Electric steering- skipping teeth???

[sdeck]

I started a thread about this a few weeks ago, but the title didn't really cover the underlying issue once it was figured out, so I thought I would start a new one to get feedback.

I noticed a few weeks ago that my wheel was about 10 degrees left of center when the car was going straight. I pulled the wheel and it was one tooth off, but in the wrong direction. i re-indexed it correctly, but that made it slightly worse.

I took it to a reputable alignment shop and the guy was perplexed. After setting the alignment (which didn't take much), the wheel was even further cockeyed and he couldn't straighten it out and it was now pulling to the right while the wheel was cocked left. So, he gave me my money back (reputable shop) and suspected something in the electronic steering. Driving home, the "Electronic Stability Control Error" message popped up and the ESC and tire sensor icons came on.

Day 2- took it to VW dealer. They diagnosed ($58) that the steering wheel was too far left and thats why the ESC error came up. They put it on the alignment rack and determined front right wheel was slightly out of alignment, causing the pull to the right. After fixing that ($100), the car drove straight but the wheel was still cocked so the tech pulled the wheel and rotated it to the straight position, but now it is no longer indexed correctly on the splined shaft. Car drives straight, wheel is straight, but now when I start with the wheel centered and straight, it turns 1.6 turns to the right and 1.4 to the left. Dealer says it is normal. I can't figure out what is going on. the only thing that makes any sense to me is that the "gear" on the end of the steering shaft has skipped some teeth on the steering "rack(?)". I don't really know how this system works. The car was in a pretty severe accident back in September (rear ended hard back right and hit from the back in the front right by same damn car) but I didn't notice anything odd about the steering after the repair. I don't know if these are related.

is the uneven steering rotation OK?

How does this new electric steering work? Where could it be messed up?

 

[Mark SF]

You never fix a misaligned steering wheel by taking it off and re-installing it, for the exact reason you are now experiencing. This fix is the recourse of an idiot. It seems you have managed to find two idiots in a row.

What you need to do now, is re-install the steering wheel correctly, which will result in driving along with it turned, then get an alignment by a non-idiot.

The real question is how you went from driving with the wheel straight, to with it not straight. Did it magically happen overnight? I Suspect you hit something.

 

[sdeck]

I don't think this is actually an alignment issue. The car was fine after being repaired from the accident last fall. I just noticed the wheel was off one day but I haven't hit anything. It seemed to get worse, which is why I think something in the steering linkage slipped or skipped. Maybe a delayed/undiagnosed issue from the crash. I just don't know how the system works to know if that's possible.

 

[Mark SF]

What a reputable tech will do is lock the steering wheel in the straight ahead position, using a sort of clamp that fits between the lower rim of the wheel and the floor, and then set the front wheels to the straight ahead position, plus whatever toe-in is specified.

If this is done correctly, the only way that the car can then drive straight with the steering wheel canted, but not pulling, is if a suspension component is loose (think balljoint), or if the rear wheels are grossly misaligned, relative to the front.

What I would do is : centre the rack (by measuring the protrusion of the track rods on each side), then install the steering wheel to the straight ahead position, then lock it. Finally, align the front wheels.

 

[sdeck]

The dealership specifically looked for broken components cause they thought that was the problem, but didn't find anything. One thing i did notice was that when the steering wheel was indexed correctly (cocked left) I got 1.5 turns each way. Does that mean the steering is centered in the rack when the wheel is off? If so, I can reindex the wheel back so the marks line up and use the tie rods to straighten the wheels?

 

[Mark SF]

What are these marks you speak of?

 

[jimbote]

What are these marks you speak of?

the alignment marks on the wheel and the steering shaft ...you can see them once the steering wheel bolt is removed

 

[sdeck]

^^^ yes. There is one on the spline shaft and a very thin scribed line on the hub of the steering wheel

 

[Mark SF]

The last 2 VWs I've bought new, a Jetta and the Passat, have had the wheel canted when going straight. So much for the marks.