Steering: Not returning to center
 

Hey guys. I have a problem with my steering not returning to center after making any left turn, lane change, and even u turns. I turn left or right and it will stay turning in that direction when i let go of the steering wheel. Here is the setup i have and what steps i have already taken to diagnose the problem.

I have an S4 3 line powersteering rack and s4 pump. PBM coilovers.
-checked ball joints for play and binding and there was none (also greased the nub that clamps onto the bottom of the spindle/knuckle)
- tie rod ends were also fine with no binding or play
- no binding at the pillowball on top of the coilovers and springs turns easily by hand. (tested this by turning each wheel individually, with the tie rod ends removed from the knuckle)

- bled powersteering rack and has no air in the system. reservoir filled to full with new dexron iii fluid.
- brake lines are not causing any binding with steering
-bought new tires and balanced properly
-fresh alignment with 0.05" Toe, -3 ish camber both sides, 5.7 caster (driver side) 6.2 caster(pass side). (Alignment sheet attached to this post)

-swapped my rack with another s4 ps rack and also manual rack. Still doesnt return to center
-i also shut off the car while driving at 20 mph. Made a turn without the aid of the powersteering pump/rack, let go of the steering wheel, and the car still stayed turning in that direction.
- i know the pump is fine because my friend installed it on his car which has an s5 ps rack and his steering is fine.

The only thing i can think of doing now is check for binding in the steering column and at the ujoints near the pinion, or swap racks with my friends s5 ps rack (maybe s5 racks return to center better??:dunno:) whose car steers perfectly and returns to center. Ive been trying to fix this problem for months and its driving me crazy.. hopefully someone can help me out!! Id really appreciate it. Thanks everyone. Sorry for the long post.

do you have an aftermarket steering wheel on the car?
I put one on and tightened the nut and it would prevent the car from going back "to straight".
Using a new nut with the Nylon collar locking piece stopped this.

I actually do.. ill try swapping a stock steering wheel and nylon locking nut. Ill update when i do this.

Just to see is it is that part binding,Loosen up the nut a touch..I mean NOT real loose but enough to take some pressure off that area.(SAFELY of course) and try it out.
That saves you replacing the wheel and you will know where the problem lays.

For me,It wasn't the Steering wheel itself,it was the amount of torque applied when putting the nut on.What it did was brought the steering shaft UP so that it was binding.When I loosened the nut the shaft was able to move more freely.

that is very true thank you sir we will try this.. im the S5 donor for this project hahaha makes sense ...

Just tried another steering wheel and hub. Feels a little better. But it still does not return to center.

Since you replaced the rack,the only other thing I can think of is that the rack is not sitting right on the frame.
Too cock-eyed..like the drive on the rack is sitting up too much,then the steering shaft goes on the rack..etc..(Hope you get what I mean).
So,You could try this also..Jack the car up,loosen the rack mounts( the 2 clamps that hold the rack to the frame) and see if you can align the rack better,so that when the steering shaft moves the rack so it hopefully won't have that bind any more.

Other than that,I am just about out of ideas..But I tried,..sorry ..!

Do you have coilovers on the car?

yes he does, he posted this in the drift section as well. pbm's I believe

make sure the struts turn smoothly and without a lot of resistance, the strut pivots may be slightly bound. i would also check the lower ball joints at the same time, if they're worn they could be seizing.

Checked the pillow ball mounts?

Yep, that's where i was going. On cheap, and even sometimes good coilovers the pillowballs bind up and then the springs are what is turning instead of the pillow balls. This preloads them and causes "memory steer".

Stance were (are?) notorious for this...

initially i thought of that but i don't see it all that commonly, but i also lubricate the spheres periodically on my HKS as soon as i start hearing them chirp/pop while turning. a couple of drops of 20W50 buys about 6 months before needing it again. i haven't figured out a more permanent solution..

Thanks for everyones help. Yeah i pulled the tie rod ends off the knuckle and rotated each wheel individually with the car on stands. It was pretty easy for both wheels to rotate. Ball joints are in good ondition as well. I am able to move it in circular motions with little force. I will try loosening rack mounting bolts and align the steering shaft better. I was thinking maybe stuck brakes or bad wheel bearings can cause this problem.

With the brake caliper and wheel off how freely does the brake rotor spin? I was at the junkyard and Spun an FCs brake rotor not too hard...it made like 3-4 rotations. Pretty smooth. Im gonna test mine right now.