Sticky/Jerky Steering issue

[Leehro]

Did anyone else who filed a report with the NHTSA get a phone call from them?

I filed a report but didn't get a phone call. I guess that's good they're following up. What did they want to know?

 

[PJK3]

I filed a report but didn't get a phone call. I guess that's good they're following up. What did they want to know?

Officially I was contacted by the Office of Defects Investigation who was representing the NHTSA. It was about a half hour interview.
There was a variety of vehicle identification type questions to gather info.
They asked lots and lots of questions specific to the symptoms, onset mileage, associations to driving conditions, speeds for when it happens, road conditions, etc.
The interviewer was aware of an associated issue w/ the Civic, but wasn't aware that the drivetrain is virtually the same. (I explained that aspect to them.)
Then they asked some questions about whether the dealer has been contacted, any attempts to repair, etc.

Frankly, I'm not interested in the dealer experimenting and playing whack a mole w/ my vehicle while I'm in and out of loaners. I haven't seen the issue except on long road trips, and on my daily drive it never seems to show up. I'm just fine waiting for them to sort it out.


Also, I haven't had the issue in a while, but also haven't gone on a long trip for a while either.
Still, ever since I figured out how to reboot the infotainment system when Android Auto starts acting up, I haven't noticed a problem with either the Android Auto connectivity or the sticky steering. This goes back to your original post Leehro... could it possibly be connected?
Would you be willing to try a reboot and see if it resolves the issue? Might be a critical piece of data.

 

[Leehro]

Officially I was contacted by the Office of Defects Investigation who was representing the NHTSA. It was about a half hour interview.
There was a variety of vehicle identification type questions to gather info.
They asked lots and lots of questions specific to the symptoms, onset mileage, associations to driving conditions, speeds for when it happens, road conditions, etc.
The interviewer was aware of an associated issue w/ the Civic, but wasn't aware that the drivetrain is virtually the same. (I explained that aspect to them.)
Then they asked some questions about whether the dealer has been contacted, any attempts to repair, etc.

That’s great information, thanks for sharing. I wasn’t contacted so I’m glad they’re taking it seriously and that you relayed the info about sharing so much with the Civic. Especially since this week there’s officially an investigation into sticky steering on the Civic. When I saw that https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2022/HONDA/CIVIC%20HATCHBACK/5%20HB/FWD I emailed NHTSA and asked to add my integra complaint to the civic investigation.

Frankly, I'm not interested in the dealer experimenting and playing whack a mole w/ my vehicle while I'm in and out of loaners. I haven't seen the issue except on long road trips, and on my daily drive it never seems to show up. I'm just fine waiting for them to sort it out.


Also, I haven't had the issue in a while, but also haven't gone on a long trip for a while either.
Still, ever since I figured out how to reboot the infotainment system when Android Auto starts acting up, I haven't noticed a problem with either the Android Auto connectivity or the sticky steering. This goes back to your original post Leehro... could it possibly be connected?
Would you be willing to try a reboot and see if it resolves the issue? Might be a critical piece of data.

I haven’t really seen it since a long drive on January 28. I switched USB cables after that, in case I had a bad cable. Only time it’s happened since is for about 20 minutes on February 8. wasn’t severe and disappeared on its own. I was out for a drive and when it started acting up I decided to drive straight to the dealer. Of course it stopped on its own , so I just went home. Since then, nothing. I even took a pretty long trip at the end of February (500 mi round trip) and no issues.

So I think I’m in the same boat. it hasn’t been happening. If it happens consistently I’ll take it to the dealer. Chances of a recall seem to be increasing, and if not I’ve still got the warranty for a while.

But good to know about the reboot. I’ll check that next time!

 

[Leehro]

Would you be willing to try a reboot and see if it resolves the issue? Might be a critical piece of data.

I just checked out that menu and did a save and reboot. Like I said, I haven't been having the steering problem but it was good to see how the diagnostic menu and reboot works so I can try that if mine acts up again.

The diagnostic menu was already really helpful since I can back up my settings to USB in case I need to reset the system. I also found out you can limit CarPlay or Android Auto to wired or disable them completely. I've been searching for a good way to turn off wireless CarPlay since I bough the car, so that was great! Other interesting stuff too. Despite the car not having navigation, it still has a GPS. I went into the GPS info menu and looked up the coordinates displayed on-screen, and yep that's my driveway. Not terribly useful without a built-in navigation app, just interesting.

 

[55Fives55]

I got in the Integra this afternoon to drive about 25 miles (and back). I noticed a few strange behaviors with CarPlay and a problem with the steering. The first clue that something wasn't right was that wireless CarPlay activated when I started the car. I don't use wireless CarPlay, in fact I keep Bluetooth turned off in the Integra so that it can't connect automatically. I hadn't turned it on, but today it came on. I scolded the car, connected with the USB cable I always use, and turned off Bluetooth again. Everything seemed OK.

I looked up the destination in Apple Maps and started to drive. Before I got out of my neighborhood, I noticed the navigation display was lagging. Seemed more like a phone/GPS issue - the CarPlay UI was responsive, but the marker was consistently stuck a few intersections back or slightly off the road and saying "Proceed to the Route". I chalked it up to a phone issue and decided to reboot that later.

As I got out onto the 45MPH somewhat curvy roads, I noticed the steering was behaving strangely. At low speeds (from stop lights), the wheel turned fine. But cruising at 45-50, the wheel was very resistant to any slight movements to correct and stay straight or go around a turn. I've got 3000 miles on the car so I know what the steering feels like in Comfort, Sport, and Normal I tried all 3 and they didn' t make a difference. It felt very "sticky", like the wheel wanted to stay in place. I could turn it slightly, take my hand off, and it would stay. And If I wanted to turn it, I had to apply more force than usual. Felt like power steering was broken, but again only at cruising speeds. I made sure LKAS and departure warnings were off - but again I know what those feel like and this wasn't it. The whole trip, maps was always behind. I was out in the clear, no reason for GPS to have trouble. Music playback and control was fine though.

I got to where I was going, turned the car off (but left the phone plugged in to USB). When I started up again 10 minutes later, same problem. It felt normal driving in the parking lot, but once I got above like 35MPH, steering became very jerky again. Maps was still acting up.

When I was about 5 miles from home (still on a 45MPH road, but straighter), I pulled the USB cable out of the console and disconnected CarPlay. Instantly, the steering feel came back to normal. After a minute or two I tried plugging the USB cable back in, but CarPlay wouldn't reconnect. Seems like the phone or the infotainment were having trouble communicating.

I wouldn't think there would be any way the iPhone USB connection could be causing a problem with steering, but it seems pretty clear that's what was happening. Am I nuts? Anyone seen anything like this?

My guess (as a programmer who's never worked on critical real-time systems like those in a car) is that the iPhone was sending bad data or too many updates and overwhelming the infotainment system. Or the infotainment booted up in a buggy state and couldn't ever process things right. Either way, I'm not sure how it could interfere with the computers controlling the steering feedback, but I suppose if that's tied into the instrument cluster display and such, it's possible. wtf.

I just tried disabling my wireless apple carplay and I definitely felt the difference! It's like a weight lifted off the wheel and the sticky feeling subsided. I was previously starting to get the sticky feeling at lower speeds too; before that only on highway speeds. Kind of crazy. I hope this is a remedy for the time being at Acura/Honda does their investigation because I missed driving like normal.

Edit: Still needed to plug in my phone with a wire, but not connect through wireless apple carplay for the sticky feeling to subside. Go figure....

 

[Leehro]

I just tried disabling my wireless apple carplay and I definitely felt the difference! It's like a weight lifted off the wheel and the sticky feeling subsided. I was previously starting to get the sticky feeling at lower speeds too; before that only on highway speeds. Kind of crazy. I hope this is a remedy for the time being at Acura/Honda does their investigation because I missed driving like normal.

Edit: Still needed to plug in my phone with a wire, but not connect through wireless apple carplay for the sticky feeling to subside. Go figure....

Thanks for posting. I was starting to think my CarPlay connection to the steering problem was imaginary since nobody else has reported anything like that . It's been about 2 months since I had any sticky steering. I just passed 6000 miles on the odometer. Since I last had the problem, I switched to a new USB cable, turned off Data Sharing and deleted AcuraLink from my phone. I also recently disabled wireless CarPlay from the diagnostic menu. I disabled Android Auto entirely (since I don't have an android phone).

I disabled these things because I want them disabled, but if they happen to keep my steering problem from coming back, that's fine with me. Haven't had the problem in 2 months, and hope they get to the bottom of it.

 

[PJK3]

I just checked out that menu and did a save and reboot. Like I said, I haven't been having the steering problem but it was good to see how the diagnostic menu and reboot works so I can try that if mine acts up again.

The diagnostic menu was already really helpful since I can back up my settings to USB in case I need to reset the system. I also found out you can limit CarPlay or Android Auto to wired or disable them completely. I've been searching for a good way to turn off wireless CarPlay since I bough the car, so that was great! Other interesting stuff too. Despite the car not having navigation, it still has a GPS. I went into the GPS info menu and looked up the coordinates displayed on-screen, and yep that's my driveway. Not terribly useful without a built-in navigation app, just interesting.

I noticed the GPS info as well and found it very curious.
I've been wondering as to whether the car's GPS information is being ported to the phone for Android Auto and then back to the display. Otherwise, it seems strange to have the data there, unless it's only Acura link that's using it.

 

[SierraOne]

I noticed the GPS info as well and found it very curious.
I've been wondering as to whether the car's GPS information is being ported to the phone for Android Auto and then back to the display. Otherwise, it seems strange to have the data there, unless it's only Acura link that's using it.

Well AcuraLink does have the Find My Car feature, so it's definitely used for that as well.

But yes, you're right. Android Auto can use either the phone GPS or the head unit GPS, depending on which navigation app you are using (Google Maps, Waze, etc.).

 

[Dakei]

Well I had my first near fatal interaction with the sticky steering issue today. I was cruising at 70 mph on a highway when all of a sudden the Lane-Keep-Assist started steering me left into a Chevy Yukon passing me. I think the sensors misread the long crack in the road as a road line, and applied directional torque in an attempt to keep me in my “lane”. Thankfully I was paying attention so I was able to fight off the system, but I was mere inches away from doing a PIT maneuver.

I’ll be keeping LKA off in the meantime. Does anyone else have a similar experience?

 

[treyk]

Well I had my first near fatal interaction with the sticky steering issue today. I was cruising at 70 mph on a highway when all of a sudden the Lane-Keep-Assist started steering me left into a Chevy Yukon passing me. I think the sensors misread the long crack in the road as a road line, and applied directional torque in an attempt to keep me in my “lane”. Thankfully I was paying attention so I was able to fight off the system, but I was mere inches away from doing a PIT maneuver.

I’ll be keeping LKA off in the meantime. Does anyone else have a similar experience?

I find that highways that have questionable lane lines like for example after construction there are just lines all over the highway, trip up my lane departure warning and just don't know where to send me. This is why I personally don't cruise with the lane keep assist button pressed because I just can't trust it on these terrible highways. Were you on a nicely paved and painted highway when this happened?

 

[Dakei]

I find that highways that have questionable lane lines like for example after construction there are just lines all over the highway, trip up my lane departure warning and just don't know where to send me. This is why I personally don't cruise with the lane keep assist button pressed because I just can't trust it on these terrible highways. Were you on a nicely paved and painted highway when this happened?

Our highways have been recently patched up after the heavy rainstorms so I’ll say they’re nicer than most interstates. But after this incident, I have lost trust in my LKA system.

 

[treyk]

Our highways have been recently patched up after the heavy rainstorms so I’ll say they’re nicer than most interstates. But after this incident, I have lost trust in my LKA system.

I feel you

 

[submitaweasel]

Our highways have been recently patched up after the heavy rainstorms so I’ll say they’re nicer than most interstates. But after this incident, I have lost trust in my LKA system.

Yet you are sharing the road with those who think these systems can drive their car for them (Teslas at a bare minimum). Scary, isn't it?

 

[Dakei]

Yet you are sharing the road with those who think these systems can drive their car for them (Teslas at a bare minimum). Scary, isn't it?

You can’t help some people unfortunately. If they want to be a danger on the road by believing fancy cruise control will drive itself, then so be it. I’ll do my part by exercising defensive driving and treating a driver safety suite as an extra set of sensory organs.

 

[PJK3]

Well I had my first near fatal interaction with the sticky steering issue today. I was cruising at 70 mph on a highway when all of a sudden the Lane-Keep-Assist started steering me left into a Chevy Yukon passing me. I think the sensors misread the long crack in the road as a road line, and applied directional torque in an attempt to keep me in my “lane”. Thankfully I was paying attention so I was able to fight off the system, but I was mere inches away from doing a PIT maneuver.

I’ll be keeping LKA off in the meantime. Does anyone else have a similar experience?

While I don't trust LKA in particular, nor do I use it very often, what you're describing is not the sticky steering issue. You're describing an LKA misfunction.

The sticky steering issue is the wheel freezing in a specific position, regardless of road condition / lines, combined with difficulty in actually moving the steering wheel until a certain amount of force is applied.