Wheel alignment to steering wheel as well as 4WAS issues

[blittle]

Do these cars readjust steering every time you restart them?

A few weeks ago I was merging onto a highway and there was a large bump on the ramp and at the same time I hit the bump my steering wheel was turned slightly and then from that point forward my car would drive perfectly straight but the wheel was cocked a significant amount (like 25 degrees). See link below for images.

http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/1Kahli/library/

Now it seems that whichever direction my wheels are turned when I restart the car that is how the steering wheel will be aligned and the car will drive perfectly straight but with the steering wheel turned in whichever direction.

Anybody else have issues like this? Also, just yesterday when I started the car and drove the first 1/2 mile the wheel was straight and the car drove straight but in the middle of my drive the wheel became cocked and then drove straight there after with it cocked. Obviously pretty concerning issues for my safety as who knows what could happen when things like this are occurring.

Also, as you can tell I have issues with 4WAS which then throws all these other things off and I can't even use cruise control. The light will either be on when I start the car or if I drive and turn it off a couple times after driving about two miles the light will be off again and everything works as it should but usually within a few minutes on a curve will turn on again after I suspect my car tries to turn the rear wheels and it malfunctions. I'd think the light would be on all the time if it was an ECM issue so I'm not sure what is going on here. Any insight would be appreciated!

This car has been nothing short of a disaster when I thought I was buying something nice, technological and reliable.

[Frog]

That's messed up. Hope u purchased the extended warranty... If not go buy one asap

[blittle]

I did not purchase an extended warranty. What is necessary to do so? I suspect a dealer would need to inspect and possibly drive the car to make sure there are no issues prior to providing the warranty, correct?

The 4WAS issue has been around for about 5 months and the steering issue a little over a month but I have never taken them in to be looked at after finding out about the cost of the 4WAS fix on this forum. Therefore nobody knows these issues exist.

If so, I could drive the car near the dealership I intend to have the vehicle checked out at so that I could get the warranty but prior to driving onto the dealer lot I could make sure that all of the issues are gone (it happens all the time for a few miles then they come back up). Then I could get the warranty and drive it around for a couple thousand miles before going back to the dealer and having all of the issues fixed without having to pay the absurd amounts ($7,500 according to this link post6694559.html?hilit=Rear%20steering#p6694559) that it appears fixing the 4WAS will cost as well as whatever is wrong with my steering. I've owned the car for 10 months and about 10,000 miles and the vehicle currently has a little over 75,000 miles.

Is the Elite Protection Program the extended warranty that I need to purchase get these issue covered or is there some other warranty that I don't see on the Infiniti website?

[Frog]

i would look at car check warranty they have a 30 day waiting period b4 the warranty takes effect, i don't think theres a inspection required, just pay the 3k or what ever they charge then wait 30 days and get the work done under warranty.

[Larz]

Just guessing, but ... Seems you hit a rather large hole and messed up the alignment. If the steering wheel is not dead center when the car moves in a straight line, it's usually the alignment. If the alignment is out of spec far enough, the speed control, AWD, etc will not function properly. I would take to a shop for an alignment and see if that fixes your troubles. If anything else was damaged, the shop can tell you that as well.

[blittle]

Well the 4WAS issue has been around for months prior to this steering issue so it isn't the steering causing it. I don't think this is an alignment issue either as my car doesn't pull to either direction when I'm on the highway, it will go straight as an arrow but the steering wheel will be way off center. Then I could go start and drive my car tomorrow and there is a decent chance the steering wheel will be perfectly aligned again. It's honestly crazy, like my car has a mind of its own as far as how it wants to function.

I do not know anything about the steering on these cars or any cars for that matter but it seems odd that this is even possible.

[Debonair]

Just based off your description and my limited knowledge of the AWD system on these cars I think this could be an issue with the 4WAS Front Control Unit and/or the 4WAS Front Actuator unit. You can read a little about the 4WAS system in the Factory Service Manual but it can get confusing real fast. The bottom line IMHO is the system needs to be troubleshot and diagnosed by someone with access to the factory procedure and a scan tool capable of accessing the 4WAS system.

Sneaking into a warranty if possible is probably a good idea, again in my humble opinion.

[Mjkkb2]

you do need an inspection to purchase elite plan. However, the free multi point inspection that most dealers do will suffice. If you got there without any dash lights you would most likely pass it. They wouldn't even drive your car any further than to their service area.