Steering wheel column misaligned?
 

Today I started my car and the steering wheel shook hard for about two seconds. The windshield wiper stalk was even lowered a notch somehow due to that action... I thought I heard a noise as well (can't describe it; can't recall).

Drove off and didn't think too much about it, then realized that the steering wheel column is tilted to the right side about 10-15 degrees. My steering wheel has to be tilted left about the same degree for my car to go straight (as shown in the picture), making the drive home a little uncomfortable.

What could have possibly caused this to happen? Bringing it in to the dealer in two days, but am wondering what ideas you guys might have.

http://i64.tinypic.com/11w5yj6.jpg


http://i68.tinypic.com/16m90co.jpg

Try wiggling the wheel back and forth while the column is locked. Is the whole assembly loose in the bracket?

There's very little tolerance when trying to wiggle it back into place, even with the steering wheel locked. It seems like it wants to stay in this tilted position. Very odd how this happened... Didn't know I could break something steering related by starting the vehicle.

I'm not going to bother dismantling the steering wheel, so I'll report back once the dealer provides more info...

Sure is weird. EPS malfunction of some sort. You didn't break it. Sounds like the servomotor cranked hard over and tweaked something.

hmmm.......I agree.

You might try "adjusting" the steering wheel (in/out - up/down) to see if it would snap out of its cockeyed position.

Regardless, I'd "carefully" drive it to a dealer, for a look see.


humfrz

update 11/5/15

Brought my car into the dealership yesterday at 11:45 A.M., and got a call around 4 P.M. telling me that the tech's haven't even looked at my car yet...

Fast forward to today, got a call 12 P.M., and the service adviser told me that the steering wheel assembly does seem crooked to the right. However, right after he mentioned that, he pulls out the "oh but we compared it to the other BRZ's and it seems normal". He then mentions that he gave me a free alignment under warranty.

I will be going back to the dealer today to compare the steering column to the other BRZ's at the dealer, and to see if the steering is straightened out.

I call bullshit! That dude either doesnt know what he's talking about or is completely blind.

"Seems normal" It either is normal or it isn't. -_-

Lies to cover laziness. Total BS. It's tweaked. Exactly how remains to be seen but something definitely aint kosher.

Also, ask for the readout of the alleged alignment. I call BS on that too. Look at the turnbuckles and locknuts. I bet nothing has been touched.

Get receipts for all the work done and some sort of statement in writing that says "everything checks out." Save them for the next time the servo wigs out.

surprised they didn't try to blame it on you

Alrighty guys, thanks for the comments and suggestions. I think I have figured out what happened.

My driver side front wheel had some damage on it (discovered on the same day the steering issues arose). My car was parking slightly uphill, and so I turned my steering wheel all the way left to curb my tires. The location where I parked was a fairly tight two way street that's relatively busy. My guess is that a driver struck my wheel while squeezing through this street causing this damage to my rims and steering...

http://i63.tinypic.com/2a9r5og.jpg

Here's the one free alignment that the dealer performed under warranty...

http://i65.tinypic.com/2mo5now.jpg

The steering wheel and steering assembly are straight again. However, the assembly now will always have some play in it, allowing it to tilt/rotate right, just like how it was before the alignment.

Lesson learned... I need to get a dash cam.

Thanks for following up here. FWIW, I agree with your conclusion. The alignment was a good thing but I'm concerned about the play in your steering column.

It stands to reason the force of the collision tweaked the power steering servo in its mount. It makes sense that it shook violently as it was trying to initialize itself. I suggest taking it back to the dealer and explain your findings. Because the damage occurred while the car was parked, your driving record and insurance shouldn't be affected by a claim.

The loose mount really needs to be fixed. It's an unsafe situation.

Thanks for the advice.

I will look into this... got another appointment with a different dealer in two weeks (one where I purchased my car from).

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Cool to see that it's been fixed... for the most part.

Hope all goes well with the rest of the issue.