Hey,

i have an 04 TL that just recently started having this issue where under acceleration, the steering wheel saws back and forth. It never did this before and i'm not sure what to think. i had an alignment done just to be sure it wasn't anything to do wih that and things were fine but i still don't know what is going on. i had my mechanic check the suspension but nothing seems loose. anyone know what to check?

 

It's called torque steer. It's pretty common in higher horsepower front wheel drive cars.

IIRC 04-05 models were pretty notorious for it. In 06 I believe they made some changes to the engine management and VSA systems to remedy it a bit.

 

not to be "that guy" but the OP has been a member since '04, owned his car since '04 and is now reporting the problem that started recently, i think he'd know what torque steer is

could be worn suspension or steering components causing play, which is then exacerbated by torque steer (that was always there).

 

Your alignment might be "in spec," but upon acceleration, weight transfers to rear and front end lifts up. When this happens, the front wheels toe-out, which could lead to the symptoms you are describing.

What are the actual alignment specs? You should always ask for a before/after printout.

Make sure the front toe is set to 0 on both sides.

Did your mechanic check all of the bushings, ball joints, and tie-rod ends?

 

What are the model and wear condition of the tires and what are their cold pressures currently?

Check for sidewall damage and bubbles on the tires up front, too.

 

Yeah torque steer and sawing back and forth are 2 different things. Hope you get that sorted out OP, sounds dangerous.

 

Weird.

 

there are lots of things to check

1. Tire condition
2. Suspension for worn or damaged parts
3. Mounts

I have an 02 CL-S and the torque steer in that car is minimal under hard accelleration and they pretty much lifted that driveline right into the 3rd gen TL. I have driven other cars that are much worse in this area dispite having less power to deal with

 

Does it happen under heavy acceleration or just normal driving? Does it do it every time you accelerate?

 

I'm willing to say it's the axles. Ive fixed 2 3g tl's already for the same problem and it was the cv joints. everything looked fine but once i pulled apart the front end the outer cv joints were completely seized!
Have your mechanic check the axles closely.

 

Sorry, I've just seen a number of really dumb "problem" threads on here lately (like a guy thinking his headlights were broken because "when you hit the high beams, the low beams just get brighter "), which lead me to just assume ignorance. My bad.

You're probably right in that it's something more than torque steer.

 

thanks for all the replies.

i too read that it might have to do with CV joints but i read inner and not outer? i will explore this option more closely first.

this all happens under normal acceleration and every time. again, its not a problem i have ever had since i bought the car in '04. The tires also are fine and balanced. i got the alignment within spec which is good enough and should not be giving me these issues.

anyone else have any other ideas?