[AYP]

Hello everyone,

From the past few days, I have observed that the steering of my car is off centre to the left. In its new default position, the car starts to veer towards left and if I forcibly keep it at the centre, the car starts to veer towards the right. This causes me to keep correcting the steering constantly and leads to fatigue. I have captured this in a video-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSmDCFzPOlc

This behaviour wasn't noticed earlier. What could have caused this and what is the solution? A few points-

1. I upsized my wheels back in April(from 175s to 185s).
2. I checked the behaviour of the car after ensuring the correct tyre pressure. The behaviour is still the same.
3. I tried driving on the other side of the road and also on various other roads, this new behaviour is constant.
4. Request all the Figo and the Aspire owners to check if this is observed in their cars.

[SteeringWheel]

Two reasons

1. Alignment
Did you get the alignment checked recently? When you hold the steering straight, it is veering to right, this may be alignment issue.

2. Steering sensor
Newer cars with electronic power steering and stability control have something called a steering position sensor which sometimes gets disturbed for reasons I'm unaware of. The EPS treats the new position as the centre and defaults to that position. In your case it is defaulting to the left. In such cases the EPS needs to be calibrated which can be done by the ASC by connecting their scanner to the OBD port. I'm currently facing the same issue in my Verna and I'll get it corrected when time permits. IN my case the car defaults to the left but when I keep the steering straight, it goes straight.

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by AYP

From the past few days, I have observed that the steering of my car is off centre to the left. In its new default position, the car starts to veer towards left and if I forcibly keep it at the centre, the car starts to veer towards the right.

From the video it looks like the car moves straight but the steering wheel is off center. I couldn't notice the car drifting towards the left.

If this is the case, alignment disturbed recently (pothole hit, etc) and get it checked before suspecting the steering components.

[AYP]

Originally Posted by SteeringWheel

IN my case the car defaults to the left but when I keep the steering straight, it goes straight.

Thanks. In my case, when I keep the steering straight, it does go straight for a few metres before defaulting to right. Shall get it checked at ASS.

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

From the video it looks like the car moves straight but the steering wheel is off center. I couldn't notice the car drifting towards the left.

Start the video from the 20 sec mark. At around 30 sec, you can see the white lane marking on the road and car going over it till the video ends.

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

If this is the case, alignment disturbed recently (pothole hit, etc) and get it checked before suspecting the steering components.

Thanks. Shall get it checked. What would you suggest, manufacturer ASS or a reputed alignment centre?

[SteeringWheel]

Originally Posted by AYP

Thanks. In my case, when I keep the steering straight, it does go straight for a few metres before defaulting to right. Shall get it checked at ASS.

On my car the alignment is correct but the steering sensor calibration is disturbed. So the car goes straight if I hold the steering at center.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by AYP

Thanks. Shall get it checked. What would you suggest, manufacturer ASS or a reputed alignment centre?

Ask the alignment shop guys to test drive the vehicle, I think they should figure it out easily. Once the alignment is corrected usually the steering wheel electronics will figure it out on its own.

[zeng]

It appears to be an alignment issue.

More so if a wheel alignment check/adjustment was done during April tyre upgrade.

Care to upload the (latest) alignment printout?

[.anshuman]

Looks like the wheel alignment of the car is out, get it checked.

Maybe because some Ford cars have pull drift compensation, the system is trying to compensate and causing the car veering to the other side.

[Jeroen]

Steering wheel got it spot on in his post. The most likely cause is something with the alignment or steering sensor.

Please note these are completely independent of each other, but must both be set up correctly. If it is an alignment issue the sensor might need re calibration as well, depending on what was wrong.

In fact on most modern cars with electric steering, resetting/re calibration of the sensor after alignment is part of the procedure and needs to be done no matter what.

So if you find a shop that can do the alignment make sure they also know how to reset/calibrate the sensor. Don’t let anybody tell you it’s not necessary or the electronics will figure it out themselves. It won’t.

There could be other reasons as well, but apart from checking tires and tire pressure, a full alignment check including the sensor is most likely to solve the issue. If you’re lucky the sensor just needs resetting. Very easy, but you need the right equipment.

Good luck
Jeroen

[arijitkanrar]

We have a Figo and faced a similar problem recently.
As many have pointed out, its most likely a combination of the wheel alignment and steering position sensor.

Recently during routine service at the Ford ASC, the technician carried out EPS calibration. No that I asked for it, but they did it anyway. And as usual these guys are too cool to do the job properly.
The procedure calls for the steering to be rotated completely to one side and then to the other side. This way the EPS software learns what are the extreme limits of the rotation and what would be the center. If the technician misses turning the sterring wheel fully in either direction or both, the software has no way of knowing what would be the correct center position and can lead to this incorrect behaviour of the wheel.
This is exactly what happened. When I pointed out my SA said it'll sort itself out and the EPS will learn the new center. He asked me to drive for a few days and it'll be fine.
I went back and drove for about a day but didnt like it at all.
Went back to the ASC and asked them to do the calibration again. That fixed the problem.

And on the topic of wheel alignment, I make sure that I never get alignment done at the ASC. The machine at this particular ASC (JSP Ford, Kudlu gate, Bengaluru) is never properly calibrated. If my wheels are aligned at this center, the car always pulls left.
I went to a alignment center near my home and clicked a pic of the angles before they were corrected. You can see that both left and right wheels are incorrectly pointed by almost equal amounts to the right. This points to incorrect calibration or procedure at the Ford ASC.


Since then I always refuse wheel alignment at the ASC. I get it done at the shop near my home which does a better job and costs slightly less compared to the ASC.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by AYP

Thanks. Shall get it checked. What would you suggest, manufacturer ASS or a reputed alignment centre?

Please get the alignment done from a reputed shop, and it will sort out the issue. I recommend Straight Line tyres, in Santa Cruz as they have a top of the line Hunter alignment machine, and are knowledgeable people.

[sidzz]

Originally Posted by AYP

Hello everyone,

From the past few days, I have observed that the steering of my car is off centre to the left. In its new default position, the car starts to veer towards left and if I forcibly keep it at the centre, the car starts to veer towards the right. This causes me to keep correcting the steering constantly and leads to fatigue. I have captured this in a video-

I had the exact same problem in my XUV500 for a few days. It happens due to bad road conditions and usual wear and tear. I got steering centering done and problem resolved. The usual alignment workshops will not be able to do steering centering. You may have to visit a full fledged car workshop.

[maheshm619]

Originally Posted by AYP

4. Request all the Figo and the Aspire owners to check if this is observed in their cars.

I had the same issue in my Ford Freestyle. The steering sat slightly off center to the right and I drove like that for a couple of months. The car alignment was ok and the car held a straight line without much fuss. The fault was identified as improper mounting of steering lock during alignment. If the alignment shop mounts the steering lock, which sits between steering and seat improperly and off center, the final output would look like this.

[zeng]

Originally Posted by arijitkanrar

We have a Figo and faced a similar problem recently.

Recently during routine service at the Ford ASC, the technician carried out EPS calibration.

.....
This is exactly what happened. When I pointed out my SA said it'll sort itself out and the EPS will learn the new center. He asked me to drive for a few days and it'll be fine.
I went back and drove for about a day but didnt like it at all.
Went back to the ASC and asked them to do the calibration again. That fixed the problem.


And on the topic of wheel alignment, I make sure that I never get alignment done at the ASC. The machine at this particular ASC (JSP Ford, Kudlu gate, Bengaluru) is never properly calibrated. If my wheels are aligned at this center, the car always pulls left.

I went to a alignment center near my home and clicked a pic of the angles before they were corrected. You can see that both left and right wheels are incorrectly pointed by almost equal amounts to the right. This points to incorrect calibration or procedure at the Ford ASC.
Attachment 2485045

Since then I always refuse wheel alignment at the ASC. I get it done at the shop near my home which does a better job and costs slightly less compared to the ASC.

What does the EPS calibration by ASC fixed exactly?

It may have fixed the vehicle 'handling' and steering wheel response during a turning/cornering, my hunch is the phenomena of:
a) vehicle pullling to left (with hands temporarily off the SW) and,
b) with hands holding tight, SW is off centre to the left whilst driving straight ahead are not fixed but behave exactly like OP's YT video above.

Care to clarify further, not trying to question your description and/or experience though?

CMIIMW.

[dhanushs]

In simple words.

1. You have to get your wheel alignment done.
2. Then tell the ECU that you have done the alignment done and it can keep the steering wheel straight.