Straightening the steering wheel

[SonOfDolomite]

Last year I took the van in to have the tranny rebuilt because it was shifting really hard or not at all. When I got it back, they didnt straighten out the steering wheel so its turned to the left about a quarter turn or so. I have checked my Haynes manual and it didnt say a whole lot about straightening the wheel, but did say how to remove the steering wheel. Would it be that easy or is it more involved but still DIY?

BTW it is a 95.

[12Ounce]

I had the same problem with my tranny work done by a dealer... do they ever road check these things anymore? Maybe they afraid to drive them very far.

The steering wheel is straightened up by adjusting the tie rods... screwing one side "in", while screwing the other side "out"... will turn the strg wheel one way or the other....and during this operation the correct toe-in setting must also be achieved by screwing the tie rods both "in" or "out" at the same time.

It is doable by a DIY, but you must know what you are doing or you could make the situation worse...even dangerous. I would give the repair shop a call and see what their position is about fixing the problem they caused.

Anyway you have a "clear vision" (autoeese for steering wheel position) problem because the dealership did not correctly align the wheels after reinstalling the tranny and re-hooking up the tie rods.

[lewisnc100]

My steering wheel is slightly off center and I always assumed that it was from a lax alignment in the past. Now you guys have me wondering if there was a tranny replacement since I'm the second owner.

[12Ounce]

My Windstar was delivered new with alignment problems. I just lived with it for about 40k miles ... knowing the tires were suffering all along ...then finally corrected myself. Had to replace worn tires right after that.
The tranny work took place at 90k miles. I corrected alignment right away after this event.
I'm still driving on those tires that were replaced at 42k miles... now approaching 155 k miles on vehicle... that's 113k miles on tires! I do have replacement tires now ordered... Michelin "hydro-edges"....warrantied 90k miles. Am I an optimist or what? 250k+ miles on a Windstar?

Lewisnc100: Your alignment/clear-vision problem could be caused by things far more simple than earlier tranny problems. Probably a tie rod replacement ...or a bad alignment job.

[lewisnc100]

Yes, I was always leaning towards a bad alignment since the tie-rod ends were making noise at 45k, doubt they were changed before then. It is very slight, nothing I can't live with until the next alignment.

[12Ounce]

Watch your tire wear pattern. If you get noticeable wear on the both inner or both outer edges of front tires, you may want to make some corrections now.