint or small pothole, the steering wheel will suddenly loosen and want to turn when one of the wheels goes over it. It doesn't actually completely pull you...but if I weren't holding the wheel it would turn on its own. So you have to make sure you have both hands on the wheel in those situations.
I've tried checking the alignment a couple times already, but each time it turns out fine. I've taken the car back to the dealer where the original alignment was done, but they said they couldn't reproduce the problem. I've taken the car to another former Suzuki dealer up in LA and they also said they couldn't reproduce the problem... I'm like what?!?! I promise I'm not making this up...do they think I have nothing better to do than drive around wasting time trying to diagnose a problem that doesn't exist?! I've owned the car since brand new, and I'm pretty sure I know whether it's driving differently or not...and it's not a case of the steering feel gradually changing...it's been a night/day experience. Yet the dealers for whatever reason refuse to acknowledge the problem! Either that or they're completely incompetent, since after all one of them had the nerve to tell me that the car had power steering fluid...
Anyway, my last effort in trying to figure out where the problem lies was to change the tires from the original Dunlops to something else. So I bought a new set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's...with the result being that the problem got marginally better for a couple of weeks. But now it's pretty much back to the same issue...maybe even worse.
I honestly don't know what to do. The car's steering is really frustrating me at this point...if it weren't for the fact that I've invested this much money in it, I probably would've off-loaded it and gotten a new car a long time ago. But I figure that whatever the fix might ultimately be, it's still going to be cheaper than selling a highly depreciated car and buying a new one.
But what do I check now? The suspension? Shocks? Swaybar bushings? Power steering unit? After getting the new tires, I did do one more alignment to make sure that I wasn't going to wear my tires prematurely. Both toe and camber were a little off so they adjusted that, and the car did drive a little different for about a day...but the problem is still there. I'm pretty sure that alignment is not my problem, because I've had it checked and adjusted to spec so many times now, with no real improvement in handling/steering feel.
And one last thing to note...even though the problem is pretty much constantly present, it does seem to fluctuate a bit in severity. Sometimes I'll take the car out and the steering feels really loose and sensitive to road imperfections, easily wanting to turn left and right as the car goes over bumps...and other times it feels stiffer and heavier and less prone to loosening up. Very strange.
I don't know what to do...I just wish there was some kind of suspension/steering expert in town who could take a thorough look at it. There has to be a culprit behind this...
Ugh
The problem started over a year ago when I went in for an alignment at my local Suzuki dealer (now Kia) in order to straighten out the steering wheel in my Kizashi that I felt was off-center. I didn't think anything of it because I figured it'd be a fairly simple fix...probably just a question of setting the toe. Well, after getting the car back I immediately noticed as I was driving away that the steering felt different than before...the only way to describe it was "looser". At first I thought that maybe the dealer had lubed something up or that the tires would have to adjust to the alignment, so I figured the problem would go away. Weeks went by though and the steering didn't feel any better.
Fast forward over a year, through a couple of alignment checks and visits to the same dealer and another Suzuki dealer north of me, in addition to buying a new set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires...and the problem is still there!!! And it's driving me nuts!!!
Basically the whole issue at this point is that the steering has this "looseness" about it that makes the car incredibly tiring to drive. I almost want to say it exhibits bump steer, but I don't know if that is the correct diagnosis. The steering does however, feel like it wants to follow pretty much any little imperfection in the road--whether it's a pothole or undulation in the pavement. Anytime one of the wheels hits one of these imperfections, you can feel the steering wheel loosen up and want to turn on its own...and if the imperfection is large enough then sure enough the steering wheel will in fact turn in the direction the bump pulls it. And it'll happen anytime...whether I'm just driving straight on a road, whether I'm turning around a corner, or worse yet when I'm braking and coming to a stop.
It's incredibly tiring to drive the car with this steering feel, because the steering wheel constantly shifts between having a heavier feel and lighter feel. On-center feel is total crap as a result and the car in general doesn't feel connected to the road anymore...a stark contrast to how it felt when I first bought the car. It even gets to the point where you can feel a jitter in the steering wheel while driving at high speeds down the freeway (which is not something I experienced with the car before) and when taking an onramp, if there's an uneven expansion joint or small pothole, the steering wheel will suddenly loosen and want to turn when one of the wheels goes over it. It doesn't actually completely pull you...but if I weren't holding the wheel it would turn on its own. So you have to make sure you have both hands on the wheel in those situations.
I've tried checking the alignment a couple times already, but each time it turns out fine. I've taken the car back to the dealer where the original alignment was done, but they said they couldn't reproduce the problem. I've taken the car to another former Suzuki dealer up in LA and they also said they couldn't reproduce the problem... I'm like what?!?! I promise I'm not making this up...do they think I have nothing better to do than drive around wasting time trying to diagnose a problem that doesn't exist?! I've owned the car since brand new, and I'm pretty sure I know whether it's driving differently or not...and it's not a case of the steering feel gradually changing...it's been a night/day experience. Yet the dealers for whatever reason refuse to acknowledge the problem! Either that or they're completely incompetent, since after all one of them had the nerve to tell me that the car had power steering fluid...
Anyway, my last effort in trying to figure out where the problem lies was to change the tires from the original Dunlops to something else. So I bought a new set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's...with the result being that the problem got marginally better for a couple of weeks. But now it's pretty much back to the same issue...maybe even worse.
I honestly don't know what to do. The car's steering is really frustrating me at this point...if it weren't for the fact that I've invested this much money in it, I probably would've off-loaded it and gotten a new car a long time ago. But I figure that whatever the fix might ultimately be, it's still going to be cheaper than selling a highly depreciated car and buying a new one.
But what do I check now? The suspension? Shocks? Swaybar bushings? Power steering unit? After getting the new tires, I did do one more alignment to make sure that I wasn't going to wear my tires prematurely. Both toe and camber were a little off so they adjusted that, and the car did drive a little different for about a day...but the problem is still there. I'm pretty sure that alignment is not my problem, because I've had it checked and adjusted to spec so many times now, with no real improvement in handling/steering feel.
And one last thing to note...even though the problem is pretty much constantly present, it does seem to fluctuate a bit in severity. Sometimes I'll take the car out and the steering feels really loose and sensitive to road imperfections, easily wanting to turn left and right as the car goes over bumps...and other times it feels stiffer and heavier and less prone to loosening up. Very strange.
I don't know what to do...I just wish there was some kind of suspension/steering expert in town who could take a thorough look at it. There has to be a culprit behind this...
Ugh