Hey Everyone!
I am the proud caretaker of 2016 F-Type R with 97,000 incredible miles on it. My issue seems to be that the alignment of my steering wheel is off to the right about 2-3 degrees. I’ve taken it to an alignment shop to have it re-aligned and even swapped the tires from left to right and it is still off. It drives straight with no pulling. I have read that it could be a bad steering sensor and/or a battery issue. I’m getting 12.8 out of the battery while the car is running. Is it that sensitive to be under 13 volts? Thanks in advance!

 

I'd go after mechanical adjustment before assuming that there is something electrical causing your issue.


The 'traditional' method of straightening the straight-ahead position of the wheel is to adjust the threads on the tie rod ends an equal amount. So lets say, your wheel is pointing to the right...move the tie rod ends an equal amount of threads (count them!) to move the more left, wheel to the straight position.

It doesn't take more than a thread or two to make it cockeyed! Your alignment shop won't do this simple thing for you?



Years ago, we had a Chevy dealer do a repair that required an alignment, [pre-airbag days]. When I complained that the steering wheel was crooked (hey I'm a bit OCD, our center caps are always right-side-up with the valve at the bottom ) they found that the wheel, which had to be removed for the repair, had been marked for position...and the marks didn't line up! Brother!

Good move, swapping the front wheels R<>L.

 

Do you know the history of the car? could the alignment issue be traced to an accident or damage prior to your ownership (like driving over a median strip?)

 

Ive actually owned the car for almost 5 years and I put about 65000 miles of the 95 on the car and it only started happening about 7 weeks ago. No accidents or hard bumps. I was thinking bent wheel, but I swapped fronts and it didn’t follow. Back tire swap L to R?

 

Years ago in the pre-airbag days my father had his own service station. He used to fix steering wheels that were off center by loosening the nut that held the wheel on and taking the car for a road test on a flat stretch of road. He would then pull the wheel and align it on the spot.

This was especially fun when he would take an unsuspecting customer along for the ride. He would then pull the steering wheel and hand it to the customer and ask them if they wanted to drive!