FIXED NOW --- bad torque steer on a gen 1 leaf local Nissan dont want to help

can you help here, I need someone who can talk or be heard by Nissan UK. My leaf recently developed an issue after a repair to a top strut mount and the local dealer refuses to help. It has now got bad Torque Steer.

https://www.speakev.com/threads/help-gen1-24-with-bad-torque-steer-after-topstrut-replaced.141116/

I don't know about the UK but on this side of the pond, there are government agencies that oversee vehicle repair shops.

I once had a dealer service department totally mess up on fixing my car and I had to tow the car to a different dealer to get the repair done properly. This was a warranty issue.

Try to find a different dealer.

2011 leaf, unfortunately way out of warranty. that said this is a bad issue that should have a recall on it I think.

Talk to a solicitor or inform the garage that's your next step if they don't fix their mistake and if it's not too late it could be worth asking for the parts that where removed/replaced as they may offer a clue to what's happening. They legally belong to you but the garage probably wont have kept them, its extremely rare anyone asks for them so garages tend to throw things straight in the bin.

Why I say about the old parts, it's possible that the car was crashed in the past, repaired badly and suspension parts bodged to make it behave, if so the garage is probably off the hook so it's in their interest to check if they still have them. Seems strange that no one wants to touch it, sounds like there's something you're not being told. Maybe look out for a place doing good deals on tracking/alignment, I'd expect the problem to show up with an alignment check and you might get a straight answer if it's something obvious.

The local garage owner says he regrets not driving it before doing the replacement as he doesn't accept that his repair would have caused this issue. In that respect is it my word against his that it had no torque steer issue before I took it to them. Not sure how much good getting lawyer involved would do. That seems the wrong way and an expensive way to upset people. He is happy to have it back and look into it further but I don't know whether I have confidence that they will find the issue or not.

whereswally606 said:

The local garage owner says he regrets not driving it before doing the replacement as he doesn't accept that his repair would have caused this issue. In that respect is it my word against his that it had no torque steer issue before I took it to them. Not sure how much good getting lawyer involved would do. That seems the wrong way and an expensive way to upset people. He is happy to have it back and look into it further but I don't know whether I have confidence that they will find the issue or not.

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Ok, I got the impression they where trying to brush you off but if they're still being helpful then there's no point in taking a hard line with them. The law is biased in favour of the customer where garages are concerned and garages are well aware of it, they'll often try to brush off their mistakes but that changes fast as soon as a solicitor gets involved.

Someone mentioned camber in the thread you linked and they're probably on the right track. Park up somewhere good and level with the wheels straight and see how the gaps between the top of the front tyres and their wheel arches compare, one side more in or out than the other is what you're looking for, should be fairly obvious if torque steer is bad.

The condition of the bushings in the lower linkages is another possibility and fairly easy to check but you'll need someone to watch the wheels. Again, park on the flat with the wheels straight and try to pull away with the handbrake on, both forward and reverse. No need for anything abusive, just a normal steady start and then release. What you're looking for is the wheel moving backwards and forwards in the wheel arch, in particular the difference between the left and right. Again, should be fairly obvious and don't be alarmed if they seem to move a lot, they often do but it's the difference you're looking for.

Ask the shop ( or pay another $50) for a full suspension/steering allignment check.
Is your steering wheel level when driving straight ?
Could be something a simple as toe in setting
Probably best to take it to a suspension specialist shop who will have a good laser set up system for precise results.. front and rear.

Like said on the speakev thread get the wheel alignment checked. Something may have been miss-adjusted on reassembly of the suspension or it could even be that the top mount is the wrong part and is pushing out the suspension geometry out from where it should be. The 4-wheel alignment check will pick up any crash damage, if there is any.

I'm a moderator at mynissanleaf.com (where you may want to repost this). We haven't seen any sudden or inherent torque steer issues with the Leaf since it was first introduced. Torque steer is almost always a design issue having to do with axle half-shaft length - it doesn't just suddenly come on. I agree that this is likely an alignment issue.

4 wheel alignment now done at my local kwikfit premier which has hunter laser alignment. Now within factory tolerances but the issue still persists. Booked into the egarage poulton to check sensors

I'm struggling to think of how it could possibly be due to an electronic fault.

My best guess would be: If there is play in the suspension that lets the afflicted wheel move backwards and forwards in the wheel arch then it will steer the car one way on throttle and the other way under braking due to a change in the caster angle. A sloppy top strut mount could allow this, as could a joint that hasn't been tightened up properly.

If it were my car I'd grab each front wheel in turn and go bananas yanking it in all directions looking for any movement. I'd repeat with the car jacked up and the wheels off the ground, which would also allow me to grab the top of the strut and give that a shake. I might also chock both sides of the front wheels and get an assistant to drive the car into chocks while looking for any lateral movement of the wheels. The trick would be to spot any difference between left and right side of the car.

Punx0r said:

I'm struggling to think of how it could possibly be due to an electronic fault.

My best guess would be: If there is play in the suspension that lets the afflicted wheel move backwards and forwards in the wheel arch then it will steer the car one way on throttle and the other way under braking due to a change in the caster angle. A sloppy top strut mount could allow this, as could a joint that hasn't been tightened up properly.

If it were my car I'd grab each front wheel in turn and go bananas yanking it in all directions looking for any movement. I'd repeat with the car jacked up and the wheels off the ground, which would also allow me to grab the top of the strut and give that a shake. I might also chock both sides of the front wheels and get an assistant to drive the car into chocks while looking for any lateral movement of the wheels. The trick would be to spot any difference between left and right side of the car.

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Yeah, unequal camber would cause it but it would be fairly obvious if it was that bad and should certainly have been picked up in an alignment check. The lower wishbone bushes where my most probable after that, at a guess the wishbone was changed on one side and not the other allowing one wheel more movement under acceleration/deceleration. Its unlikely that would have shown up with an alignment check as everything is static.

Another point with alignment checks, they should always be done twice, the second time with the wheels rotated 180 degrees or the wheels spun and checked for buckling beforehand. Even a minor buckle can throw the check out by a long way but its almost never done, often leads to incorrect alignment but it's very unlikely that's the cause here, a buckle bad enough to cause that much misalignment would be obvious while driving.

The steering wheel out of line may offer some clues, it could simply be from tracking adjustment but that would point to the track having been changed considerably by the repair. That's not impossible, the car re-tracked with a collapsed turret bush could throw it out that much but it's unlikely imo. Kinda stumped, would need more details, rear axle mounting bushes are a possibility but wouldn't explain why it only showed up after repairs to the front :/

whereswally606 said:

It has now got bad Torque Steer.

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Just to be clear,..you do mean steering pulling one way, but only under accelleration.,,,,not when just crusing .

That's why I was thinking caster, not camber. It wouldn't be measured on a regular alignment check.

My assumptions were that the car was OK before the repair, only strut top mount was replaced but other parts would have been dismantled/reassembled.

Fixed. Was a failed bushing on the Driver side control link (wishbone) not possible to see without removing the wheel. Fixed by Simon at Egarage Poulton Le Fylde UK near Blackpool. Not a sensor issue in the end at all. Whole heartedly recommend Simon and his garage to anyone with a mainstream EV/Hybrid.

We were in fact all telling you that it was a front alignment or suspension issue. There is no sensor that can cause torque steer.