Steering suddenly stiff at certain angles

[gnguyen]

One morning a few days ago I got in the car (2017 Model X 75D) and started driving, and the steering wheel felt much stiffer than usual, if I tried to turn it past 90 degrees in either direction. It felt as if autopilot steering assist was always on, where it gives resistance turning the wheel past certain points. Obviously autopilot was not engaged. I checked the steering options and it was still on comfort. Steering had always been smooth all the way to the end points of the steering wheel's range of motion for the entire time I have had the car (4 years) up until a few days ago.

Resetting the car didn't change the behavior. Swapping between the steering options did not change the behavior. I have had the car completely lose power steering before, this is not that problem. It really does feel like the autopilot steering wheel resistance is always on... I can drive the car and engage/disengage autopilot without issue, but I'm not sure if anything will get worse here.

Has anyone had this happen before? Is it a symptom of the eMMC recall issue?

 

[ngng]

do you live in an area with possible metal corrosion? could be your u-joint corroding

Steering U-Joint Lower Shaft Issue and my Solution so far.

Lesser known issue that is more common in the snow belt area is the Lower Steering I-Shaft U-Joint. Problem is that it is more exposed to the elements, and subject to Water, Snow, Salt, Sand, Dirt, and anything else that can be kicked up by the drivers side tire while driving. What ends up...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[InternetDude]

It’s the intermediate shaft u-joint. I had this issue on my 2015 Model S. It will need to be replaced.

 

[gnguyen]

My area doesn’t typically have lots of corrosion, it’s the San Fran Bay Area, and not a lot of rain.

Thanks for the comments, we will see what the service center says. The severity of the issue seems to vary throughout the day, but since it’s started a week ago I’ve never felt it back to normal.

 

[outdoors]

On my model 2017 S was pretty bad. Was pretty exposed. I live in Michigan, Florida. Stuff as you mentioned at the same angles. I bought the part. Tesla was trying to tell me it is often the steering rack. After I opened it up. It was the IShaft u joint. See photo what a new one looks like. Good as new now. Thanks @mongo for helping me diagnose the issue via PM.

I did get a why did you just order it from Tesla. I said explained I read up on the issue. Was able to see part. Looked like crap. Rather replace one at a time on my dime. The suggestion that it could be the whole thing made me want to take a stab at it on my own with a helpful friend.

 

[gnguyen]

You guys were right, it was exactly the steering U-joint getting rusty. I had *JUST* taken the car in for its last service before our warranty wore out on 3/21 /2021 and the problem wasn't detected then by me or the service center. Currently it's not a safety issue and can be driven.

They aren't offering to fix it for free, so it's about $700 estimated to swap, parts and labor. They said we could get the extended warranty for $5300 (4 years or 50k miles).

They apparently have an internal notice that this can happen if you don't keep the windshield grill clear of plants and debris, so I guess that will be my cheap preventative maintenance I shall do in order to prevent it from getting worse.

 

[InternetDude]

Mine failed just out of warranty. The fails kept coming and I couldn’t take it anymore. Traded it for a Lexus

 

[GoTzillaR]

My 2017 X with 58k miles just got the same symptom. I was told if I didn't get the extended warranty, it'd be around $600 to replace. I'm assuming the new shaft has a new design since the part number is different (1027826-00-A vs 1027826-00-B).

 

[hiroshiy]

My 2017 Model X failed this month at approx. 88000km (54700 miles) for the exact symptom as the OP. Out of warranty. Tesla charged 4259 JPY for parts (USD 42) and 15000 JPY ($150) for labor, so they finally charged 21262 JPY ($212). Mine is RHD, so the part number seems to be slightly different, 10274828-00-B, whereas LHD seems to be 1027826-00-B.

 

[Frogwheels]

My 2017 Model X in Hong Kong just had the same issues at 60300km. Tesla replaced the “Intermediate Shaft - Steering Column - Lower” under the Extended Warranty, which resolved the issue.

 

[Lilacar]

On my model 2017 S was pretty bad. Was pretty exposed. I live in Michigan, Florida. Stuff as you mentioned at the same angles. I bought the part. Tesla was trying to tell me it is often the steering rack. After I opened it up. It was the IShaft u joint. See photo what a new one looks like. Good as new now. Thanks @mongo for helping me diagnose the issue via PM.

I did get a why did you just order it from Tesla. I said explained I read up on the issue. Was able to see part. Looked like crap. Rather replace one at a time on my dime. The suggestion that it could be the whole thing made me want to take a stab at it on my own with a helpful friend.View attachment 651816

On my model 2017 S was pretty bad. Was pretty exposed. I live in Michigan, Florida. Stuff as you mentioned at the same angles. I bought the part. Tesla was trying to tell me it is often the steering rack. After I opened it up. It was the IShaft u joint. See photo what a new one looks like. Good as new now. Thanks @mongo for helping me diagnose the issue via PM.

I did get a why did you just order it from Tesla. I said explained I read up on the issue. Was able to see part. Looked like crap. Rather replace one at a time on my dime. The suggestion that it could be the whole thing made me want to take a stab at it on my own with a helpful friend.View attachment 651816

I removed my driver side wheel and tried to find the U-joint using the video posted (red model x), but couldn’t seem to locate it. Is it in the same place as the model x? Can someone post pictures or DM me to help figure out how to access this and clean it and/or remove and replace this part? Thanks!