When driving at highway speeds, the power steering seems to stick when the wheel has not been turned for a few seconds (as in driving on a straight away). When minor corrections are needed, the steering wheel sticks, which results in a slight over correction. The conditions under which this happens is: warm air temperature, driving time over 15 minutes, and driving at highway speed.
2016 Honda Civic steering complaints
Page 8 of 16: complaints 191 to 220 of 446, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My steering wheel sticks when the engine has been warmed up, requiring extra force to begin turning it. This can make small adjustments on the road difficult, and means I have to overcorrect all the time and have trouble staying in my lane. It happens after driving ~20 minutes on warm days (above 70 degrees). The vehicle has been inspected by an independent mechanic, and I was told the only solution is replacing the entire steering rack. No warning lights have come on. This is NOT an isolated incident-- it happens every time the vehicle is driven for 20+ minutes on a warm day, and gets worse the longer it's driven.
As others have stated, steering becomes very sticky at highway speeds, especially on sweeping curves. When trying to straighten car back out, the steering sticks and requires extra pressure to get the steering wheel to turn. Once it comes free it causes the car to veer in the other direction. It is at times very difficult to put minor corrections into the steering to maintain the car in my lane. Honda dealer says it is the “torque sensor magnet” sticking and would require a steering rack replacement in the neighborhood of $4000. I have been back and forth with Honda corporate and they have denied any extended warranty or customer good will on this issue.
My 18 year old daughter's 2016 Honda Civic has been having problems with her steering wheel where while driving on the highway or driving straight for a while, the steering wheel gets stuck and in order to stop it from sticking, she would have to jerk the car a little bit which causes her to swerve and it is a big problem if it happens while there are other cars around her. I have read numerous articles about this same problem with the same year, make and model of the car.
The steering wheel 'sticks' at highway speeds and makes it difficult to make minor adjustments. Have to apply more than normal force to turn the wheel and causes the car to overcompensate and jolt. Could be quite dangerous.
Steering rack is faulty. Known issue on thousands of 2016 honda civics. Honda told me my battery dying and the sticky steering wheel is from a faulty steering rack and quoted me $4000 to fix it. This car does not even have 80,000 miles on it and it 7 years old. This issue has caused multiple accidents and I have 2 children. I am scared to drive this vehicle. If this is a known faulty steering rack issue why am I subjected to pay out of pocket?
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Steering wheel sticking at highway speeds when on a curved road or when changing lanes. Might be a loss of power steering. Occurs once or twice in 100 highway miles. Only temporary solution is to jerk the wheel with enough force to unstick it and regain control, which is not safe or ideal. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Loss of control of the vehicle. Departing own lane without intention. Possibility of collision with an adjacent vehicle. Possibility of overcorrection and complete loss of control without ability to regain control, resulting in a single vehicle crash. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? No, the local Honda dealer wants to charge $150.00 to inspect the issue. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? No. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No, none.
When driving for a while on the freeway, my steering wheel gets sticky causing me to oversteer to compensate. Which causes my car to swerve on the road.
Steering starts sticking every few seconds after about a 20 minute drive, and veering sideways. I lost a sideview mirror due to this and its very dangerous to drive. Probably has killed peapel already!! This happens every single time I drive this!
At 63k miles the Honda Civic steering wheel started sticking /jerking when changing lanes on the interstate. The steering rack EPS needs to be replaced. Only happens when you are driving for over an hour. This is not something you will notice commuting for 10-15 minutes to work. No warning on the dash. Warranty can't help us since we are second owners. We purchased it for our teenager 60 days ago and it's not safe for her to drive.
Both steering and brake system warning lights came on and steering wheel locked in to place with no prior warning indications of power steering rack failure.
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel became firm, and was sticking while turning in either direction. The contact stated that the failure was more noticeable while driving at highway speeds, and caused the vehicle to drift to either side, causing the driver to make addition steering wheel adjustments to keep the vehicle driving straight. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 60,000.
I have a 2016 Honda civic around 48,000-50,000.00 miles I have noticed that the steering in my vehicle gets sticky/stuck while driving. This usually occurs on the highway while I’m driving at higher speeds and when I’ve been on the road for about 30 minutes. While driving on the highway the steering wheel gets “stuck” towards the left and I have to pull it to correct this position. It has made me fearful while driving especially at high speeds and I feel like the entire drive I have to white knuckle the wheel. If I do not continue to make the correction then the car would veer off into another lane. This is extremely dangerous and unsafe. It has also happened while I’ve slowed down to a traffic light and when I pulled the steering wheel back out of the sticky position I heard an adamant click. I started researching and saw there are hundred if not thousands of these reports. I did send Honda a message to open a case which they sent a standard message back just saying to bring it to the dealer and closed the case. This needs to be fixed or rectified by Honda. I saw that there were some lawsuits but that they didn’t include 2016. It seems that the problem with all of these is the EPS Rack Assembly which is a fault with the manufacturer.
Our vehicle has just over 60,000 miles and has developed a significant "sticking" in the steering. This starts at around 50 miles per hour and gets progressively worse as speed increases. It doesn't completely seize but requires significant pressure to break the sticking. This could easily result in an overcompensation that leads to a loss of control. Once over 50 miles per hour, this issue requires constant attention by the driver. It is not an intermittent issue. We took this vehicle to a Honda dealer for repairs in July, but it still hasn't been repaired yet due to a shortage of the parts needed to repair this issue that is apparently well known by the Honda service technicians. Insult to injury is that once this is repaired, it will cost me over $3,000 as Honda has rejected our request to cover this repair.
Steering wheel sticks and you are not able to change direction without using excessive force. This happens when driving at highway speeds and seems to be worse (more force needed to turn wheel) at higher temperatures, 80+. The sticking steering causes you to oversteer and may cause you to lose control of the vehicle and crash.
Sticky steering wheel, feels notching while driving
Steering intermittently sticks when trying to make small adjustments to stay in lane. It has been doing this for the last couple years.
The steering sticks around highway speeds which causes me to over correct. The vehicle feels unsafe to drive and I am being told it will cost close to $4,000.00 to replace the electronic steering rack.
I recently moved so I am traveling on the interstate more. In doing so, I've noticed after about 15-20 minutes at higher speeds, my steering wheel starts sticking. I have to fight to stay in my lane. It's scary as well as exhausting. I've researched and see other complaints just like mine. Why has this issue not been addressed by Honda? It makes me scared to go visit family or do any traveling at all. I bought this vehicle used in 2019 but this issue really didn't surface until I moved and started driving more on the interstate. I noticed it some before but since most of my driving was in town, it didn't occur often. Please have Honda address this as it definitely is a safety issue. I feel like I'm going to drive off the road the whole time I'm on the interstate.
Steering- the Steering wheel jerks when I make incremental movements to the left or right. This only occurs when I'm driving on a freeway at or above 55mph. It does not occur on surface streets. I brought it to Autonation Honda in Chandler, AZ. They said it was the Rack Motor or Rack Pinion motor and it needs to be replaced. The advisor said that they have seen many 2016 Civics with this issue. Total out-of-pocket cost $3700.00. Part was not available even if I decided to have it replaced. I feel this should be addressed since this is a major safety issue caused by the manufacturer and should be recalled.
The steering wheel get stuck/ jerks in position and to correct stuck position/ jerks it causes you to correct your lane position. You feel out of control for a second or so. Purchased vehicle in 2019, in 2020/21, this happened and I took it into the dealership where we purchased the car and they did an alignment. After that alignment, steering/jerky/sticky wheel did not happen as much but it still happened and is getting worse. So this weekend I took the vehicle back to the dealership for the same issue again. According to the dealership. their technician(s) test drove the car and they did not feel the sticky and jerky wheel. Generally this happens when the vehicle has been driven for longer than 20-30 mins and when you are going 40-70 mph. The technician(s) stated that they could not reproduce this in their test drive. But it is still happening as I drove home from the dealership. I am not sure how they could not see and feel the constant wheel movement maintain control of the lane. It's sometimes hard to hold lane control especially going at a higher rates of speed. I see 200+ complaints similar to this issue with the 2016 Honda Civic. This dealership states that they see nothing wrong. But there is definitely still something wrong with this year model. I wanted to go on record and voice my concerns about this issue like many others.
Steering is getting stuck while driving on highways and/or higher speeds. Appears to be a consistent issue with Honda civics complaints/issues after researching. Requires replacing EPS, approx $2-3k. Not due to wear and tear. Vehicle at less than 30,000 total miles.
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving 40-60 MPH, the steering wheel became firm. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact jerked the steering wheel side to side and the steering wheel started operating normally. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the vehicle was not under recall. No further assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 49,000.
Steering has become sticky, especially when driving straight on a highway or at higher speeds. Extra force is needed to maintain position in lane and move the wheel. The pressure required to turn the wheel past the stuck position causes the driver to over correct excessively making it difficult to stay in the lane.
The steering is sticking - the same as all these other reports I'm seeing below. It is worse in the afternoons (higher temperatures I guess) and definitely more noticeable at highway speeds. Took the car to the dealer and they said that even though my car only has 36k miles it needs a new (electric) rack & pinion system for $4000 !! Ridiculous. I was advised that the dealer is well aware of the issue (I was the 2nd case this week that my service advisor was dealing with) but there's nothing they (the dealer) are doing at the moment other than referring it to corporate Honda U.S. I dont know whats going to happen if the situation gets worse - does the steering stop steering or get continually harder to steer ... is a definite safety issue.
Steering wheel becomes stuck in a certain position at highway speeds after 20+ minutes of driving and it requires an unnatural amount of force to free it, thus resulting in a sudden jerking motion that makes driving highly unsafe. Honda dealerships are quoting Civic owners $4K for an issue that is WELL known (200+ complaints on the federal safety agency and an active investigation on the 11th gen Civics with the same issue (https://www.autoblog.com/2023/03/21/the federal safety agency-honda-civic-sticky-power-steering-investigation/#:~:text=The%20National%20Highway%20Traffic%20Safety,reports%20of%20the%20issue%2C%20too.))
Steering wheel is quite hard to turn. Gets kind of stuck at certain points when I’m driving. Fluids all good. Don’t understand why this is happening.
Steering sticks making it difficult to change direction. It has a significant resistance when changing direction, this is troublesome especially at higher speeds. The consumer stated that the steering issue happens frequently and is not limited to just one occurrence.
My car's steering has been sticky and catching. This often causes me to apply unnecessary pressure to correct the steering and could cause an accident. I had it verified at Honda of Murfreesboro that I need a new steering rack.
When I’m driving the steering wheel gets stuck and the only way to get it unstuck is to pull hard enough to break the jam. It always gets stuck pulling to the left because every time I have to get it unstuck I have to pull to the right to break the jam.It happens every day and it’s really frustrating. Every time this happens is after 15-20 minutes driving. This is a serious safety hazard specially in a long drive because you are literally fighting the car to keep it in the center of the lane! 2016 Honda civic touring 62,000 miles It started doing this after 3 years with the car and approximately 37,000 miles. I remember because I took the car to the dealership and they told me that my basic warranty had expired at 36,000 miles or 3 years and the diagnosis and fixtures were going to be out of my pocket.
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