Leaf swerves under acceleration and deceleration

Josephleaf said:

Yes I had the same problem on my 2014 leaf with 45K on. I had the tracking checked on several occasions & it was out & when put correct again and after driving vehicle for a mile, it was all totally out again. To cut a long story short after being to Nissan garages I had a 'proper' trustworthy & time served mechanic look at it (not a Nissan technician who could not find any faults). It needed two new wishbones on front, a new suspension strut & a new shock absorber and lastly tracking again before it solved the issue.

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Yikes! How much did that cost? I have the problem on my 2011. It's not torque steer. I have driven the car for 10 years now. Bought it new. It performed flawlessly for 9 years before having this problem. I would describe it like this: At a certain mph when accelerating, even smoothly, it feels like the right wheel veered into a rut but then straightened out. Then as you let off the accelerator it feels like that tire shifts back out of that rut. So the car moves about 9-10 inches to the right and then back 9-10 inches to the left.
I won't drive the car on the freeway but I can drive on the street managing that shift. It never shifts to the right and then shifts to the right again or shifts to the left and shifts to the left again. It's shifts to the right on gas and then shifts back to the left on deceleration. So it's controllable and manageable (but not normal). I took it to the dealer and they said, "it's the center motor mount ($900) we'll start there."
But their explanation didn't make sense to me (I've been working on cars for 20 years, so I'm not inexperienced in how things work ). That's not to say the center motor mount doesn't need replacement - just like my rear windshield wiper needs replacement too but fixing that is not going to fix the problem I want to fix. I'm certain it's more than the center motor mount but my next thing to do is to put a small camera pointed at that rear motor mount and see if it's the movement there causing the problem (highly doubtful, as I can cause the problem regardless of the motor's movement.)

jjlonsdale said:

Thanks to everyone who replied to my post, very helpful and much appreciated. I've had the Leaf for 5 years and 43000 miles FYI, and it's been great. The issue instability issue has developed over the few months. I don't think I used the right term when I said torque steer, sorry for the distraction. It's more like a minor swerve as the power goes on but a little more pronounced as you take your foot off the accelerator. I spoke to my local garage, who I trust (not the main dealer). As the wheels have been aligned a few days ago, there are new tyres all round, the brakes are fine and an issue with the differential is deemed unlikely, the car is now booked in to thoroughly re-check the suspension next week. I'm hoping that proves to be where the issue is. I will report back.

Best,

John

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John, did you ever get this fixed? If so what was the issue?

I'm having the same exact behavior. This just started happening recently. It's such a strange feeling after the car (2013 SL) was working normally and smoothly for so long. I'll most likely be having our local mechanic check it out soon and will report back with whatever fixes mine.

Hello, my leaf 2019 with 47k has the same issue. And none of the dealers could find a real issue yet. Did anyone resolve the issue?
Thank you

jjlonsdale said:

Hi,

I have a 2013 Nissan Leaf with 48k miles on the clock. Recently, when I accelerate fairly hard the car steers slightly right, when I take my foot off the accelerator there is a small swerve to the left. It's unnerving and I'd like to fix it. Does anyone know what's causing this?

The car has been regularly serviced at the Nissan dealers. Track rod ends have been replaced, there are new tyres tracked and balanced. It's just passed its MOT and there are no problems with the suspension.

I've heard the problem described as torque steer, but I'm not sure if that's right. Is it possible there is a differential type problem, that power to the two front wheels is not the same?

BEFORE the car goes to the main dealers (who I don't like very much), can anyone give me a diagnosis please...

Best,

John

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MY 2013 Nissan Leaf has bad torque steer above 45 mph. Tires are matched. Alignment done. No effect on it. I’m bringing in for second alignment today. But I’ve read check the suspension parts and the steering linkage as well as the differential? Is there a differential on a. 2013 front wheel leaf?