Model 3 Pulling to Right (FW Bug!)

[scenicroadways]

I see a lot of threads on this... now that I'm having the issue. My AWD Model 3 was built in Aug 2018. I wore out a set of tires in 30k miles, the insides were feathered and worn way more. So with new tires I went to get an alignment. At this point, the car went straight reliable, and I only wanted the alignment to ensure better tire wear and efficiency.

Local tire place tried to align it, and when they were done, the car pulled right. When I brought it back, they agreed (most places just say "road crown" and wash their hands). They tried again and swapped tires... no difference. They gave me my money back when I asked. The car is now driving worse than before alignment.

Took it to nearest SC (trying to avoid driving out of town for an alignment at first!). They found the car was "out of spec" and aligned it to their specs. It pulled to the right slightly less, but the wheel was now two degrees off center. I took it back a week later and they agreed that it was still pulling right and that the wheel was off. Tried all day to fix it with tire swaps, inspections, realignment, test drive. wanted to keep it over night. Next day drove it more, still couldn't figure it out until afternoon when they decided it was the steering rack. Would need to keep it over night again.

On the third day they replaced the steering rack. Realigned, tested and declared it fixed. I picked it up, and it was perfect. Wheel straight, no drift. Super happy even if I'd now spent five days on the alignment project. Drove the car for 500 miles, including one 300-mile trip on wonderful, smooth, flat county roads. The steering was perfect! Then the next day (this morning!) I'm driving on my same local roads to work as always and.... crap. Again pulls to the right.

What the hell is going on? I'm confident that the alignment is not the problem. The wheels and tires are not the problem. The steering rack is apparently not the problem. So.... is this firmware?? for real? This idea that it "adapts" to road crown is nuts. As if we all drive on the same-crowned roads exclusively? I understand if my car follows the crown. That's just physics. But every road is different, and some of my roads are crowned left.... many right.

After reading all these threads (many from three years ago of course) I am still no closer to grasping what the problem is here, nor what the fix is. And for those who say that an alignment on this car is no different from any other.... well, technically that is true. But getting the car to actually go straight is apparently different. My car (now) feels as if it has more power steering to the right, and less boost to the left. Letting go of the wheel leaves the lane to the right. A small tweak of the wheel to the left re-centers. The same small tweak to the right stays to the right, and off we go. It is not drastic. But constant left pressure must be applied to go straight on a flat road.

Man this is frustrating.

My 2019 SR+ had this EXACT issue. Especially "has more power steering to the right, and less boost to the left. Letting go of the wheel leaves the lane to the right. A small tweak of the wheel to the left re-centers."

I recently sold it and ordered a LR. It was so frustrating. The car was flawless other than this issue and it kept me from fully enjoying it. I had an alignment done that seemed to help for a few days, and then it just regressed. Took it in again and they attached a pressure sensor to the wheel to diagnose the heavier effort turning left than right. They came back and said they found no issue and nothing is wrong with the car, which was very annoying because there was clearly a problem. The steering was so much heavier turning left and almost no effort going right.

Hope they finally resolve your issue!

 

[EVnut]

I'm now back from my third visit to my local Service Center for my car pulling to the right. What I've learned by paying super-close attention every day is that some days it is bad, some days it is perfect, and some days it makes me file like I'm nuts because it is clearly off, but not enough to make a fuss about. Literally sometimes over-night it would switch from bad to great.... and then back again. So.... I was wary of taking it back to service since I had no idea if it will be a good day or a bad day. But I couldn't keep dealing with it.

So, the end of the story is this:

Our lead technician believes that the concern that you brought your vehicle in for is likely related to this:

Model 3 with firmware newer than 2017.50.12 includes an algorithm to detect slight pulls left or right and to reduce the pull through smooth and finely tuned electronic compensation. The vehicle will continue to gradually "get smarter" over time and will learn the typical roadways that the customer usually drives on every day. The vehicle will learn the required compensation offsets while the customer is driving manually (not autopilot) on the highway at highway speeds. If the customer is experiencing a minor pull to the right due to road crown, the customer is encouraged to drive at least 30 minutes on the highway for at least 30 miles while lightly holding the steering wheel to keep the vehicle path straight. The next time they drive the vehicle, the torque required to hold the steering wheel straight on a straight path will be reduced. The vehicle will continue to learn with additional drive cycles that include sufficient straight ahead constant highway speed profiles.

I'd heard this rumor before, and now I received it semi-directly. The car is trying to "learn" the roads I drive on. The problem is, this car commutes on the weekdays on the same rounds, and then drives 300 miles on wild, crazy country roads. The two types of roads are nothing alike, so how can it possibly "learn" the roads I drive on? I wish it would stop. But hey. At least (I think) I know what's going on, and I'll just suck it up and deal with it until they put in a software patch that maybe just removes this "feature."

I'll learn the roads I drive on for myself, thanks. One thing I noticed was that after my wife drive the car, the thing would drift terribly. After I drove it for a while it didn't drift so much. We drive the car very differently and on different roads.

 

[Perscitus]

Thanks for sharing, this appears to be their new official lin, but I doubt it is the actual root cause, else many many more people would be reporting this.

There is something else going on since SCs and aftermarket shops cant seem to center the steering wheel or align these cars well or often mess up the alignment if touched... even with the limited OE adjustments.

A few SC techs I talked to unofficially confessed the 3s/Ys are notorious for alignment and steering rack, offset steering wheel issues. Sad.

 

[EVnut]

One thing I give them credit for: Not once did they tell me that "it's normal for cars to do that." Or "That's what road crown does." Because those are the lines I've gotten from damn near every other tire shop over the years that can't figure out how to properly align a car. I swear, they treat me like I'm new to driving, or that I've never driven on my local roads before.

So every time I've taken it in for this relatively subtle pull, at least they've confirmed that yup, it is pulling right each time. It is frustrating for sure. But in the grand scheme of things I'm not gonna sweat it as I consider it to be "good enough" at least.