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Steering wheel is getting loose

9K views 24 replies 16 participants last post by  Vantage 
#1 ·
If I'm to grab your steering wheel firmly and give it a nice little shake (not rotational, but as if you're checking to see if it is loose), the steering wheel clicks, and I can feel the click. The wheel itself doesn't move, well perhaps just a tiny bit when it clicked. I definitely know it's the wheel and not the column which is locked down.

It has never done that before, but I started noticing it in the past few weeks when I'm turning. Is it normal for the steering wheel to loosen over time? In all my cars, steering wheels have always felt rock solid, even after 10 years.

Is this yet another T-A-D-T-S issue, courtesy of Lotus?
 
#22 ·
I know this thread for Evora, but my Exige has been doing this the last 500-1000 miles. Yes, the clicking for me is coming right behind the center of the wheel. happens when the car is stopped, happens during low speeds. not sure about 20-25mph+

In the steering system, there are four "weak" points:

A - Steering column upper joint
B - Steering column lower joint
C - Steering rack (inside, between rack and pinion)
D - Outer ball joint

To diagnose this issue, you need to check any single item in this list.
None of those. I put my head in the footwell and moved the wheel around and that's when it became obvious where the click was coming from. Almost like the tooth in a gear was slipping.


Naimah raises a good point. I had this issue on my Elise...turns out it was just a loose u-joint in the steering column.
where did the clicking come from in your case?
 
#12 ·
I also have noticed a click in the steering wheel-column, when turning at slower speed, since my car was brand new. It feels like a loose bushing in the column at the steering wheel. I can sometimes feel it when stopped, and turning the wheel slightly. However, it has not gotten any worse over time. It's on my warranty fix list.
 
#7 ·
I just started noticing this in my car. Started around 1K miles. Feel slight give and click sometimes when I turn the wheel.
I'm not sure if this corrisponds with another problem. First time I got the car up to 100mph I got alot of shaking from the front. At first I thought the shaking was from the splitter protector, but later discovered the shaking was from a tire that was on ounce out of balance (from the factory).
after correcting the balance I still feel some "float" in the front end at high speed (between 80 and 100mph):shrug:
will have to add this to the list when I send the car for service while i'm on vacation.
 
#8 ·
The Evora is very sensitive to front wheel alignment, a downside to the great handling setup that it has. I also had some "float" when I initially got mine, albeight at 150+ mph. Also, the steering wheel was not quite on center. It took my dealer almost 3 hours to get it exactly right, completely changed high-speed behaviour.

Because its so sensitive you need to take the road shoulder slope into consideration when setting it up, ans since they drive on the "wrong" side in the UK, it probably needs local correction.TADTS
 
#10 ·
Do you use the steering wheel to lever yourself in and out of the car?
 
#11 ·
I just received my car (haven't had time to upload pics yet but I will). In any case, I immediately noticed the same thing with my steering wheel. I promptly took the car to my local dealer who informed me there is a campaign to address this very issue. Thankfully it is a quick fix.

Here are links to two other threads that discuss this issue and the campaign....

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f170/evora-steering-column-107423/

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f170/possible-snapping-steering-wheel-105934/
 
#19 ·
I'm pretty sure there was a TSB on this. The fix is very simple (requires replacing an existing spacer (with a thicker one) in the steering column behind the steering wheel). The dealer did it to my car ~8 months ago.
 
#20 ·
Squidward,

Actually I believe that for this issue it does matter when your car was built. As it was described to me, an improperly sized spacer was used (at a point where the steering wheel meets the steering column) in cars built before a certain serial number (I'm not sure what the cutoff is but I can say my October 2010 build date 2011 has this issue). My car will get fixed the next time I stop by the dealer. I have been told it is a very quick fix. While I am sure you can fix the issue yourself, you will still need the new version of the spacer (which is slightly larger than the old version).
 
#25 ·
Well I can't really describe it well enough to pinpoint where the noise is coming so maybe you can figure it out looking at a video of it below..
In your case, seems like whatever is loose is higher up (closer to the driver) than the lower u-joint that was the problem for me. May take some disassembly to put a wrench to everything and see.
 
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