P3D+ Spontaneous Alignment Issue

[Oyinko]

I had a steering wheel alignment issue at delivery. Brought it back to fix it and when they did, the car started to pull left AND the steering wheel was still off centered. They told me about this software calibration thing but it never solved anything. I had to bring the car three times to have the SC finally solve the pull and off centered steering wheel.

Regarding the software calibration, to my understanding, it will only calibrate the amount of torque you need to put on the steering wheel to have the car turn right or left. It's to compensate for the natural road crown of the local roads you are driving own which will make turning right or left slightly easier of more difficult because of the road crown.

 

[Daniel in SD]

This is fascinating and also a little bit terrifying. Does the Model 3 really have the ability to decouple the steering wheel from the steering rack in order to change the steering wheel alignment?
Here's a picture of the steering rack, I wonder if anyone has done a teardown? It looks like a regular rack and pinion steering rack with an extra pinion driven by a motor. I'd assume that the box where steering shaft comes in would just be a torque meter but perhaps there is a disconnect there. This is different from other electric power steering racks that I've seen where the motor is connected to the steering shaft and not the rack itself. This design could theoretically allow the car to drive with steering wheel disconnected.

 

[mongo]

This is fascinating and also a little bit terrifying. Does the Model 3 really have the ability to decouple the steering wheel from the steering rack in order to change the steering wheel alignment?
Here's a picture of the steering rack, I wonder if anyone has done a teardown? It looks like a regular rack and pinion steering rack with an extra pinion driven by a motor. I'd assume that the box where steering shaft comes in would just be a torque meter but perhaps there is a disconnect there. This is different from other electric power steering racks that I've seen where the motor is connected to the steering shaft and not the rack itself. This design could theoretically allow the car to drive with steering wheel disconnected.
View attachment 397903

Hummm, they might have a clutch inline with the steering shaft, it would make sense for Tesla Network to prevent people crashing cars. However, it would also need a brake to prevent the steering wheel from spinning and damaging the clockspring wire harness.

The power assist looks like the same setup as S/X.

 

[spacemnspiff]

I had a steering wheel alignment issue at delivery. Brought it back to fix it and when they did, the car started to pull left AND the steering wheel was still off centered. They told me about this software calibration thing but it never solved anything. I had to bring the car three times to have the SC finally solve the pull and off centered steering wheel.

Regarding the software calibration, to my understanding, it will only calibrate the amount of torque you need to put on the steering wheel to have the car turn right or left. It's to compensate for the natural road crown of the local roads you are driving own which will make turning right or left slightly easier of more difficult because of the road crown.

Thanks for posting. I will drive the car for a few days and see if the issue persists. I want to get it fixed if it does.

 

[Quinndo]

Hope this service record attachment helps someone. My car was pulling right, and it turned out to be a bent part (I too thought it was software for a bit).

There is a blurb in there that is interesting: “...susceptible to following tracks, crown...”

 

[Triplett]

99% of all Tesla anomalies are directly attributable to SkyNet.