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I drive a '14 Civic with electric power steering. Recently I hit a couple of potholes, and after hitting them, the steering definitely felt looser. I feel like I have to turn the wheel a lot more than normal to make a turn, and every time I feel like I'm gonna hit oncoming traffic. However, the mechanics at Honda told me it was fine, since the car doesn't pull to the left or the right. When I told them that I still think it feels loose, they said, "It's all in your head." I'm 100% sure it feels loose, though. So what could be the solution?

 
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Use the Cybex upper neck machine at the local Y

 
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Just how big were the potholes?
Moon crater size? "Swallow a whole car" size?




Tire pressures aired up?

Is the steering wheel still pointing straight ahead in the middle when you drive in a straight line?

Has the wheel alignment been checked and corrected?






CSB time:
One winter many years back, my ex was driving on the interstate between our town and the next burg an hour away..... Everything was a sheet of ice...She went across a bridge and got blown off the road at the end, spinning off the interstate into the grassy median between lanes.
She was able to drive back up to the road, people had stopped to make sure she was ok. Shook up sure, but ok. Drove home sloooow, and was overly sensitive to every little gust of wind that could be felt moving the car sideways as she drove, and that feeling of uneasiness in the wind lasted several months for her.

"Super-sensitive" came to mind as I read your post....Your issue might be similar to this?

 
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In all seriousness, it probably the toe setting. They set them pretty straight to get that last tenth of fuel mileage. Bet it's set 0 toe. Add about 1/2 turn in on each front tire will probably give you the fill you want. (was about 1/16" total I think since it had 20 threads and 1 turn total was .050) What I did on my Toyota 4x4 made all the difference in the world. You were constantly correcting it on the interstate. I have 40K now on the tires and I cannot tell any uneven wear.

 
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A half turn on both sides is a huge amount when you see it on the alignment rack. That would probably give it a full degree or more toe in, and that's way too much for these little cars IMO.

The cars are spec'd at zero toe front and nobody else complains about wandering, so I might suspect whacking a hole might have put it toed out a bit causing it to be unstable and 'wandery'.


OP hasn't replied at all with any answers yet...I wonder if it's out getting an alignment or something?

 
Rep Power: 150

Sure you are right. My Civic and CRV are both set 0 (I checked myself) and they are stable. My truck even with all that toe is still pretty 'wandery' (your word but works well here) Feels more like wheels are hooked with rubber bands. Old school toe use to be up to 1/8"..even see more. However, Hondas go where you point them and stay where you point them with out negative toe . Compared to my truck, I need to be careful in my Civic, just turning my head that I do not move my arm which when you are 66 is actually pretty hard to do.

 
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I had an 07 Civic on the alignment rack today and checked this out:
One full turn gave 3/4 degree toe change.
That's still huge on these cars.

 
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As soon as I get my trig book out and a find a tire diameter, going to see what that is in inches. You got me wondering what I did to my truck. I do not relate to toe as degrees. Also, my tie rod on my truck may have had finer threads. However, they both are rack. Dezso, you still here?