Steering not returning to center after turn.

**sapstar** · 08-10-2012,11:24 AM

My steering wheel doesn't center completely after a turn. It moves towards the center but not fully. I got my alignment checked at National Tyres and they said it is fine. Not really sure what can be the problem. Is it better to take it to the dealer or a local garage to get it checked? Can this be an expensive problem to fix?

The car in question is an Audi A6-2006 2.0 TDI TDV SE.

**rafletcher** · 08-10-2012,02:45 PM

Did it used to? Is it really a problem for you? If the answer to both is no, leave it be I say. It's bad driving just to let the wheel slip back through your hands anyway.

**sapstar** · 08-10-2012,02:55 PM

Originally Posted by rafletcher

Did it used to? Is it really a problem for you? If the answer to both is no, leave it be I say. It's bad driving just to let the wheel slip back through your hands anyway.

Hi Rafletcher, I bought the car only a month ago. I think the problem was there when I bought it, but didn't notice it at that time.
With the number of round abouts I am having to go through in the UK, it feels tiring not to have the steering wheel centering every time. If I leave it as is, will it not cause any additional problems?

**dansansome** · 08-10-2012,03:39 PM

Not an expert by any means but Things going through my mind:
Tyre pressures.
Uneven tyre wear
Geometry check (not the same as tracking) and could be linked to uneven tyre wear. Expect to pay around 70 ish.

I had uneven tyre wear on my rears, got the tracking checked and it was all fine, a full geometry check showed that my angles were all out. Car drove far better after the adjustments and stopped eating rear tyres.

Hope this helps

**sapstar** · 08-10-2012,03:43 PM

Originally Posted by dansansome

Not an expert by any means but Things going through my mind:
Tyre pressures.
Uneven tyre wear
Geometry check (not the same as tracking) and could be linked to uneven tyre wear. Expect to pay around 70 ish.

I had uneven tyre wear on my rears, got the tracking checked and it was all fine, a full geometry check showed that my angles were all out. Car drove far better after the adjustments and stopped eating rear tyres.

Hope this helps

My car currently has 4 brand new tyres fitted 2 days ago. Tyre pressures and uneven tyre wear can be ruled out. Not sure about geometry check? who can do this? Kwik-fit?
Or do you mean Hunter 4 wheel alignment? There is a garage near me doing this? As National tyres said alignment is alright, I didn't go there.

**dansansome** · 08-10-2012,03:52 PM

I went to a local place that offered a four wheel geometry check, I don't recall it being called anything like hunter, but could well be the same thing.

**rafletcher** · 08-10-2012,03:52 PM

You can get an aligment done at many auto-centres - but leaving it be won't haurt in the meantime :-)

It really is good practice to "feed" the wheel through your hands. Self centreing is generally governed by the caster angle of the front suspension - but modern car suspensions don't have it as an adjustable feature. I think the only adjustment that can be made is to toe-in.

Out of curiosity, of you go on a straight level road and steer ahead, can you take your hands off the wheel and stay in a straight line? Some cars self-centre more than others - I find my Quattro quite slow at self centreing.

**dansansome** · 08-10-2012,03:54 PM

I think it was protyre I went to, which is in Poole, Dorset. Not sure if Kwik fit offer this service, but I'm sure somewhere local to you will.

**sapstar** · 08-10-2012,04:21 PM

Originally Posted by rafletcher

You can get an aligment done at many auto-centres - but leaving it be won't haurt in the meantime :-)

It really is good practice to "feed" the wheel through your hands. Self centreing is generally governed by the caster angle of the front suspension - but modern car suspensions don't have it as an adjustable feature. I think the only adjustment that can be made is to toe-in.

Out of curiosity, of you go on a straight level road and steer ahead, can you take your hands off the wheel and stay in a straight line? Some cars self-centre more than others - I find my Quattro quite slow at self centreing.

When I am on motorways, my car feels to be going straight without touching the steering wheel, but I have to make minor adjustments, I am not 100% sure if that is because of the highway having slight bends or my car steering slightly left... Very slight adjustments though.

I will try to get an alignment with the hunter system which I feel is same as the geometry check dansansome has mentioned just to see if it will help.

**Phutters** · 08-10-2012,04:46 PM

Originally Posted by rafletcher

Out of curiosity, of you go on a straight level road and steer ahead, can you take your hands off the wheel and stay in a straight line?

I'm not sure this is a particularly sound test of whether the steering's self-centring is up to snuff.

I think you'd struggle to find many dead level roads which didn't have the degree of built-in camber necessary for them to shed water effectively.

A motorway wouldn't be much use, for instance - every car I've driven* has needed a whiff of right hand just to stop it drifting gently away down the slope towards the hard shoulder. Correcting for that drift becomes an automatic adjustment on your part, such that you don't notice you're doing it until you realise your steering wheel isn't quite straight ahead even though the road appears to be.

* That part may not be true - I had the pleasure of driving a Hillman Imp many, many years ago, and rather than needing a whiff of anything to stay in a straight line, that car needed to be wrestled as if it was a recalcitrant cat about to be given a pill.