[jim0266]

We’re just over 6,000 miles on our Bolt three months after purchase.

The only issue has been the steering wheel alignment. The Bolt is my wife’s daily driver so I seldom drive the Bolt. I’m in a Leaf. At 700 miles I noticed the steering wheel was not level and the car was drifting right. Chevy aligned the car. Afterward the car seemed to track straight on the highway and the steering wheel was level, but on city streets the steering wheel often settles so it’s not level, angled a few degrees to the right.

Took it back to Chevy who aligned it again. After picking up the car the steering wheel was still often settling a few degrees to the right on city roads. On the highway the car does seem to track straight with the steering wheel level.

Neither our Leaf or Prius will show any inclination for the steering wheel to angle to the right on city streets while driving. Their steering wheels stay perfectly level on city streets.

I’ve considered this could be road crowning if the Prius or Leaf showed the same behavior. I’m about due for a tire rotation. If it’s a tire issue that may become apparent once the tire is rotated to the back. I’ll have Chevy check the alignment then too.

I keep my tire pressure consistent between my tires so that’s not the culprit.

The dealer said the tires are wearing evenly. I’m wondering if it’s just a tech not being diligent?

Attached are the alignment readings and notes from the dealer. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[dbostrom]

Per experience w/other vehicles my expectation would be that a sharp crown will require the wheel to be held slightly to the anti-clockwise direction (leaning left) assuming one is traveling in the right-hand lane and going in the correct direction (no snark, just trying to leave no ambiguity in terms!).

Your experience seems counterintuitive to what one would expect.

Is this sufficiently reproducible to make dragooning a tech into a demo ride possible?

 

[XJ12]

I've had other vehicles where the steering wheel was cocked after the alignment. Car will drive fine. Just an annoyance that the steering wheel isn't straight. I've seen techs tie a rope to the steering wheel during the alignment in an attempt to keep it straight. But most of the time the alignment is done on an elevated platform where it's hard to see the steering wheel level.

One of my cars was due for an alignment because of tire wear. I made a point to tell them to please straighten the wheel. It was cocked nearly 15 degrees from the previous alignment that was done years earlier.

 

[Pigwich]

Chevy aligned the car. Afterward the car seemed to track straight on the highway and the steering wheel was level, but on city streets the steering wheel often settles so it’s not level, angled a few degrees to the right.

Old thread, 2017 car, same exact issue Feb 2023 post steering gear replacement and post alignment. I think I'm noticing something however..

Plugged in Torque Pro and checked the steering angle sensor - when the car goes straight, the steering angle sensor reads 0 degrees, which seems exactly right and the way it MUST be, but visually the wheel is to the right by 3°. If I visually center the wheel, the angle sensor goes to -3° and the car wants to veer into oncoming traffic.

This sounds like a sensor misalignment. We'd have to recalibrate the sensor and then do a realignment for what is pretty much a cosmetic issue. I don't know if this is worth another trip to the shop.

What it isn't is a misalignment of the splines on the attachment of the steering column to the rack. Those are WAY bigger than 3°

Anybody else care to plug in Torque Pro and read their SAS for a fet data points?

PIDs are in the big master PID thread.

 

[GJETSON]

Anybody else care to plug in Torque Pro and read their SAS for a fet data points?

PIDs are in the big master PID thread.

Sure. Care to give us a PID number, or name? I just checked the list, and can't find anything referring to steering.

 

[McBoltFace]

Sure. Care to give us a PID number, or name? I just checked the list, and can't find anything referring to steering.

Found these in another thread. They definitely react to steering inputs in a garage test. Will have a look on the road soon.

Steering Angle Sensor,SAS,22C809,(SIGNED(A)*256+B)/19.5,-600,600,deg,7E3
Steering Rate,Steer Rate,22C810,(SIGNED(A)*256+B),-500,500,deg/sec,7E3

 

[GJETSON]

Found these in another thread. They definitely react to steering inputs in a garage test. Will have a look on the road soon.

I see. They were not on Sean's list, but found by KineticBlueBolt. Will be fascinated to hear if they work.

 

[Pigwich]

I see. They were not on Sean's list, but found by KineticBlueBolt. Will be fascinated to hear if they work.

The SAS PID works.

Turns out there's a procedure for using the standalone code readers that the garages have and that is to reset the steering angle sensor position back to zero. You center /eyeball the wheel manually and push the button on the dumb little box and the car freaks out and says to service stabilitrac spaceand then it recalibrates it to zero and everything is magically fine. Then and only then do you do the alignment. When they did mine, the first time they did it it was off by about 3° but apparently that's within spec. But the garage insisted that they do it exactly right. I gave the car back to them and, free of charge, they did the procedure to recalibrate the steering angle sensor. Now the sensor reads zero, the car drives straight, AND the wheel is straight.




Of course, none of this really matters because it's electric power steering and the angle being very slightly off is really just cosmetic. With the angle sensor reading zero the car drove straight and that was that. But like I said they insisted on perfection and I let them do it and they did it.


BTW, keep an eye on the racks on these older cars. My old rack was dreadfully stiff and should have been replaced long before now.

 

[GJETSON]

BTW, keep an eye on the racks on these older cars. My old rack was dreadfully stiff and should have been replaced long before now.

So how many miles were on it when the rack was replaced, and what symptoms caused you to do it?

OK I found your comments here. 82K is not a lot for a Japanese car. I guess buying a GM was a mistake. My dad was right. Never, ever, by a GM car.

How to replace a faulty steering rack in your bolt; How...

Disclaimer, I'm writing this up as a service to the community, working on your car is inherently dangerous, both while you're working on it, and as a result of your own repairs, don't attempt this repair if you're not skilled enough or uncomfortable; I'm not liable for your actions, and I am not...

www.chevybolt.org

 

[Pigwich]

I guess buying a GM was a mistake

I'm not really so mad about it, it's just the lube in the steering rack that was bad. I'd say mostly things are holding up well. I mean sure something so simple should have never happened like this. My guess is that the supplier put bootleg counterfeit grease in it. I've yet to open the old rack up for inspection and rebuild, but I'll report when I do. I am under the impression that the rebuilding of these things has been successful.

I feel like perhaps the steering has been getting stiff for at least the past year, and definitely mostly in the past 6 months.

Hours-wise the car is well over 5,000 hours. I believe most typically driven vehicles will have something nearer to 200,000 miles on them before they his this number of hours in traffic.