Afternoon! I've spent some time looking around the forums and searching for people who might have had a similar experience to what I'm going through at the moment. Either I'm really bad at searching, using incorrect terminology or it hasn't been talked about yet. I recently acquired a 2005 EP3 as a daily driver. It had a slight pull to the left, so I took it in got it aligned but it didn't solve the issue. Some days it will drive straight but develop a varying degree of pull to the left after taking a corner/onramp. Some days it will develop a slight pull to the right. Did a once over on bolts involved with the suspension/steering linkage and nothing was loose. Tires are in good shape and don't show any obvious signs of uneven tire wear but to be on the safe side I rotated the tires to see if maybe it was the cause. No change. Gave the wheel bearings a test last time it was up on jack stands and they felt solid. I know I remember reading about some kind of slide plate in the steering rack that is hollowed out that can end up twisting but I'm not sure if this is a symptom of that part being worn out. Kind of at a loss as to what might be causing the issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

Are you able to lift both front tires off the ground?

I have found the torque sensors in the electric power steering rack to go bad and think they need to assist one way or the other when not desired. Simple test is to get both front tires in the air. Start the car and then let go of the steering wheel. See of the wheel starts to turn one direction or the other. This will make the car feel like it is pulling left or right when going down the road.

Here is an example on a first generation Insight. Nearly the same EPS rack.
https://youtu.be/Gu8fxx22Hxg

 

Thanks for the information! I am able to get both the front tires off the ground so as soon as I get some time I'll definitely give this a test. Thanks again!