Long story short! Transmission failed on '01 RX300 (101,540). Removed engine, removed tranny, had tranny bench rebuilt, reinstalled tranny, reinstalled engine, everything works perfectly except the steering wheel is crooked!! Can crooked steering wheel be corrected by just removing and repositioning the wheel or do we need to drop the engine again?

TIA

Russ

 

I had this happen to me. There are two bolts, one on each side of the vehicle, that help hold the steering rack on to the vehicle (photo below shows the passenger side bolt), check that they are both tight. They are both horizontally facing (I believe copper in color). And no you don't need to drop the the engine or anything.

 

Mine is crooked too but it happened after front wheel alignment.
So what is the next step after locating the bolts?

 

In your case, you need to take it back to the place that did the alignment because they didn't do it properly if the steering wheel is crooked. Tell them to align the steering wheel or center it.

 

Hello again,

We were able to just remove the steering wheel and reposition it to be straight. Very easy...just disconnect tne battery...remove the two bolts (on the side of the column) and the nut on the steering column...disconnect the air bag connector and simply pull on the wheel while wiggling and off it comes...turn left or right to straighten and reassemble. Took about 15 minutes.!

thanks

Russ

 

Since it worked for you and you are happy .. great,

But WHY needs to be answered. Did some one take the steering wheel off? If the work was done with the linkages/steering box, the fix needs to be done there.

Salim

 

From 30+ years of doing body and frame work and about 8 years of doing front end work and alignment, I can tell you for a fact that is NOT the right way to do it. You understand why I never buy used cars, I never know what someone has done to them in their previous life. From removing many many steering wheels over the years, I am not aware of one of any make in recent history that does not have a master spline (meaning it will only go on in one place) and if you moved it even a spline or 2 around, you had to FORCE it on (probably with the pressure of the nut) and that IS NOT GOOD! Among other things it changes the amount of turn you have in one direction as opposed to the other. Your car, not my business, but refer to the highlighted earlier sentence.

 

I agree 100% with code58. You have created a safety hazard for yourself and other's on the road, by doing what you thought was the right fix. I hope you decide to put the steering wheel as it was before, and take the car to a mechanic who is capable of finding the problem, and fixing it from the root, rather than putting a Band-Aid on it while it's still bleeding.

 

Lets discuss the reasons behind why it went crooked in first place and make it a usable thread:
Well we all know you hit the gutter or something but.....
The control arm or wishbone was damaged.
The steering alignment is out due to stripped, worn or turned threads on the tie rods or one is bent.
Or what i think: it has jumped a few cogs or something causing your column to go off center.

Is there any play at all in steering wheel? Do you turn it slightly before the wheels go anywhere if so this is not normal and would explain that your steering shaft is shot and has somehow allowed the wheels to turn when the steering wheel didn't.