Appeal for help!

[Citrus]

Hi guys,

I'm slightly desperately appealing for help here.

I have had a problem with the steering pulling to the left on my 1.6 TDi since January and I am no closer to getting it fixed and I'm desperate now.
It's had four wheel alignment check done 4 times now, and the last time this caused the steering wheel to end up skewed, all the wheels have been swapped around, tyre pressures checked each time etc etc. I've been informed by a third party that it could be power steering related yet the dealership won't accept this as there are no fault codes coming up when it's plugged in.

I've done reciprocal test runs and I've also done tests in my car then in my parents and my partners car in the same spot to see if theirs veer off the way mine does.

What I'm keen to find out is if anyone else has an issue with their steering, pulling to the left or right etc (I've been informed by the last company that did my alignment check that they see a lot of MK5's), and if so, how you got it resolved?

Thank you in advance

 

[garethrobson]

my ibiza 1.4 sport sc pulled to the left too. My solution was to get rid of it and get an fr tdi.

I have read on here about a few people having the same issue though. And its almost ALWAYS pulling to the left, never the right

 

[Citrus]

I wish I could afford to get rid of it but I just simply can't so I'm stuck with it, hence the desperation.

Thank you for the response - I believe it to be a problem with all models as I had a 1.4 petrol courtesy car the other day and that pulled severely too.

 

[garethrobson]

I never got round to getting mine sorted, but if its definately not a wheel alignment issue then its something the dealer must sort.

Keep your wheel alignment paperwork and show the dealer and tell them that its still pulling to the left. If they test it and say there are no faults tell them to go out and drive it.

Keep pressing them to get it sorted and tell them you arent happy. Kick up a fuss and argue your head off if you have to, but they HAVE to fix it. Its not classed as wear and tear if it was an inherant fault.

 

[Citrus]

Thank you

Unfortunately I've kicked up a stink for the last 5 months and they are now refusing to look at it. Taken it to two other dealers and they will drive it, admit there is a problem, then when they read my profile on the system they say there's nothing wrong with it and its "camber".

 

[garethrobson]

hmm. If that is true, then it would not be covered under warrenty.

I would check up to se if the place you got your wheel alignment done at actually DOES check for positive and negative cambers. Some places only check the alignment without checking the camber.
If they do check for camber, then ask them for the results of your checks in writing.

If not, go elsewhere and ask them first if they definately check for them as that is what you expect the problem is.


Cambers are definately correctable so if this is the case i wouldnt worry too much

 

[John33]

Camber I think is an issue you need to get sorted. Many years ago I had one of the first Golf 1.6 tdi's it was a great car and I was becoming a bit of an enthusiast at the time.

I took the car for a service to an independent garage in Leamington Spa. The service they did was amazing inc steam clean of the engine compartment and a rewax. On the test drive the owner an ex racing driver told me all about wheel alignment and camber and said that most of the main VW dealers had no idea how to adjust the camber correctly and it was a problem they often had to fix.
He demonstrated on a clear Straight Road how the car should behave and the steering wheel was correctly fitted inline as well.

Now all this was 25 years ago so maybe VW main dealers have moved on a little ?

The two MK5's we have had give no problem at all but we have not been over 2k in one yet so early days.

Hope you can get this issue solved.

 

[Dave 77]

Mine has a slight pull to the left but i think its to do with the roads having a slight camber, car will have a 4 wheel alignment in the next week or so if my coilovers finally turn up

 

[Citrus]

That sounds impressive! What's the company called?

When I'm being told camber by the dealership, they are talking about the camber of the road - that is what is causing it to veer off

 

[nightflight]

No, all (ok, nearly all) roads in the UK have a slight camber to them, typically the road is shaped like a ridge, so water runs off to the gutters and when going round corners typically the road will bank just a little bit, (like a rollercoaster) to help the steering of the car (hence why occasionally you'll see those warning signs "adverse camber" it means the road slopes to the outside of the bend which isn't so good for steering,

Camber of the wheels/suspension on the otherhand is how far from vertical the wheels are when you look at them head on.
a small amount of positive camber (the bottoms of the wheel are further out than the top) helps handling, as when the car leans a bit through corners, it leans the tyres flat onto the road. a bit of negative camber helps on the straights as it keeps more tyre tread in contact with the slightly curved nature of the road
[note: i may have got the positive and negative directions muddled up...]

 

[Citrus]

It's going back this Saturday for it's 5th alignment check

 

[GlanzaV]

My Mk3 Cupra pulled to the left my Mk4 Sport steers to the left... My Mk1 LCR isn't too bad, but it's got big fat low profile tyres which follow whatever humps and bumps are in the road. It all depends how much you're talking? I could let go of the wheel and it would drift over a hundred yards or so before I'd have to grab the wheel.

I think it's a combination of road camber and the car - I think some cars are designed with it as an inherent "safety feature" to stop you drifting into oncoming lanes.

 

[Citrus]

I wish I could agree on the camber of the road thing but sadly I can't. It's so severe that even if I remove my hands for one second say to turn the volume up or something I'm off. I've actually had someone video me being able to exit a bypass in seconds without my hands on the steering wheel to show the severity of the pull. Even in traffic jams at 5mph I can have the steering wheel straight and then I'll be at an angle within seconds.

 

[Octane2097]

my mk4 used to pull to the left, put up with it for years after taking it in countless times to see what the problem was

was only when i replaced the front tyres it was resolved, the place who fitted the new tyres said it must have been a soft tyre.

mind you the old ones wer nangkangs...... so im not suprised!

 

[John33]

my mk4 used to pull to the left, put up with it for years after taking it in countless times to see what the problem was

was only when i replaced the front tyres it was resolved, the place who fitted the new tyres said it must have been a soft tyre.

mind you the old ones wer nangkangs...... so im not suprised!

I had a car ( Ford ) and a replacement tyre on the front was faulty- but this did not cause too many problems when new but later did have a major affect. In the end it fell apart and was sent off for testing - I got a full refund - but not all the costs of the work done when trying to find the fault.

 

[GPL]

Get in touch with Seat uk HQ direct, bypass the dealers.

 

[AlexGSi2000]

Try taking it to a tuners / specialist if you havent already.

I took mine to a local specialist for wheel alignment / geometry setup - who are on this forum.

They did the lot; toe, camber, caster..etc.... they made sure it was spot on.

The majority of tyre outlets will just adjust the toe.

 

[Citrus]

Get in touch with Seat uk HQ direct, bypass the dealers.

Done Got an ongoing case with Customer Care, being treated like a liar. Ignoring all my requests, they're taking the dealers word as gospel and not even inspecting my car themselves.

I've taken it to two specialists and it's been to HQ three times. Each time it was confirmed that the steering geomerty was spot on. The first specialist was the one that advised it was the power steering.

 

[Nath.]

Try taking it to a tuners / specialist if you havent already.

I took mine to a local specialist for wheel alignment / geometry setup - who are on this forum.

They did the lot; toe, camber, caster..etc.... they made sure it was spot on.

The majority of tyre outlets will just adjust the toe.

Agree, Go to a PROPER alignment specialest not a highstreet tyre fitter monkey that wouldn't know camber or castor form a bacon sarnie.

Some diagrams on this link may help you a little alignment info

 

[Citrus]

Thank you for the link

I have taken it to a specialist, travelled 100 miles to get there! They've worked with the likes of Lexus to resolve issues they were having, they've also worked with mercedes and Ferarri owners club had their open day on their premises. They checked everything. Plus like I said, it's been to head office 3 times.