V70 steering wheel pulls to center

[alxace]

Hi!

My parents bought a '04 96kW 2,4D V70 about 6 months ago and it has had a weird problem from the beginning - the steering wheel pulls to the center. The pull is quite strong, especially when accelerating.

Different services have been done to the car, so the wheel alignement has been done twice since the car was purchased. Unfortunatelly, my father always forgot to ask the mechanics, what the problem with the pull might be...

So the car is mechanically in top condition - all the steering linkages, bushes, power steering, steering rack, etc are good. The ride is excellent, handles well - except for the weird pull.

Has anyone had a similar problem or any ideas for the solution to the problem?


Alex

[RM955I]

Hmmmm......a stab in the dark here!

So, tracking is OK: has it been checked across 4 wheels for camber/castor, toe in/out etc as opposed to a simple alignment?

Bushes are OK?

Tram-lining - could be tyres tram-lining but my experience of tramlining is that it ends to follow contours in the road and is not confined to dead ahead.

Tyres?......doesn't really sound like a tyre issue to me, which brings me back to alignment. Sounds like too much caster from my admittedly basic knowledge as it is positive caster that tends to give self-centering

TBH I wouldn't rely on a mechanic spotting stuff in a service - I have found that the most thorough and observant people are the MOT testers or a competent owner.....having said that whilst I consider myself reasonably competent my local garage/MOT tester (one and the same) are much more proficient at spotting stuff.

[greasyfingers]

Originally Posted by alxace

...the steering wheel pulls to the center.

Steering self-centres - it's meant to do that. Do you mean something different?

The pull is quite strong, especially when accelerating.

If the steering wheel is pulling to the centre, then presumably you have the steering wheel turned. Torque steer (a problem that front wheel drive cars suffer from) will try to turn the steering wheel a little as you accelerate, so if you are steering to one side it may tend to pull the wheel towards the centre. But it would have the opposite effect if you are steering the other way, and pull it further over. And Volvos aren't noted for being particularly sensitive to torque steer.

[RM955I]

From my experience,torque steer will nearly always try and pull to the side as it is predominantly caused by transverse engines with drive shafts of unequal length or diameter. Mismatched tyres on the front axle can also induce torque steer as the different carcass construction results in marginally different contact patches; other causes could be worn engine mounts, worn wheel bearings etc.

I've never had a car that torqued steered back to the dead ahead position which is why I suspect this is perhaps the natural self centering of positive castor....perhaps too much of it.

[Brendan W]

Here comes the 'is it plugged in' bit. Is it pulling to the centre or just lack of assistance and is the fluid at the right level and is it both sides equally?

[SourDiesel]

Originally Posted by Brendan W

Here comes the 'is it plugged in' bit. Is it pulling to the centre or just lack of assistance and is the fluid at the right level and is it both sides equally?

By equal each side do you mean the track rod adjustment? If so I agree, I reckon the problem is one of the rods is bent and the rack is not sitting central.

[Georgeandkira]

Hello, I'm thinking the "equal both sides?" question is the next place to look. Go to a big empty parking lot and see if the car 1) steers the same in each direction, 2) returns to center the same in each direction, 3) steers the same from lock to lock in each direction, 4) reacts the same when the steering wheel is released at lock while going forward and then while braking in each direction, 5) stops straight with no hands on the steering wheel. Look beneath the car for evidence of damage/replaced parts (scrapes, unmatched contours of parts, unmatched finish, color or rust of parts). Is the steering wheel centered when driving straight? What are you/they used to driving? Could the previous car have been extremely neutral in steering? Kira

[alxace]

Thanks for answering, everybody.

I'll answer some questions that came around:

Steering self-centres is excactly what I mean.
The pull is equally strong on both sides.
The steering fluid is the right level.

Now, as I don't have the place or the opportunity to inspect the car myself, I have to base on what my dad has told me about the services done to the car: basically everything has been checked and repaired/replaced if necessary (as I said he recently bought the car and then had it serviced; also did MOT, fixed the problems that occured)

While reading the comments, I developed a question:

Don't they check positive/negative castor/camber while doing the wheel alignment? I know that positive caster could affect in such a way as the problem is, but I assumed that it has been checked.

Originally Posted by RM955I

So, tracking is OK: has it been checked across 4 wheels for camber/castor, toe in/out etc as opposed to a simple alignment?

User RM955I mentioned simple alignment... What does that mean (what do they do during that process)?

So do I have to tell the mechanics to check castor/camber when I go and have my wheels aligned?

[Bill_56]

'tracking' is an ambiguous term. Many or most of the big High Street tyre chains regard tracking as being just front toe. For that reason it is best to

(a) be explicit, that you want a full 4 wheel alignment.
and
(b) don't entrust it to a big High Street tyre chain; even if they have the correct equipment, they are unlikely understand how it works.

You describe 'steering pulls to centre'. As already explained, cars are meant to do that. It makes them easier to drive on straight roads, and gives the driver some feedback during cornering. The driver will always have to apply force on the wheel, one side or the other, to deviate a straight line.

I therefore wonder if the real problem is that excessive force is being required to deviate from straight? That might perhaps suggest failure of the power steering, which would be best investigated by a competent Volvo garage.

[mchubb]

interesting thread... i bought my v70 about 3 weeks ago now... the steering feels slightly heavy, self centres a little quick, and when turning quick, seems to feel light... my wife tried to describe it to me... and couldnt work out what she meant... something about it "feeling as though shes turning quickly when shes not"

anyway interesting to see if there is an outcome... I've checked underneath all seems fine... and wear on tyres seems fine... will keep an eye on it... i think its just a characteristic of the car