Loose steering feels like it has play and drifts

[packetpilot]

Well I see that now why would FCA not tell the towing company that who sent the truck

I had two or three similar issues in my early bimmer days; BMW roadside assistance would call a vendor and dispatch and, according to my follow up with them, stipulate a roll-back truck; then the towing company would "play dumb" and dispatch the less costly (or perhaps more readily-available) wrecker that was on-hand, and I'd be insistent and call the roadside assistance number and have them set the driver straight.

Then I'd wait, and that sucked, especially because I'd imagine the towing company wasn't exactly in much of a rush to get back to the guy who called them out.

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[skrubi12]

Drove in this morning at a cool Northwest temperature of 50 degrees. Felt normal, drove normal.

That’s what I’m seeing - normal operation when cool. But, As the system and ambient temps rise, it get sketchy.

 

[Mr Bill]

You would think the driver would know this already or like you just said they figure the owner does not know this anyways so send whatever out!

 

[moonpup]

Hi all! First time Jeep owner and new forum member.

I recently bought a JL Sahara with an MDH of 061821 and currently have just over 1700 miles on it. To me, the steering seems to be ok, and I think I got a good one. I can drive on the highway at 70+ with no wandering or drifting and can easily use one hand or a few fingers to control it. (No two handed white knuckling). Here in New England our roads are heavily crowned, but short of making adjustments for the crown (left/right), I don't see any problems with mine. Granted I have no prior experience with Jeep steering, and although it's not nearly as tight as my old Camry or my wife's Highlander, I think it's acceptable. There is a slight dead spot in the steering wheel, maybe 1/2 - 3/4 inch or so, but no where near the 2-3 inches, some people were describing. It's also a bit slow to return to center and stops short of being straight, but it's not bad. Anyway, just wanted to add in my experience.

 

[chadc880]

Well this will probably be my final report on my battle with Jeep and my dealership. We went to pick it up after driving a loaner for 3 days. They said after consulting with Jeep HQ engineers the decision was made to, in their words, "adjust the steering gear 1/4 turn". They said afterwards they detected no excessive play. Well, there is still a deadspot but it is better, maybe 60 to 70% better. I thought maybe someone else on this group could have their dealer try the same thing and see if it does the trick. The Star Case Ref # is: 1880162. I'm tired of fighting and trying to get that last 40 to 30% to have perfect steering just gives me a headache. So until Jeep comes out with a recall for this I'm going to live with what I have. I'll be interested to hear anyone else's results that tries this same fix. Best of luck to you all, and happy Jeeping!

This is a huge step forward. I think this is the first dealer who actually adjusted the steering adjuster. Mine gave the ok but after it wouldn't budge didn't take it any further because a new steering box was on order.


PLEASE NOTE SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT !!!! Do not take another JL from a dealer lot to compare. Chances are it has the same steering box issue and will be loose. I think the early built JL's had the tight steering box.

USE A JK TO COMPARE!!! No the JK steering box is not the same and will not fit in a JL but many dealers still have JK's on their lot and the JK steers perfect.

 

[jeremyjeep]

The guy at FCA called me. He said the tech bulletin to fix the steering is 08092-2018. I think I've read that here already, but that's what he just told me.

EDIT TO ADD: I just read that bulletin. No, that's not the problem I'm having and that wont fix it. *sigh*

That steering TSB has fixed other symptoms besides the symptoms it describes, so it is worth getting it flashed. There are several people who reported this in all of the 3 or 4 "my steering sucks too" threads. Just be sure they flash the 2 or 4 door version based on which one you have.

 

[jeremyjeep]

Maybe FCA needs to create another flash update that increases the ambient temperature threshold so it stops decreasing the current to the steering system. That would stop the higher outside temperature related steering issues some of us are experiencing.

When I used to work on electronics, one of the troubleshooting techniques we would use on heat related failures was to use freeze spray on suspect components. Seems that someone at the dealership or FCA should do the same on each of the steering components to figure out which one is causing it - steering stabilizer, steering pump, circuit board that controls the steering pump, steering box, etc. If no luck, then swap out the most obvious steering related components one at a time to test instead of saying everything is "in spec".

I spent less than 5 minutes on Google searching steering ambient temperatures and found this:

Example 1:

An electric power steering module is more than just a circuit board and connectors in a box. The module contains the drivers, signal generators and MOSFET switches that power and control the electric motor. The module also contains a current monitor circuit that measures the amps the motor is using. The current monitor and other inputs to determine the temperature of the motor using an algorithm that even factors in the ambient temperatures.

If the system detects a condition that could cause the motor to overheat, the module will reduce the amount of current going to the [power steering] motor.

Source: https://www.knowyourparts.com/techn...rol/electric-power-steering-systems-overview/

Example 2:

In the EPS system, the power losses in the power electronic components are affected by factors such as the voltage, current, and ambient temperature. The converter dissipates the most power of all components in the EPS system. Parameters such as the voltage, current and resistance are provided by the steering profile. The ambient temperature, which influences the junction resistance, must be introduced in the power loss calculation and simulation. The power dissipation in the EPS system can be classified as either conduction losses or switching losses depending on the resistors, capacitors, and semiconductor devices.

Source: http://pubs.sciepub.com/jit/2/1/6/index.html

The JL steering TSB 08-092-18 even mentions ambient temperature. Source: Official TSB document at:
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...sist-steering-lockup-at-highway-speeds.12226/

 

[jmcdtucson]

Hi all! First time Jeep owner and new forum member.

I recently bought a JLUS with an MDH of 061821 and currently have just over 1700 miles on it. To me, the steering seems to be ok, and I think I got a good one. I can drive on the highway at 70+ with no wandering or drifting and can easily use one hand or a few fingers to control it. (No two handed white knuckling). Here in New England our roads are heavily crowned, but short of making adjustments for the crown (left/right), I don't see any problems with mine. Granted I have no prior experience with Jeep steering, and although it's not nearly as tight as my old Camry or my wife's Highlander, I think it's acceptable. There is a slight dead spot in the steering wheel, maybe 1/2 - 3/4 inch or so, but no where near the 2-3 inches, some people were describing. It's also a bit slow to return to center and stops short of being straight, but it's not bad. Anyway, just wanted to add in my experience.

This is essentially my experience.

 

[IPvFletch]

Just got back from the dealer. What a waste of time. They checked everything, but said "vehicle functioning as designed" and sent me home. At least I paid $0 for them to check it. They said they also checked alignment and ball joints and made sure everything was tight. I feel a LOT better knowing that they checked it, but I still feel like there is some broader issue here, albeit minimal. I still have 1-2" of play in the steering wheel, but I think maybe I'm already getting used to this (only have 250 miles on it as of today).

I'm going to continue with my wheels/tires/lift pkgs, but at least now it's on file that I was there totally stock and had the dead spot issue.

BTW a red Rubi pulled in behind me on stock suspension and 35s. He said no steering play and that there might be play in mine because of the smaller Sport tires. We shall see once I get my 37s...

 

[DanPop]

Tell me if I'm wrong but the best explanation I've heard is mine, think about it.... No vehicle tracks straight on any given road, we all have muscle memory that tells us if the road drifts us left, you nudge right and our brain knows just how much without any thought. The problem we have here is the slop of an inch or so in the steering, we turn what our brain says and it's not enough, thus we over compensate which takes a second to kick in and before we know it we are way off course. I'm no computer programmer but it could be the tbs has something to do with when the power steering motor does its thing or it simply is bad steering boxes. I can guarantee that if CFA did both for us we'd all be happy.

 

[jeremyjeep]

Tell me if I'm wrong but the best explanation I've heard is mine, think about it.... No vehicle tracks straight on any given road, we all have muscle memory that tells us if the road drifts us left, you nudge right and our brain knows just how much without any thought. The problem we have here is the slop of an inch or so in the steering, we turn what our brain says and it's not enough, thus we over compensate which takes a second to kick in and before we know it we are way off course. I'm no computer programmer but it could be the tbs has something to do with when the power steering motor does its thing or it simply is bad steering boxes. I can guarantee that if CFA did both for us we'd all be happy.

Good points. Your post triggered an idea... I created a poll to get people's opinion on what they think will fix the steering problems at: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/poll-steering-problems-on-the-2018-wrangler-jl.14280/

 

[Holymoly1963]

As I reflect on this whole steering topic, there must be well over 1500 posts on JLWF. How can there not be a problem ?

 

[jeremyjeep]

As I reflect on this whole steering topic, there must be well over 1500 posts on JLWF. How can there not be a problem ?

Who is saying there isn't a steering problem?

 

[Fizzlepop]

I'm a bit late to this conversation, but I'm having a steering issue as well, though a little different.

I'm currently battling a pretty resilient case of death wobble, of sorts.

When my stabilizer is on, there is no wobble, but steering feels loose, and there is a slight "give" in the steering wheel when hitting large bumps at high speeds.

When the stabilizer is off, offset bumps at 40mph send me into a death wobble that requires slowing to 2-4mph to stop and pulls hard driver.

I got a 2nd alignment, and was told it is good. I take the jeep back, still feel slight looseness in steering, but the give in the steering on bumps is less.

Get home, take off stabilizer, and hit my local JL rollercoaster. The jeep does not death wobble anymore, but it does scare wobble. It will start to wobble, and then correct itself. It doesnt pull driver anymore.

This is a long shot, but would any of you with loose steering mind removing your stabilizer, finding an empty and rough road, and seeing if you get DW, or it tries to DW?

 

[jeremyjeep]

I'm a bit late to this conversation, but I'm having a steering issue as well, though a little different.

I'm currently battling a pretty resilient case of death wobble, of sorts.

When my stabilizer is on, there is no wobble, but steering feels loose, and there is a slight "give" in the steering wheel when hitting large bumps at high speeds.

When the stabilizer is off, offset bumps at 40mph send me into a death wobble that requires slowing to 2-4mph to stop and pulls hard driver.

I got a 2nd alignment, and was told it is good. I take the jeep back, still feel slight looseness in steering, but the give in the steering on bumps is less.

Get home, take off stabilizer, and hit my local JL rollercoaster. The jeep does not death wobble anymore, but it does scare wobble. It will start to wobble, and then correct itself. It doesnt pull driver anymore.

This is a long shot, but would any of you with loose steering mind removing your stabilizer, finding an empty and rough road, and seeing if you get DW, or it tries to DW?

When you say "removing your stabilizer", do you mean turn off the ESC/traction control by pressing the button on the dash?

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