[hredd]

Took my '15 Sonata limited in for an alignment and mentioned that I get an occasional clunk in the steering column when turning the steering wheel. The paperwork says premature wear in the yoke (33K miles) and replaced the yoke. It now tracks straight as an arrow, but the steering has lost it's ability to self center. If I turn the wheel 20 degrees and let go, it stays at 20 degrees for long enough for me to take the wheel and move it back to center for fear of leaving the road. I immediately returned to the dealer and was told things will be "tight" for a while and will loosen up. "Tight" is an understatement. I know there are a few Hyundai techs on here, any feedback is appreciated. I don't feel safe driving the car now.

TIA

 

[Symatk]

Took my '15 Sonata limited in for an alignment and mentioned that I get an occasional clunk in the steering column when turning the steering wheel. The paperwork says premature wear in the yoke (33K miles) and replaced the yoke. It now tracks straight as an arrow, but the steering has lost it's ability to self center. If I turn the wheel 20 degrees and let go, it stays at 20 degrees for long enough for me to take the wheel and move it back to center for fear of leaving the road. I immediately returned to the dealer and was told things will be "tight" for a while and will loosen up. "Tight" is an understatement. I know there are a few Hyundai techs on here, any feedback is appreciated. I don't feel safe driving the car now.

TIA

Not a Hyundai tech but what they say is true, though i wouldnt suspect it would be as severe as your describing.

 

[alotofcar]

Here is the TSB for reference if anybody comes across the thread.

 

[flatwater]

I had this issue early last year with around 10,000 miles. Clunk when turning wheel past halfway or so. Was before the TSB, so the dealer replaced the whole steering assembly and box under warranty and everything was fine after that. It may be different with just the yoke replacement, but I had none of the issues you described. You might want to have the dealer test drive it if you didn't already.

 

[sgobiraj]

I have this noise as well. Of course it started happening after the warranty period. Would this be considered a recall issue that has to be completed for free by Hyundai?

 

[Maciver]

. . . It now tracks straight as an arrow, but the steering has lost it's ability to self center. If I turn the wheel 20 degrees and let go, it stays at 20 degrees for long enough for me to take the wheel and move it back to center for fear of leaving the road. . .

Back in the day, we blamed that on a negative caster adjustment.

How does your LKA handle the drifting out of lane?

 

[hredd]

Back in the day, we blamed that on a negative caster adjustment.

How does your LKA handle the drifting out of lane?

It tracks wherever you point it. I agree self centering is a caster issue, but that is not a trivial issue on most MacPhearson strut setups. Lane Departure Warning was available in ‘15. Lane Keep Assistance came along later. Interesting in that now that you mention it, my car feels like the LKA equipped Tucson I once had as a loaner, except that it doesn’t correct. I have not turned off LDW and driven, I’m going to check it out.

 

[2424Goldie]

It tracks wherever you point it. I agree self centering is a caster issue, but that is not a trivial issue on most MacPhearson strut setups. Lane Departure Warning was available in ‘15. Lane Keep Assistance came along later. Interesting in that now that you mention it, my car feels like the LKA equipped Tucson I once had as a loaner, except that it doesn’t correct. I have not turned off LDW and driven, I’m going to check it out.

LDW wouldn’t change anything. What you’re feeling is exactly what my ‘09 Sonata did when the power steering rack was seizing up. No problem to turn but it wouldn’t self center. They might be right that it’ll be stiff for a while, but I don’t think it should be that excessive... is the wheel hard to turn and center yourself?

 

[hredd]

LDW wouldn’t change anything. What you’re feeling is exactly what my ‘09 Sonata did when the power steering rack was seizing up. No problem to turn but it wouldn’t self center. They might be right that it’ll be stiff for a while, but I don’t think it should be that excessive... is the wheel hard to turn and center yourself?

Thing is I have 28 days of warranty left and it was not this tight prior to the yoke replacement. Unfortunately I drive very little any more, and taking time from other things to go joy riding isn't convenient. The wheel doesn't feel like it is binding, but the effort has definitely increased. Steering response on the other hand is much improved. Before you could sort of move the wheel back and forth quickly and you felt the car kind of wiggle. Now you feel response.

 

[hredd]

Just ran an errand. It IS getting better...

 

[2424Goldie]

Just ran an errand. It IS getting better...

So it’s probably just overly stiff and it’ll get better. My guess is the response you now get through the steering is from the fact that you actually need to put in the effort to turn the wheel because of the added resistance instead of being overboosted. But to make sure, just like flatwater said, I’d take it back to the dealer and make sure they test drive it and take note or something so the issue is known before your warranty runs out

 

[hredd]

I took it back in yesterday for a second look. Basically they dropped the rack and repositioned it and actually drove it before and after and it is now fine.