NHTSA Complaint #11297914 — 2017 HYUNDAI SANTA FE

CURRENTLY 42K MILES, "STICKY STEERING WHEEL" OR "ZIG-ZAG" PROBLEM STARTED ABOUT 10K MILES AGO. DEALER SERVICE TECHS I'VE DEALT WITH SEEM TO HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS PROBLEM. AFTER VERIFYING THAT MY DAUGHTER WAS REALLY EXPERIENCING THE ZIG-ZAG PROBLEM, I LIFTED THE FRONT OF HER CAR SO THAT BOTH FRONT WHEELS WERE OFF THE GROUND. WITH THE ENGINE NOT RUNNING, SLOWLY TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL RIGHT AND LEFT WOULD REVEAL THE "STICKY" SYMPTOM, WHICH IS ACTUALLY AT SOME POINT THE STEERING WHEEL HANGS FOR SOME REASON AND THEN IT TAKES INCREASINGLY MORE TORQUE APPLIED TO THE STEERING WHEEL UNTIL IT BREAKS FREE. IF THIS HAD OCCURRED DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD, THE RESULT WOULD BE A SUDDEN CHANGE OF DIRECTION. THIS BEHAVIOR IN THE STEERING SYSTEM SHOULD NEVER OCCUR, BUT SHOULD BE SILKY SMOOTH LOCK TO LOCK. THE ATTACHED IMAGE SHOWS THE SYSTEM FROM THE STEERING WHEEL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE CONNECTING SHAFT. I HAVE READ REPORTS THAT THE U-JOINTS IN THE CONNECTING SHAFT ARE THE PROBLEM, OR THAT THE MDPS (MOTOR DRIVEN POWER STEERING) UNIT IS THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM. IF I WERE WORKING THIS PROBLEM, I WOULD DISCONNECT THE UPPER U-JOINT AND RERUN THE STEERING WHEEL TEST. IF THE HANGING PROBLEM WAS STILL THERE, THEN THE MDPS UNIT (OR PERHAPS THE STAR SHAPED COUPLING WITHIN THE MDPS) SHOULD BE REPLACED. OTHERWISE, THE COUPLING SHAFT SHOULD BE INSPECTED FOR BINDING OF THE U-JOINTS. IF THE JOINTS ARE STICKING, THEN A REPLACEMENT SHAFT IS IN ORDER. IF NEITHER THE MDPS UNIT NOR COUPLING SHAFT ARE AT FAULT, THEN THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM MUST BE SOMEWHERE BELOW THE CONNECTING SHAFT. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE THAT MANY OWNERS HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT, AND HYUNDAI DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE ANY DESIRE TO ACKNOWLEDGE OR TO EVEN ADDRESS THE PROBLEM. I AM A FORMER ASE L1 MASTER AUTOMOTIVE TECHNICIAN.