This is probably a dumb question and I'm just overthinking things here but....


I'm used to working on older vehicles. And by older I mean pre electric/electronic everything.

So I went and got myself a nice, shiney, new to me 2008 Dodge Magnum. 2.7L V6. Runs great, no rust.... overall nice car.
It does have a couple minor annoyances tho, one being the crooked steering wheel, and the other being a seemingly easy to replace turn signal lever/assembly that don't stay latched on a right turn.

My head scratcher is, being I need to pull the steering wheel anyway to replace the turn signal unit, can I just put the steering wheel back on so It's straight? Or is it a indexed type thing that will only fit in one spot, or some other reason why I couldn't index it so it's straight?

I've tried doing some digging online and have found a bunch of videos on removing/replacing the steering wheel, but none have shown the steering shaft good enough to see what's what.

The car runs perfectly straight and smooth going down the road so it's not a alignment issue as far as I'm aware.

Anyone have any thought or experiences wth something like this?

If the steering wheel is off center, the turn signal cancel bar is off center too.
Most likely, a tie rod end was replaced at one time or another, causing the wheel being off.
Take it to a good front end shop, get it figured out.
Do not just try and remove wheel to center it. Clock spring may of been replaced causing the wheel being off but unlikely, I suspect it is indexed and not universal spline, you might be messing with that clock spring in order to pull the turn signal switch, know what you're doing.

Thanks. I did know about the clock spring. Seen a couple videos on that.
I actually didn't even think about the the wheel being off center as a reason the turn signal lever not holding. The wheel is off to the right, which is also the direction the lever won't latch in.

Be careful on the YouTube stuff, lots of bullshit out there, scrounge up a service manual on that, just nuts and bolts, but some times a scan tool is needed for things that were not needed before .

Centering the wheel was once part of an alignment

It’s possible the previous owner replaced the steering rack, or had another reason to disconnect the steering shaft. Even marking it and securing the wheel it’s quite easy to be off a tooth when you reconnect it. With proper alignment it will drive straight but with the wheel slightly off center.

If you’re feeling frisky and are mechanically inclined you can adjust the tie rods to turn both front wheels slightly right, in the direction the wheel is displaced. It won’t take much, maybe a quarter turn to start. That’s assuming it’s a small displacement of the wheel, a few degrees. Shouldn’t be enough to cause noticeable pulling, if you have to adjust it so much that it does pull there’s probably more going on.

I’ve never messed with a turn signal mechanism. I did replace the steering wheel on my Subaru but the turn signal stuff was separate from where the wheel bolts on so it wasn’t affected.

A crooked steering wheel means the alignment is off, no matter how it drives otherwise. No alignment I ever did was sent out like that. It cannot be fixed by re-indexing the steering wheel. All steering wheels with air bags are positively indexed to the column via a key or master spline. Most connections to the steering gear are one-way as well.

I'm a lot more concerned about that 2.7 engine than any alignment issues, frankly. Because of the internal, timing-chain-driven water pump and the oil sludge issues, I refused to work on this engine, period.