Hey all, I just got my car back from the shop after hitting an ice patch (and subsequently, a curb) earlier this year. They replaced the steering rack with a reconditioned unit. Now my car has no desire to self-center the steering. It becomes stiff and the steering wheel just sits at whatever angle you steered it to. This is not an alignment issue, you can feel the steering wheel/EPS “stick” in one spot. It feels heavy but not like it is binding. When parked or moving very slowly it feels normalish. I’ve read accounts of this issue on forums but no one ever provided a solution. I plan to reach out to the shop that did the work but frankly I am frustrated by them already, in the meantime has anyone ran into this? Is there some sort of calibration that needs to be done upon the installation of a new rack. It feels inconsistent and cumbersome, when the car used to be fun to drive. Thanks!

 

Most people and shops will probably deal with this as simply a bad reconditioned rack and replace it, but on the off chance this helps you, look up steering rack guide adjustment. There is a special nut that keeps the stuff inside the rack aligned and if it's not adjusted right the steering can be very stiff or loose. I bought the wrench to do it but never got around to it.

 

Hi buddy,

i’m having the exact same issue, i have bought the car yesterday and didn’t notice it at the test drive. It’s a 2005 facelift model and has the same issues.

- Notchy steering when driving straight on highway, it feels like the steering wheel is “clamping” or “sticking” and you constantly have to “unstick” or “wake” the steering wheel up.

- Steering wheel won’t adjust itself indeed, if you take a turn and you don’t steer it back yourself it will keep going.

I have read several threads and i have found a few possible solutions but i’m still dubious if it will help.

1. Removing the steering wheel and putting it back, which will put some force on the steering rack and solved the issue for “Sparky Paul” here on the forum.

2. As you changed the rack and the problem occurred just now it could be a bad refurbished rack? I’m not that technical and i’m just speculating but i have seen very low mileage Jazzes have the same issue so i wouldn’t trust that rack fully.

Greetings,

Fabio