(GD) steering doesn't resume to centre

jat · **March 31, 2014, 08:28:29**

Hi Guys,

This is my first post on this forum, I have two i30 elite models (One is GD Nov 2012, other is GD14 Sep 2013) one for myself and other for my wife. My problem (described below) is with steering on the GD which is manufactured in NOV 2012. The GD14 is fine and its steering is comfortable. My wife also notice this when we drive each other's cars.

PROBLEM: I had a issues with my steering that included a very dead feel specially on high speed at the freeway and a reluctance to actually turn, bordering on the dangerous and obviously a fault with the electric steering. On freeway when adjusting to the lane if I want to move the steering wheel just a little it feels like it is stuck, and after correcting the direction in the lane it does not straight itself, so the whole journey I have to correct it, for example first little to right, then left and then again right and left which is very annoying.

Took the car to the dealership they checked it and told me it had no fault.

Reading this forum An ECU reset fixed the problem but it comes back after a day or so, I have done ECU reset two times and it was fixed and came back again.

Again complained to the dealer and car is booked for inspection on 8th of April, Any advice how should I take this matter with the dealer.

Any thoughts?

Dazzler · **Reply #1: March 31, 2014, 09:55:19**

Hi jat and welcome.

If they try to fob you off this time. Stand you ground. Refer them to this forum by all means. Threaten to escalate the matter to Hyundai Australia and Korea even..

TheReaper · **Reply #2: March 31, 2014, 11:38:16**

Hope everything gets resolved and you get it fixed and

Quote from: jat on March 31, 2014, 08:28:29

Hi Guys,

This is my first post on this forum, I have two i30 elite models (One is GD Nov 2012, other is GD14 Sep 2013) one for myself and other for my wife. My problem (described below) is with steering on the GD which is manufactured in NOV 2012. The GD14 is fine and its steering is comfortable. My wife also notice this when we drive each other's cars.

PROBLEM: I had a issues with my steering that included a very dead feel specially on high speed at the freeway and a reluctance to actually turn, bordering on the dangerous and obviously a fault with the electric steering. On freeway when adjusting to the lane if I want to move the steering wheel just a little it feels like it is stuck, and after correcting the direction in the lane it does not straight itself, so the whole journey I have to correct it, for example first little to right, then left and then again right and left which is very annoying.

Took the car to the dealership they checked it and told me it had no fault.

Reading this forum An ECU reset fixed the problem but it comes back after a day or so, I have done ECU reset two times and it was fixed and came back again.

Again complained to the dealer and car is booked for inspection on 8th of April, Any advice how should I take this matter with the dealer.

Any thoughts?

Surferdude · **Reply #3: March 31, 2014, 11:42:09**

Dazz, isn't this the problem Dave had/has?

jat · **Reply #4: April 01, 2014, 00:01:23**

Thanks Guys, definitely I will mention this forum to the dealer.

Dazzler · **Reply #5: April 01, 2014, 06:31:55**

Quote from: Surferdude on March 31, 2014, 11:42:09

Dazz, isn't this the problem Dave had/has?

Yes, but an ECU reset seemed to have fixed it up to now (seems to be reoccurring for jat!)

jat · **Reply #6: April 01, 2014, 07:04:59**

I have also noticed that when I turn the steering wheel, it return back but does not returns to the centre, this may explain that why on freeway I have to manually correct from one way to other continuously.

Dazzler · **Reply #7: April 01, 2014, 07:42:50**

Quote from: jat on April 01, 2014, 07:04:59

I have also noticed that when I turn the steering wheel, it return back but does not returns to the centre, this may explain that why on freeway I have to manually correct from one way to other continuously.

One of our moderators Doggie 1 is currently moving house. (hence not his usual active self)

He has a GD Active and had a similar issue. we suggested an ecu reset by disconnecting the battery for a about 30 minutes and as far as I know that has fixed it. I had a drive last November and it felt fine.

Yours appears to be recurring. He didn't find the dealer very helpful!

TheReaper · **Reply #8: April 01, 2014, 12:05:27**

Hope mine doesn't get that problem....... sounds aggravating?

Doggie 1 · **Reply #9: April 07, 2014, 10:55:35**

This is exactly the same issue mine had and I agree - it has to be an electric steering issue.
Mine has been good for a long time but is threatening to return now.
The dealership were their usual unhelpful selves - i.e. leave the car for a day followed by, "We weren't able to replicate the fault."
I wish you luck.

jat · **Reply #10: April 08, 2014, 12:52:11**

Today evening car came back from the dealer, very disappointed, was told that their senior technician as well as other technician checked and test driven the car and there is no problem with the steering.

In the morning when I went to drop the car, the guy who was supposed to go with me for test drive (This guy checked it last time and asked me to go with him next time) was not in workshop so told about the fault to a new guy. (it could be as little as lubrication required to the mechanical part of the wheel: Just a wild guess).

In the evening I was waiting the call from dealer regarding the status (Was busy with my work at office so lost track of time came to my mind that my car is with dealer at 5:30 PM) but no body called me, called the dealer I was told that I can pick the car (Should have called me as their official closing time is 5:00 PM)

Went to dealer and told by service manager that I can book again so someone can go with me to test drive so booked again for 16th of April (Fingers crossed).

Not very happy with Hyundai, totally confused as they are not ready to accept, It is definitely a fault as my other i30 (not to mention that both are year 2013 and one is i30 GD Elite and other is i30 Elite GD14)does not steer like this one. I do not want to drive like this, If I sell this car mentioning this fault I will not get decent price.

Does any body know if any lubrication can be done to the mechanical part of the steering wheel?

Phil №❶ · **Reply #11: April 08, 2014, 13:14:19**

No, it's not a lubrication problem, so don't try that solution.

The steering mechanism is just a shaft on a bearing and there is very little chance that anything inside there is causing a problem. The steering mechanism is electrically assisted and has sensors that detect the torque of the driver turning the wheel, the rate of turn and the angle of the wheel. The feedback that you feel is a result of the sensors. This is why the 3 modes of steering are offered in the GD model. Setting a different mode changes the rate that the electric assist moves the steering and the feedback effort to the driver. With this type of fault, a battery disconnect has been known to eliminate the problem by effectively resetting all the sensors. However, if you've already done that and the problem is still there, then there must be a fault deep inside somewhere. It is a very complex system.

You need to successfully demonstrate the problem to the service manager and get them to acknowledge the fault, then they must investigate and resolve the problem.

jat · **Reply #12: April 08, 2014, 13:33:13**

Thanks Phil for your response, As you said I have to demonstrate to them, I think this will be very difficult task, as this is a feedback feeling from steering wheel and normally mechanics are tough guys and if they have to apply little force I think they do not feel it.

While I am searching the net I found the following link

i30 Steering "vagueness"

This is exact problem I had, Steering wheel feels like dead while in the centre, which requires little extra force to turn it slightly for example to align with the lane/

here are the comments from others users regarding this fault
"I feel when driving straight ahead there's a sort of dead point/a little slack in the center position" --- Asterix

"As stated previously, I had definite issues with my steering that included a very dead feel just off centre and a reluctance to actually turn, bordering on the dangerous and obviously a fault with the electric steering". --- Doggie 1

Phil №❶ · **Reply #13: April 08, 2014, 22:11:11**

Suggest you test drive one of their demo cars over a defined route, then your car to see if there's any difference. If so, then your car needs correcting. Have the service manager go with you.

Dazzler · **Reply #14: April 08, 2014, 22:49:42**

Quote from: Phil №❶ on April 08, 2014, 22:11:11

Suggest you test drive one of their demo cars over a defined route, then your car to see if there's any difference. If so, then your car needs correcting. Have the service manager go with you.

But he has already done that with his other car!

Phil №❶ · **Reply #15: April 08, 2014, 22:56:52**

The service manager needs to see & feel the difference between the vehicles, or they will simply say, can't detect a fault. If the wheel doesn't centre properly, then the car must veer left or right. With the service guy driving & owner as passenger, pretty hard to ignore the fact that something is amiss.

Dazzler · **Reply #16: April 08, 2014, 23:14:27**

Fairy nuff..

jat · **Reply #17: April 09, 2014, 01:36:45**

Thanks guys for your responses

Quote from: Phil №❶ on April 08, 2014, 22:56:52

The service manager needs to see & feel the difference between the vehicles, or they will simply say, can't detect a fault. If the wheel doesn't centre properly, then the car must veer left or right. With the service guy driving & owner as passenger, pretty hard to ignore the fact that something is amiss.

I am ready to do that, as mentioned before car does not pull to any side, it is the dead steering feel when steering wheel is in the centre, the car does not veer left or right itself, it is when you have to align to the lane, then apply little force to wheel (feels like steering wheel is stuck) it does not move smoothly, applying little more force it moves like one seconds arm on the clock then becomes smooth.

I assume lots of people may not feel it because if you are using both hands on the steering wheel this feedback is hard to feel, I came from manually driving and have a habit of one hand on the steering wheel and one hand on the gear shaft.

jat · **Reply #18: April 09, 2014, 01:41:39**

My problem is exactly the same as described in the following thread

i30 Steering "vagueness"

Is it possible to move this discussion to the above thread so that people do not have the impression that my vehicle pulls to the left as the heading of this thread.

Phil №❶ · **Reply #19: April 09, 2014, 02:22:32**

Quote from: jat on March 31, 2014, 08:28:29

Hi Guys,

On freeway when adjusting to the lane if I want to move the steering wheel just a little it feels like it is stuck, and after correcting the direction in the lane it does not straight itself, so the whole journey I have to correct it, for example first little to right, then left and then again right and left which is very annoying.

I took the information about not returning to centre, from your initial post.

jat · **Reply #20: April 09, 2014, 02:43:06**

Yes that's accurate, it does not centre itself so most of the times it need to be corrected and this correction is near the centre and if you have your both hands on the steering wheel you would not feel/notice it.

I have owned 8 brand new cars (Suzuki, Holden, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai) through out my life and it seems to be a fault in i30 GD (I assume most people thinks that it is my feeling only).

Hyundai may have fixed this in the i30GD 14 that's why I am not experienced it on the my other car, Lots of people may be assuming that this is how i30 GD steering wheel works as they may not have the opportunity to drive two different models i30GD and i30 GD 14 on weekly or daily basis.

TheReaper · **Reply #21: April 09, 2014, 10:57:27**

how much play in the steering wheel are we talking about?

Asterix · **Reply #22: April 09, 2014, 17:47:13**

Quote from: jat on April 08, 2014, 13:33:13

here are the comments from others users regarding this fault
"I feel when driving straight ahead there's a sort of dead point/a little slack in the center position" --- Asterix

Hi Jat

Please note that my car is the earlier FD model.

I've never had problems with the wheel not returning to centre. The slack in centre position I've gotten used to, but it still annoys me now and then.

jat · **Reply #23: May 09, 2014, 07:49:50**

At last dealer admitted the problem, and told me they will talk to Hyundai Australia and order new steering column: Fingers crossed!

Doggie 1 · **Reply #24: May 09, 2014, 08:01:47**

Quote from: jat on May 09, 2014, 07:49:50

At last dealer admitted the problem, and told me they will talk to Hyundai Australia and order new steering column: Fingers crossed!

Let me know how you go with that because if it's a known fault, I'd like mine replaced.

It is definitely an issue.

plasticphyte · **Reply #25: May 09, 2014, 10:27:45**

Out of curiosity, for all those with GD's that have this steering issue, what mode do you normally leave the steering wheel in? I never take mine out of sport mode, because I like the heavier feel.
So far I've not noticed any steering vagueness, or if it is there, it hasn't been sufficient enough to be annoying.

Doggie 1 · **Reply #26: May 09, 2014, 10:51:00**

Quote from: plasticphyte on May 09, 2014, 10:27:45

Out of curiosity, for all those with GD's that have this steering issue, what mode do you normally leave the steering wheel in? I never take mine out of sport mode, because I like the heavier feel.
So far I've not noticed any steering vagueness, or if it is there, it hasn't been sufficient enough to be annoying.

I leave mine on Comfort, but it does it on all settings.
Mine is coming back yet again.
I might have to do without my car for another day.

Shambles · **Reply #27: May 09, 2014, 10:51:45**

I'm glad I don't have the issue.

I use Sport on the motorways and Comfort at all other times.

Doggie 1 · **Reply #28: May 09, 2014, 10:54:28**

Quote from: Shambles on May 09, 2014, 10:51:45

I'm glad I don't have the issue.

I use Sport on the motorways and Comfort at all other times.

I'm wondering if it's just on the early builds?

Shambles · **Reply #29: May 09, 2014, 11:16:43**

I'm surprised jat reported that his needs a new steering column. If anything I'd have thought it was more software- or sensor- related.

I wonder if the steering control passes through the BCM, as a member over at the HOCGB reported having a BCM replaced recently (and could explain why a battery disconnect temporarily cures it).