Steering wheel not straight!!!

[florin1976]

I have changed the front tyres recently and I had a geometry alignment done for them too. The think is that the steering wheel is not straight anymore even after 5 attempts with that garage of trying to solve the problem.

The garage (Kwik Fit) couldn't explain what is wrong with my steering wheel so they gave up trying.

I have taken out the steering wheel and tried myself to adjust the problem that way but did not do much; moreover the SRS light now stays on even though I mounted everything back as before. :-(

Can you please help? (model: W202 1997)

 

[stumpy]

Does the car pull on a flat road road when you 'safely' take your hands off the wheel? Is your ride height the same all round? Tyre wear and px ? I personally don't rate Kwik Fit. Has the car been on a laser wheel alignment machine to check all the angles, not just toe-in?

 

[television]

If the wheel was not straight after the tracking, then the garage failed to lock the steering wheel befor they started.

 

[Mr Teddy Bear]

Malcolm is right they haven't clamped the steering wheel.
Assuming the wheel was straight to start with if each track rod had been adj'
equally the wheel should still be straight. However the correct toe in may be
obtained by only adjusting one side only the effect is that the straight ahead
position of the rack changes slightly; also the wheel isn't square.
Some VDubs are intentionally adjusted this way to even out wear on the rack
I assume. After taking mine back to the tyre fitters ( corrado ) the wheel
subsequently came loose on the spline's.
I personally don't like Kwic Fit.

 

[Mr Teddy Bear]

The loose wheel wasnt Kwik Fit

 

[brandwooddixon]

Personally I never use KwikFit - they seem to train their employees by quesswork and commission.

The steering wheel alignment is as per previous posts. You could correct this yourself by jacking up the front, to make it easier to adjust the tracking. Turn the wheel until it is the straight ahead position.
Have a look at the front of the car, from a distance, to ascertain which direction the wheels need adjusting.
Mark the tie rod ends with some white paint or scratch the surface with a hard point so that you can easily count the number of turns that you make.
Adjust the tie rod, not forgetting, to undo the locking nut. Remember the number of turns made.
Repeat on the opposite side, ensuring that you use the same number of turns and in the opposite direction.

Or you can take it elsewhere.

Oh the SRS light is most probably a loose connection to the airbag.

 

[D3Less]

I had this years ago with a van that I took to kwik fit, they made the tracking worse and the wheel off centre, would never use them again.
Get it done at a decent laser alignment centre and then send a letter to kwik fit along with the new bill.
Likelehood is that they will just refund their charge.

 

[florin1976]

Does the car pull on a flat road road when you 'safely' take your hands off the wheel? Is your ride height the same all round? Tyre wear and px ? I personally don't rate Kwik Fit. Has the car been on a laser wheel alignment machine to check all the angles, not just toe-in?

No, the car does not pull at all either side. The tyres are new, same model all 4 (the rear ones are 1 year older). I will try somewhere else...Thanks!

 

[florin1976]

If the wheel was not straight after the tracking, then the garage failed to lock the steering wheel befor they started.

They did lock the steering wheel with a clamp spring loaded against the sit. They did that all the 5 times when I was there but possible NOT first time when I wasn't there. Is this now hard to fix the way it was? Cheers!

 

[BlackC55]

You can lock the wheel and stll the steering will not be straight if it has been adjusted incorrectly.

I would probably say operator error.

 

[florin1976]

Personally I never use KwikFit - they seem to train their employees by quesswork and commission.

The steering wheel alignment is as per previous posts. You could correct this yourself by jacking up the front, to make it easier to adjust the tracking. Turn the wheel until it is the straight ahead position.
Have a look at the front of the car, from a distance, to ascertain which direction the wheels need adjusting.
Mark the tie rod ends with some white paint or scratch the surface with a hard point so that you can easily count the number of turns that you make.
Adjust the tie rod, not forgetting, to undo the locking nut. Remember the number of turns made.
Repeat on the opposite side, ensuring that you use the same number of turns and in the opposite direction.

Or you can take it elsewhere.

Oh the SRS light is most probably a loose connection to the airbag.

Any previous links that may show what you've explained above? Cheers!
After engine start the SRS light goes off for 2 secs and comes back again.

 

[anyweb]

Any previous links that may show what you've explained above? Cheers!
After engine start the SRS light goes off for 2 secs and comes back again.

did you remove the steering wheel with the battery still connected and key turned to the on position ? if so you may have to take a trip to the dealer to get the SRS light reset.

cheers
anyweb

 

[television]

did you remove the steering wheel with the battery still connected and key turned to the on position ? if so you may have to take a trip to the dealer to get the SRS light reset.

cheers
anyweb

Thank anyweb, he could also disconnect for 5 mins and see if it re sets

 

[shirubaby]

for future reference, I found this out today on my w124. Taking the steering wheel off and re-aligning might not be a good idea. There is an indicator cancelling mechanism, which has to be horizontal in order for the indicators to cancel correctly in both directions and at the same place. Refitting the steering wheel at an angle may upset this.

 

[Bolide]

Also on the W124 the steering boix has a "dead" section at the centre of the box. The wheel should be set horizontal when the box is centred and the track rod ends adjusted to get the tracking correct

I'd say in 99 times out of 100 when the steering wheel isn't straight it's caused by poor adjustment by lazy people

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[mark congreve]

hi guys been in the tyre trade 22 years and seen a few `` not so good jobs`` by the above company. two things to try. get a second opinion from a good geo specilist ask them to do a full front and rear tracking. if the back is out you will never get the front right. if that fails ask someone to swop the wheels side to side as even tho the tyres are new one might have a biass. all this means is if the tyre is rolled on a flat surface it will want to go one way or the other this will do one of two things, fix it or make the wheel go the other way!!!
hope this is of some help
mark

 

[Daeths]

I bought wife's renault scenic at a cheap price because the previous owner took it to a numpty tyre changer and guess what the wheels were straight ahead but the steering wheel was between 10 and 11 o'clock.

Took it straight to a little family run tyre place i use who are A1. They adjusted the tracking (or toe in if thats the same) on both wheels to move the wheels away from straight ahead. Drove it couple of hundred yards, still slightly out final adjustment..now bang on.

Guess where the previous guy had been ....yup Kwik Fit. Tracking cost me a tenner, car saving was a lot more.

I would guess this could be your problem.

Adam

 

[greenfingers]

Years ago, when I did all my own oil changes, and couldn't afford to pay a garage, I would check my tracking by fixing a long pair of 6x2 planks to the front wheels, and then making sure that the gap between them was the same at both ends.