Today we’re working on a 2012 Kia Optima with some power steering issues. The steering wheel feels a little jittery and it has a click or a clunk in it. Welcome to Mercie J auto care where compassion and craftmanship come together. I’m Rick Smith, master certified technician. If you have a Kia or a Hyundai with this symptom, it could be a little disconcerting because the steering will feel pretty jittery sometimes, even when you’re sitting still. If you watch the steering wheel and you’re not touching it, it will actually shutter back-and-forth. What that is is there’s a connection down inside the steering column and it’s just this little tiny piece of rubber that may be referred to as a bushing or a coupler or even a gear. What it does is deteriorate, now you’re not going to completely lose your steering because there is a back up piece of metal. That’s what is clunking is that metals clicking together and that rubber is not insulating it. What has to be done is the steering column has to be dropped and then the motor has to be taken apart. So here’s our metal part of the sensor and here’s the motor with the gear and that rubber piece goes in between those two. Once that piece has been replaced we put the car back together and then we have to do what’s called a relearn or might also be known as a recalibration of the position of the steering wheel because the car needs to know exactly where center is, not even off by 2° so that the stability control works right. Bottom line is we drop the column we replace that gear and then we re-calibrate so I hope this has been informational for you and until next time blessings to you and safe travels.
