What's wrong?

[xyntax]

Hey, ever since I bought my 02 SE, I notice that I could never get my car to run straight if I dont hold my steering wheel. It always swerves to the right little by little. And when it does this, my steering wheel is dead-on centered.

Nowadays, I have to tilt my steering wheel about 5 degrees (very little) in order to run straight. Does this have to do with alignment? I didnt bother with this when I first bought it coz people were telling me it was caused by the road's curve towards the curb.

So, if I go to my dealership, do you think they can fix this without having to charge me with some servicing fees or something?

Has anyone had this problem before?

[DavPak]

Hey, ever since I bought my 02 SE, I notice that I could never get my car to run straight if I dont hold my steering wheel. It always swerves to the right little by little. And when it does this, my steering wheel is dead-on centered.

Nowadays, I have to tilt my steering wheel about 5 degrees (very little) in order to run straight. Does this have to do with alignment? I didnt bother with this when I first bought it coz people were telling me it was caused by the road's curve towards the curb.

So, if I go to my dealership, do you think they can fix this without having to charge me with some servicing fees or something?

Has anyone had this problem before?

before going to the dealership....coupla things you should check on. when your car drifts to one side, notice which lane you're in, highways are sloped to get rid of water. the left lane slopes to the left and the right lane slopes to the right, the middle lane should not slope at all but has a low spot in the middle.
check your tire pressures, make sure all 4 are the same. one side being low will cause the car to pull to that side.
and if it still pulls here's what you can do. make an appointment with a dealership, tell them your car is pulling to one side. an alignment is under warantee for 1 yr 20K. if they give you a hard time about you paying for it, just tell them you heard there's a TSB out on it.........its TSB #ST1005-01.
it applies to all '02 vehicles.
that should set you up.

[NASTY]

well try what DavPak suggested, and if it's only a really small degree i wuldn't worry too much

and this has been talked about before, try searching for it

[xyntax]

before going to the dealership....coupla things you should check on. when your car drifts to one side, notice which lane you're in, highways are sloped to get rid of water. the left lane slopes to the left and the right lane slopes to the right, the middle lane should not slope at all but has a low spot in the middle.
check your tire pressures, make sure all 4 are the same. one side being low will cause the car to pull to that side.
and if it still pulls here's what you can do. make an appointment with a dealership, tell them your car is pulling to one side. an alignment is under warantee for 1 yr 20K. if they give you a hard time about you paying for it, just tell them you heard there's a TSB out on it.........its TSB #ST1005-01.
it applies to all '02 vehicles.
that should set you up.

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to set an appointment for my periodical service too, so I can do that 2 weeks from now. Where do you find these TSB #s? I've seen those before in other posts.

[DavPak]

Where do you find these TSB #s? I've seen those before in other posts.

welp, uh, i dunno where you can find em (does anyone else know??). the only reason i knew is that i'm a Toyota service writer by day........that TSB i use at least once a week and it helps to memorize a little! if you need me to look up any other TSB's, let me know.

[SpikedMantis]

Look at the topic a few down below titled, Buying a Solara, Need Help.
One of Nasty's replies has a link.

[paulhvfr]

I would like to add my name to the list of Solara owners that have a problem with their car pulling one way or the other. My vehicle has switched sides once or twice sinced I have owned it and yes, at least two sets of Potenzas have been shredded because of this problem. Currently my ride seems to be ultra sensitive to the crowne on the road and will pull both ways - left more than right. There are exceptions where I can get the car to move from the right lane all the way over to the left, heading for the median.

Two sets of dealers and an Expert Tire have been unwilling to admit that there is a problem after confirming that the car is in alignment. I truely hope that it's just the tires - more about that in a sec.

On the other hand, I looked at the NHTSA site over the weekend and searched for Solara problems. There's a guy that posted a message late in September '98 that used words like "wheel binds or locks into a left turn". This person then goes onto mention that the Solara steering rack guides have been quitely modified with a new part number. A print off of this complaint will be accompanying me to the dealer at my next service.

Also while on the NHTSA site, I searched for complaints on the Potenza. There were multiple listing of unxpected blowouts and sidewall bubbleing. Reviews of the Potenza on TireRack.com were also generally negative with lots of people complaining about traction, especially in the rain. That's bad for me since I now live in the Pacific Northwest.

So here are the questions:

How many of you have, or had, this problem?
Does anybody have a solution to the problem?

[xyntax]

Thanks for your input! I dont know if this would be related to your traction problem on Potenzas but I dont skid or wheelspin even with normal rev on rainy days. Sometimes I push my car to the tightest curve on 30mph, it screeches. I'm new to this car thing, so I was wondering that's normal.

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

I've had traction issues with my solara esp. with potenza's! I was told that my front passanger tire was worn....I'm not a believer in changing two fronts ONLY, so i proceeded to change all 4. Subseqeunt to which I've notcied that my s.wheel NOW slants to the right for me keep it straight on the roads. Next weekend i'm searching for lifetime alignments somewhere..
Also: I've have gone throgh three sets of (FOUR TIRES) in the past 14K miles on my camry. The car is not lowered...its has had 5 alignments, tires rotated/balanced...The s.swheel was still slanted towards one end...then finally one mechanic suggested changing some TOE on the alignment...that and NEW OEM strut assemblies changed the whole picture! My comments: they don't make em' like they used to....but they still make em' better than others...

[rnsmelody]

hey.. i have the same problem too! ever since i got my car its been like that.. and its gets even bad when i do 80+ on the freeway. i went to toyota today to try to get my alignment fixed too!. but they said there wasnt a tsb out on it! what an asshole! i forgot to bring the tsb number with me.. does it matter which was hit rist.. the 1 year or 20,000 miles? i reached 1 year last month,... so maybe thats why th dealership doesnt want to do it for me.. but doesnthave to give me a hard time just cus i am a girl! I know what i was talking about.! grr!

[rnsmelody]

so.. i called hilltop toyota since i got my car from there.. they said they will honor the tsb for me. so ill be going out there

[Hsakuragi]

when are u going? i'm going there to install my charger soon..hehe

[rnsmelody]

monday after class. if i have egnough time.. he said 3-4 hours.. i dont even know what im going to do out in richmond for 3-4 hours with no car

[Hsakuragi]

well there is nothing else there..except dealers...if u can walk, you can walk to that plaza or hilltop mall...

[DavPak]

monday after class. if i have egnough time.. he said 3-4 hours.. i dont even know what im going to do out in richmond for 3-4 hours with no car

see if the dealer will be willing to drive you there for a couple hours. my dealer runs a shuttle service for just such occasions!