prime steering not going back to center

I think that's the way this car's steering is calibrated as mine doesn't either if the wheel is rotated +/- 10º

 

this drove me crazy as well OP.

i guess i am just used to the steering wheel slightly skewed to the right.

 

I still wonder, if it's just a case of something adjusted a bit too tight. Maybe it'll improve with time.

 

I have had that problem my whole life.

 

Blind-sided agin.

 

test drive another, maybe it's just toyota.

i would call customer service and ask for another alignment with the printout, and check the service manual for the spec.

 

You could disable the power steering entirely and it'd feel different most likely. (It'd also be horrific to drive - fast steering rack, not very big steering wheel, and I suspect a fair amount of caster based on how my Liftback drives.)

Beyond that, without finding some way to tune the steering ECU and edit the steering assistance maps, no, you're going to have to live with it.

 

My Prime behaves the same way. It doesn’t bother me at all.

 

Same here .

 

My Prime is stable and steady. No tracking problem at all, and I am firm about what I like...thus my demand for the alignment just-so on my Tundra and the other vehicles I've owned.

Don't assume that all Primes wander or don't re-center. Get those specs, and demand that the car be set to the middle of the spec, not just "within spec." Find out what adjustments there are on the Prime. It might be just front toe-in. It might be front & rear toe-in, possible but less likely that camber and maybe caster are adjustable. If there is a big spread between left and right, but still "within spec," get them set identically. Don't let them set the left and right differently to account for road camber. That old myth should have been killed when bias ply tires were replaced by radial ply tires eons ago. Be sure they measure the alignment of the rears even if they are not adjustable. There might be something off there from the assembly plant. A 4-wheel alignment is done if the rear is adjustable. A thrust-alignment can be done to measure the alignment of the rears even if they are not adjustable (intended for rear wheel drive vehicles, but you need to know that your Prime is correctly aligned). You might need to take it to an alignment specialty shop and pay to get it done right. If so, do it. It's worth it. I really like how our Prime drives.

A steering wheel that is off center is a different problem. That is easy to fix on the alignment rack, and should be correctly done at any alignment or alignment check.

Dillster, do let us know what you find.

 

The recenter and wandering are two separate issues. Mine doesn’t wander but it doesn’t recenter.


iPhone ? Pro

 

Okay, 8 days later after you posted this has resulted in what?

 

Until the OP does this I think this conversation will continue to go in circles (pardon the pun)

Since this is all based on a subjective complaint, right now we have no idea if the OP has a car with a problem that is unique only to his vehicle, or if the OP has merely purchased a model of car that is not to his liking because of how it drives. If it's the former, the test drive of another Prius will confirm this and also make it easier to convince the technician that the problem is specific to his car. But if it's the latter, all the king's horses and all the king's men could't make the OP's Prius center again.

 

The Caster adjustment is what helps the wheels center.

There was no Caster adjustment on my Gen 2 and what I saw when I had my wheels off installing mud guards the front suspension hasn't changed much.

Read about Caster here.


https://www.carparts.com/alignment.htm

 

My first Prius, a 2003 model, had neutral stability and it drove me mad. So I found these reliefs:

• Specialty Products shims - these allowed me to fix the rear wheel camber and toe. I bought a life-time alignment from Firestone and used their printed reports to tune both the rear and front wheels. What I found is the excessive camber and toe was killing straight line stability. So I was able to bring it from unstable to approach neutral ... less bad.
• Front wheel camber - ordered the Toyota bolts and got even tread wear but no significant change in handling.
• Oversized tires - based on revs per mile, my initial effort was to get the odometer/speedometer to match clock and mile marker. But sharendipity I found oversized tires on the front instantly gave the car straight line stability. I drove to Madison WI with the larger tires on the rear and the car handled as before, always seeking the ditch. So Sunday morning, I swapped the front and rear tires and the ride home was magically improved.

I've already put tab shims on the rear tires of our Prius Prime. The rear camber is terrible. I haven't worked on the front camber, yet. I am totally frustrated by the inability of Hunter alignment machines to measure either our Prius Prime or BMW i3-REx wheels. So I've flipped to using tread temperature measurements and feel more confident. My current plan:

• BMW i3-REx warranty ends January 2019 - then the car is finally mine about the time the tires reach the 'Bob unhappy' point. I plan to reverse mount the new set as well as fix the 4-wheel alignment to remove the excessive camber and tune toe. I also want to drain and refill the gear oil with testing. Then there is the addition 2.5 gallon, tank expansion and resistor spoofing the fuel level. There is also some after-body aeroshell. Finally, I want to test cooled, exhaust recirculation.
• Prius Prime Plus warranty ends January 2020 - the tires should finally be bald enough and I can mount the oversized and properly, aligned tires. Hopefully Hunter will catch up and I can get machine measured geometries. It will also be time to replace the transaxle oil and test.

Bob Wilson

 

I'm pretty sure this is normal behavior. My steering snaps back after a turn, but will not go back to center at slight steering angles. Perhaps this is a trait of the electric power steering. Perhaps it can be improved with more positive caster up to the tolerance limit, if caster is even adjustable. I don't think this is a problem anyway because the slope or crown of the road will cause the car to pull one way or the other when your hands are removed from the wheel. The car is stable otherwise and I like the way it handles. I've got to try my 2013 liftback to see if it behaves similarly.

 

I know I am not the most observant person in the world, I will have to pay attention how mine does after a turn.

 

I felt the same with my Prius prime, I believe this is a power steering design problem, i prefer the prime had an no power steering option just like my Corolla. It’s much more fun to drive, you can feel the road.

 

The amount of caster is built into the front suspension. There are always tolerances in manufacturing. Also, there could have been a mishap that bent something altering the caster. If the actual caster measurement isn't in spec, the related parts need to be repaired.