I bought my '01 last April and noticed on the test drive that the steering wheel was off-center by 5 or 10 degrees. To be clear: when I'm driving straight, the steering wheel is turned just a little bit to the left (maybe half an inch). I noticed no handling problems, there was no indication of a wreck or any suspension damage, and I'd had previous Hondas purchased new that had the same problem. So, I assumed it was an aesthetic issue and didn't worry about it. I've had no unusual tire wear since then, so I have no reason to think otherwise.

So, even if it is a purely cosmetic problem, I still want to fix it. I can think of three ways:

1. Take off the steering wheel and put it back on straight.

2. Adjust the steering column under the hood (I don't have my Helm's in front of me, and I don't remember the part names, but I recall that there is a point where such an adjustment could me made. Whether access is from above or below I do not know, but it looks to be a pretty tight area).

3. I plan on having a more aggressive alignment done on the car for autocrossing. Could toe-in on one side with corresponding toe-out on the other fix the problem.

Am I correct in thinking that none of these will necessitate re-zeroing the eps?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

-Will

 

Sounds like you just need to get an alignment. If you know how to do it yourself, it can be adjusted (helms), but the alignment place can easily center the steering wheel.

 

Agreed. 5-10 degrees sound like it was not set right on your last alignment.

Yes, none of them will require EPS reset.

 

Yup, typically this indicates a car out of alignment or a car that was aligned by a sloppy tech.

 

The disconnection of the steering rack from the steering wheel is one of the things done when dropping the tranny. It could be they didnt line up the steering column when they put it back together.

 

But is there any reason to think the tranny has been dropped?

 

No, I don't think the tranny was ever dropped.

Thanks for all the responses! I'll be getting the alignment soon!