"Return to Center" Steering behavior
 

I want to get the "return to center" behavior on the steering and to reduce tendency to swerve right when hands are off the steering wheel.

The car spun out at 100+mph on the track, went off track to the gravel but did not hit anything. The steering was crooked but was centered after alignment job. However, even after two alignment jobs, the car exhibits the following behaviors :
- Steering Wheel is centered. When both hands on steering wheel, at 12 o'clock (Honda logo on the steering wheel) the car drives straight. No problem.
- When hands off the steering wheel, the car immediately swerves to the right. This is a problem I want to fix. It does so more quickly on crowned road but does the same on level road. It does so with the steering wheel maintaining position at 12 o'clock. So the road surface is not turning the steering wheel.
- When I toggle the steering wheel to the left (turn it to 11 o'clock and then release so hands are off), it will re-center itself (back to 12 o'clock) so the car just shift to the left but it is moving straight ahead almost like changing micro lane. No problem.
- When I toggle the steering wheel to the right (turn it to 1 o'clock and then release so hands are off), it does not re-center to 12 o'clock (only return to 12:30) so the car continues drifting to the right. This is a problem I want to fix.

I had the alignment done twice within 2 weeks but the behavior remains the same.
I tried matching caster settings (both at 6.3) and tried un-even caster with more caster on right (6.2) than left (5.4) to make it pull to left.
Neither fixes the issue.

I am wondering if rack guide adjustment is the solution?
Does anyone have idea?

Thanks

Post up your alignment print out. Is the KW V3 your only mod? What tires do you have? Did you check your tire pressure to make sure its even all around?

Yes. KW V3 is the only mod.
The current alignment setting is:
Fronts:
L: -1.1 camber, -0.04 toe, 5.4 caster
R: -1.5 camber, +0.04 toe, 6.2 caster
(the caster is offset to make the car push to the left)

Rears:
L: -2.8 camber, +0.20 toe
R: -3.0 camber, +0.18 toe

There have been posts about rack problems, just not in a long while. You need a good dealer tech to help you with this one.

Sounds like the Torque Sensor Neutal position needs to be reset. If your Alignment guy adjusted the steering rod ends to straighten the streeing wheel, that could be part of the problem. The rack thinks that left of center is center.

Hi Stratocaster,

How do I reset this torque sensor neutral position?
Thanks.

It is a the service manual. I used a paper clip and a small "jumper" wire to short out the pins. It is also posted here somewhere.

I agree with Strat's suggestion. Don't have my shop manual handy but that's a good thing to try. IIRC, you DO need to make sure your wheels are pointed correctly (very accurately) when you perform the reset.

sounds to me like after they did your alignment, they didnt center your rack... you may have something bent or maybe the rack skipped a tooth or what not. but to find out...jack up the car and compare your tie rods... if one tie rod has more thread showing than the other, thats your problem. they're supposed to be somewhat close with the same thread on each side...

Problem Solved.
Thanks for all the tips and attention.

The root cause was a loose castle nut that holds the lower arm ball joint (on left /driver side).

I did not check its torque during initial inspection (nor did Honda Service) because it has an intact safety pin and aligned color mark (from factory). I don't think I ever open this castle nut during KW coilover installation; I recall opening the two bolts on the upper arm but not this. It is weird that it can be loose with safety pin on.

Anyway, I removed the safety pin and re-torque the castle nut, put back the safety pin. What I thought was power steering creak noise is also gone and the steering is back to normal.