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M3 Steering Wheel off-center
- Thread starter tangerine
- Start date
Same actually. I’ve learned to ignore it while I wait for the next “necessary” service visit.
Same with me. Wheel canted slightly clockwise. No drift when driving though. It goes on the punch list.
Perry
Active Member
You assume that and you will be sorely disappointed. I guarantee you will have something else wrong if not this.
Msjulie
Active Member
FWIW I thought my slightly off-center steering wheel was just that, but it turned out the alignment was actually off a little bit on the right front wheel. Tesla realigned the car and didn't charge (I guess cause such low miles at the time)
Jedi2155
Model 3 has Arrived.
Well, got my car back from the service center and they didn't adjust it. I'm wondering if its just a software problem or if the steering wheel is actually slightly offset from center while the wheels are perfectly aligned.
I even had a technician sit in the car with me as I drove and he saw it, but as I was getting work done for other things related to the wheels, he said wait to see if that clears it up and it hasn't.
There is a solid mechanical link between the steering wheel and the tires. It really cannot be a software. Unless your talking about the blue wheel on the dash, then it could be software or the angle sensor.
Jedi2155
Model 3 has Arrived.
I was referring to the blue wheel on the dash. While I'm not sure if its possible, it could also be the steering wheel is not perfectly aligned with the wheels since the tilt is oh so very slight (like literally 1 notch over on the graphic animation).
Jedi2155
Model 3 has Arrived.
So I got my car back at the end of February and the wheel is still not straight. So standing outside in front of the car and looking at the windshield, I can see that my steering wheel is slightly crooked even when the wheels are straight. The problem is since its so slight its going to be hard to convince Tesla to fix this....I haven't taken it back yet so I haven't tried.
Shygar
Member
I had this happen after a service they performed (unrelated to tires/steering wheel). They did a free alignment and it solved the issue.
Follow-up to my post yesterday about the cock-eyed steering wheel... It's fixed now after an alignment at SC covered under warranty.
Details:
Yesterday SC wrote up that they "educated" the customer about crown in the road causing steering wheel to be off center and sent my wife away.
However, the steering wheel is off-center at the 1:00 position, which is opposite of what you'd expect - crown in the road causes car to go right, steering wheel should be either straight or turned left to counteract it. Also it was doing it in flat parking lots as well.
So early this morning I went and waited to be first in line... they remembered my wife and were very cordial when I said I didn't think it was due to the crown in the road. The tech of course tried to go through the entire explanation, roads are not very straight around here, parking lots are too small to tell, etc. He then offered to go on a test drive, with me in the passenger seat to show me. And as soon as we pulled out of the parking lot he straightened the wheel, pressed the accelerator, and said "Oh, it's THAT bad" as we veered left. We drove around the block and I told him the car is awesome (which it is) except for this minor thing. As we pulled back in he looked at the service bay and said it would take 30 mins to put it on the rack and do an alignment. I jokingly asked if he could just unbolt the steering wheel and then bolt it back on straight. He actually said he could do that faster, but that wouldn't fix it entirely and up to me. Which is interesting because I read elsewhere on the forum that it's not possible to do that. Anyways, maybe there are different revisions of the steering wheel mount or maybe he was pulling my leg.
So about a half an hour later the car was handed back and everything squared away now.
BTW, noticed they use Meguiars products for detailing.
To be clear, the car was tracking normally as far as I could tell, it was just the steering wheel was off center. So it probably doesn't bother most people. If you're one of those people that are bothered by it, just be assured that it can be adjusted if you want.
And the service center area was really impressively nice and clean. I guess no petrochemical lubricants to mess up the place. It was raining and they had someone riding one of the floor cleaners as cars pulled in, cleaning the floors!
Details:
Yesterday SC wrote up that they "educated" the customer about crown in the road causing steering wheel to be off center and sent my wife away.
However, the steering wheel is off-center at the 1:00 position, which is opposite of what you'd expect - crown in the road causes car to go right, steering wheel should be either straight or turned left to counteract it. Also it was doing it in flat parking lots as well.
So early this morning I went and waited to be first in line... they remembered my wife and were very cordial when I said I didn't think it was due to the crown in the road. The tech of course tried to go through the entire explanation, roads are not very straight around here, parking lots are too small to tell, etc. He then offered to go on a test drive, with me in the passenger seat to show me. And as soon as we pulled out of the parking lot he straightened the wheel, pressed the accelerator, and said "Oh, it's THAT bad" as we veered left. We drove around the block and I told him the car is awesome (which it is) except for this minor thing. As we pulled back in he looked at the service bay and said it would take 30 mins to put it on the rack and do an alignment. I jokingly asked if he could just unbolt the steering wheel and then bolt it back on straight. He actually said he could do that faster, but that wouldn't fix it entirely and up to me. Which is interesting because I read elsewhere on the forum that it's not possible to do that. Anyways, maybe there are different revisions of the steering wheel mount or maybe he was pulling my leg.
So about a half an hour later the car was handed back and everything squared away now.
BTW, noticed they use Meguiars products for detailing.
To be clear, the car was tracking normally as far as I could tell, it was just the steering wheel was off center. So it probably doesn't bother most people. If you're one of those people that are bothered by it, just be assured that it can be adjusted if you want.
And the service center area was really impressively nice and clean. I guess no petrochemical lubricants to mess up the place. It was raining and they had someone riding one of the floor cleaners as cars pulled in, cleaning the floors!
Jedi2155
Model 3 has Arrived.
This is my experience. I can take my hands (slightly) off the wheel on a straight road (without autopilot), and it would drive perfectly straight (one of my methods of check for car alignment). Any issues on alignment would slowly cause a drift to the left or right but its clearly not doing that in my vehicle. Just the wheel being slightly off.
electricar
Member
If the steering wheel is only off center by a few degrees you can center the steering wheel by lengthening one tie rod ( I start with 1/8 turn ) and shortening the other side by the same amount. For example if the steering wheel is centered but the car is drifting to the right then the tie rods need to be adjusted to make the car turn more to the left. This will change the position of the steering wheel but otherwise not change the alignment. Small changes do not upset the steering angle sensor but if the steering wheel is way off the sensor would have to be reset. This is relatively easy to do on a Model S because the steering rack is in front of the axle. I don't know if the Model 3 rack is also in front of the axle but even it is behind the axle the same concept will work and a centered steering wheel provides great peace of mind to those of us with OCD.
TWANGnBANG
Member
It’s very easy to do on the Model 3, but it’s a bad idea. The steering wheel plugs into a cogged ring, and you can install it oriented however you want as long as its lined up with the cogs. However, the rack is still limited to one full turn to either right or left based upon the cogged ring. Install the steering wheel out of sync with the steering ring, and you will get less than one full turn to one direction, which will reduce your available turning radius, and more than one full turn to the other direction, which could cause tire rubbing parts that aren’t supposed to be rubbed.
The only correct way to center the steering wheel is to have the wheel centered while adjusting the tie rods to point the front wheels at the appropriate angle for driving straight.
I picked up my Model 3 and took it for a 90-mile drive before dropping it off for PPF. I noticed the steering wheel was every so slightly off center to the right. But the car tracked straight.
A few days later I went back to Tesla to test drive an AWD and another Model 3 for comparison. Both of those cars had the same identical amount of off centering to the right. Curious to see if my steering wheel self straightens once I get it back from the PPF detailer.
A few days later I went back to Tesla to test drive an AWD and another Model 3 for comparison. Both of those cars had the same identical amount of off centering to the right. Curious to see if my steering wheel self straightens once I get it back from the PPF detailer.
Leafdriver333
Somewhat Active Member
Mine is the same. off to the right but tracks straight.
I thought it may be the slanted dash wood panel causing illusional misalignment but it is real.
But if this is a common issue then I won't worry about it.
Shygar
Member
Mine was like this. Had them do a 4 wheel alignment and it went perfectly straight. Haven't had an issue since (that was a year ago).
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