Has anyone experienced a problem with the steering wheel being off-centre when a steering rack was replaced?

I have a 57 plate vRS TDI and I have had problems since the rack was replaced under warranty!:confused:

The wheels have been aligned with the steering wheel straight, but the steering wheel is still off centre.

If the wheel is off centre then the wheel alignment hasnt been done correctly.

Thats what I thought originally, but I went to a very reputable tyre supplier with the best kit and had a full report generated. They did a slight tweak but nothing else. The steering wheel was clamped straight on the ramp and the wheels were aligned spot on!

I got so fed up with the wonky steering that I visited a local trye supplier who agreed that the alignment was spot on. I got them to track the front wheels to the right, by two markings on the rear laser markers. This then put the steering wheel straight when I got on the road and the car drove straight!

I have since got agreement from another Skoda dealer that the car is driving straight on the road when the steering wheel is straight, but the front wheels are now out of alignment (checked with laser alignment)

There must be something out of factory alignment between the steering wheel and the wheels????

I think you will find the car has a steering position censor meaning the ECU needs a plugin and told where dead ahead is..... The plugin is down to the shop to sort.

That's just a passive component, no chance it influences steering.

The wheels need to first be checked for alignment, then the steering wheel must be straightened, if out by a spline or two, then the fine tuning is to be done again from the steering control arms.

As described above, for VAG cars its a case of setting the wheel central when installing the new steering box. Then set wheel alignment (with steering wheel kept central and tie-rod lengths adjusted to set alignment). Then adaption of the steering sensor and steering ECU (done with diagnostic kit).

There is a steering angle sensor, but it does not affect the wheel alignment at all.

If the static alignment is correct, but the car requires some steering input to keep it running straight then this indicates a problem with the chassis (e.g. body distortion, bent suspension component etc).

I've seen a new 2007 VRS that had exactly the same problem.

The alignment was correct when the steering wheel was not in the straight ahead position.

To cut a long story short, the Skoda Area Tech called in to look at the problem, determined that the steering wheel was a couple of notches out when it left the factory (after much head scratching/poking around and several phone calls).

In this case the problem was 'easy' to diagnose as no adjustments had been made to the tracking.

One furter thing to add after talking to a few people......

I believe that to replace the rack, the subframe has to be lowered down first and there is only one position to put the rack on the subframe, with no play at all. The subframe must then be put back exactly as fitted in the factory (Guides can be used to ensure this)

If the subframe was put back slightly wonky then I assume this could account for chassis & suspension changes and put the steering wheel / driving wheels relationship out of sync?

Does anyone know anything about the subframe alignment?:confused:

I have 2 pals who've had the same problem when steering racks have been replaced - not VAG cars though. In both cases the steering column had been re-fitted a spline or two out of true alignment. In fact I dropped one of them at the local Hyundai garage yesterday after he'd taken his back to be fixed and it's fine now. They just took the steering wheel off and reset its position.

Suggest you go back to the workshop and tell them.

That's just a passive component, no chance it influences steering.

The wheels need to first be checked for alignment, then the steering wheel must be straightened, if out by a spline or two, then the fine tuning is to be done again from the steering control arms.

DavRS said the alignment had been tested, i'm just looking outside of the box since some of the cars we work on need the ECU re-setting, BMW/ Merc being the main culprits.

A sensor does just that, it senses something. It can't by itself act in any way.

Still waiting for the two Skoda dealers to agree that there is a problem!

Please keep supplying your suggestions as I will then have some ideas and evidence to back up my arguments.

Thanks to all

DavRS:)

Why was the original rack replaced?, could this have a bearing on the current situation.

From another recent thread, what is the current thrust angle. In that thread it took a complete geometry check to identify the thrust angle was out, traditional alignment equipment cannot measure that properly. Have a look at this PDF from that thread, BRISKODA - The Skoda Forums a proper geometry alignment machine will give you such a printout, this is what you want from an alignment place. The owner of this car was told by their Skoda dealer that all was well, but as can be seen this was far from the truth.

This is the thread concerned. http://briskoda.net/octavia-ii/enormous-dangerous-wear-inside-rear-tyres/127164/

Edited 15 November, 200817 yr by mannyo

I had a full alignment done very similar to the one in the PDF. The results for thrust angle were as follows:

1) Initial -0o01’

2) Spec -0o20’

3) Final 0o00’

Does this look okay?:confused:

Spec should read:

0o20’ not -0o20’

I had a full alignment done very similar to the one in the PDF. The results for thrust angle were as follows:

1) Initial -0o01’

2) Spec -0o20’

3) Final 0o00’

Does this look okay?:confused:

Yes it does. You always aspire to a thrust angle of zero. If the thrust angle is not zero then the car will try to 'crab'. The thrust angle is the angle of an imaginary line perpendicular to the rear axle - it should run down the centreline of the car.

If the thrust angle can't be adjusted to zero then it usually means crash damage, something bent etc. Your settings look fine, the -20' is the limit, zero is best!

Thanks for the explanation.

Dear All

Finally I have had my car into Volksawagen (through Skoda) for a four wheel alignment and it was discovered that the steering wheel was not straight. The steering wheel was removed and turned by a couple of splines and is now central. Hooray, I am not mad!

I am now happy with the alignment, but there is still a small amount of play in the steering wheel which makes it very difficult to keep straight on the motorway. Has anyone had this problem? (I cannot go back to Skoda as they think I am just a fussy git - I Know the car is wrong as I drive it every day!):confused::confused: