Reposted from the SE-R mailing list:
"Buyers of the 2000 Sentra SE should verify front-end alignment soon after
delivery to check for excess toe-in dialed in at the factory. You may do
this on your own, take the car to an alignment shop, or ask the dealer to
perform the work under warranty.
For several weeks after buying my car, steering feel was numb on-center,
straight-line stability was lacking, and the car wanted to turn in too
easily, scrubbing heavily and understeering at higher angles where the wheel
seemed to continue turning on its own. This behavior only became disturbing
after I could get my car away from the daily commute and push it closer to
its limits. The steering wheel was also tilted slightly to the right.
I decided to perform a ghetto toe-in adjustment a few weeks ago, twisting in
the right tie rod about 1.5 hex flats (counter-clockwise as viewed from the
wheelwell). This reduced the right wheel toe-in just a bit, centered the
steering wheel, and corrected the strange handling problem. Individual
sensitivity to alignment problems can vary, but you can detect this problem
if you are keen to the characteristics I described above.
My brother Russell has indicated his new 2000 Sentra SE also exhibits the
same handling behavior. Anyone else?
Rick -Z-
2000 Sentra SE
Kirkland, WA"
Another post:
"I can say that the one I test drove handled EXACTLY as you have described.
It was an SE without the Perf Package."
another from Russ Zotz:
"This makes me wonder why there like this? Is Nissan's alignment machine not
calibrated? I will probably craw under mine in the next few days and fix
that one side to make it right."
the last one:
"I could be more simple than that. Folks who have been here a while will
remember that the B14s often had weird alignment problems due to how they
were tied down to the car carriers. I don't think this is the same problem
because the B14s exhibited toe *out*. But, it could be something that
simple. It's worth at least letting your dealer know. If they get enough
reports to establish a pattern, someone will come up with an answer.
I'm sure Rick remembers the B14 problems. It was a bit list topic a few
years back.
George Roffe
91 SE-R
91 G20"
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