I recently purchased a 06 LS with modern package. It has 63k miles on it but was well kept. I have recently noticed that it kinds of wanders at low speeds(35-45mph) and when I come to a complete stop the steering wheel will turn itself if not gripped firmly. I have had the tires checked and also had it aligned. It's better now but still causes me to have to work the steering wheel more than I would like. Thanks for any feed back on this issue.

 

it is due to the very light weight pinky finger steering wheel turanable power steering.

 

Just got an 06 ML too and did the same so we got it aligned by dealer%

 

I don't understand. You're saying that when you're driving slow it wanders and then when you come to a full stop it will also wander? That is strange if you're fully stopped and it wanders. I think the steering is electrical steering, so perhaps a bad steering actuator?

 

^ ^ ^ i dont' think that is what he is getting at. i think he means when you are about to stop while braking that the tires get stuck in little road grooves and this causes the steering wheel to turn back and forth all over the place. if this is what he/they are talking about then i would say its normal and depending on how bad the roads are where you live at it may happen more or less frequently. when i had big heavy 20's on my last car i noticed it a lot more cuz the wheels would always try to pull from one side to the other in these grooves.

if your alignment is good don't worry about it, just a big heavy sedan with super easy power steering so this is normal.

 

Ok that makes me feel better. I was looking at the TSB list that someone posted and there was one for a fix for steering problems in the ls430's. I can live with this minor problem because I will only be driving this car during trips...I drive a Tundra daily.

 

Well the wandering while driving...I had an issue with this when I first bought the car, Rotated the tires and it went away immediatly. I still need to get an alignment done as it's wearing the tires unevenly.

Wandering under braking could be contributed to just that, the brakes. If one brake pad is gripping harder then the opposite, it will cause the car to pull. Could be time to replace the pads. The grooves in the road that were mentioned above use to be a problem on my previous car due to a large width rim that would catch them easier. Haven't had this issue with my LS so far.

 

The steering wheel only turns sometimes when I apply the brakes and only after I am at an almost complete stop...when I am trying to make it happen it won't. I had the tires rotated and balanced and got 4 wheel alignment with minor improvement but I still have to move steering wheel alot when during off freeway driving.I suspect it's maybe just how this particular car handles because it does not do it at highway speeds. I realize that since the car was not purchased new it may have some quirks about it. But when I test drove it it drove like a champ. I have a 1970 Benz that I am restoring and it wanders alot and recently my mechanic diagnosed a steering coupler malfuntion. I was a little concerned initially that I had something wrong with my LS 's steering also. But based on feedback from other members it does not sound like I have a major problem.

 

Reading posts like this makes me happy because we just picked ours up. On the test drive I felt that it was perhaps alignment so I had the dealership do that. Even after they did it didn't feel all that great at low speeds, but when I took it on the highway it was a lot better...I think they should have made the steering a bit tighter, but my parents love it the easy way it is...thats the giant difference between the LS and the Euro competitors in my opinion is the ease at which you can turn the wheel of this heavy beast...

 

I get a bit of bump if the wheel is turned left or right to full stop. Like the car wants to go it's own way. Odd to look at the tires when outside of the car when the wheels are at full turn. Just figure it is part of the package.

 

Althought it's probably the alignment (make sure you cross rotate tires if the treads are multi-directional), check out the front brake pad wear (inner & outer) to see if one pad is worn much more than another. If so, it would suggest a sticky brake caliper piston.