Steering Wheel Locking

Steering Locking Up

Yesterday as I came back home with my i10 I parked it parallel in front of my house. After getting out of the car, I found that my parking was not perfect. I entered the car once again and I made the parking right. As I went out of the car once again after switching it off I found that the front wheels were tilted to the left. I wanted to straighten them up so they can be pointed in the right direction when I move the car once again. I did not start the car again but just moved the steering wheel while the car was turned off, the power steering was thus not assisting me in moving the wheels. Moving the steering wheel was thus not as easy as usual and that was OK for me. What was not OK was that after turning the steering to the right I reached a point where the steering wheel locked up and did not want to turn any more to the right although the wheels were not even straight yet!

Anti Theft

Although I found this to be strange, yet in my mind I thought maybe the hyundai i10 was designed to lock up the steering wheel when it was turned manually while the car was turned off in order to avoid car theft. (Yet upon rethinking about this again now, I find the idea to be absurd as how would locking the steering wheel help avoid theft when the thief is unable to start the car in the first place!)

Key Jamming!

Until then, I was not alarmed. It was not until today morning that I was really alarmed. As I entered the car and tried to turn the key in to start the car the key simply did not want to turn even the first turn! I tried to push harder yet not too hard as I was afraid it could break inside. The key still did not want to move an inch. The train of thoughts which rushed in my mind was that there was something really wrong with the steering system of my i10. I realized, unhappily, that I had to bring it to the agent to check this issue. Now the car will be parked for a couple of days without moving I started to think.

I tried to turn the key a bit harder, yet still afraid to press too hard and break the key inside. The key finally turned in and a big relief downed upon me. The steering wheel locking disappeared instantly as the power steering engaged. I then shed the worrying out of my mind and drove peacefully.

Faulty Steering?

It was not until later in the day as I check the Internet for "hyundai i10" "steering locking" that I started to worry once again. I found reviews and comments mentioning that the i10 had problems with its power steering system which sometimes caused locking while the car was in motion! This post about hyundai i10 steering locking is what really caused me to get worried again. I still puzzled a bit and not sure if that was the same case as mine as in my case the locking took place while the car was at a stand still and turned off. I'll try to follow up on this carefully to see where it goes. Perhaps I should mention this issue to the agency as they service my car after the first 1000 miles (or first month of driving it).

Update: After describing the problem on an Arabic cars forum I learned that nothing was wrong with my i10. The steering locking was normal since I tried to move the steering too much while the car was turned off. As for the key not turning in with ease, the reason was that I must have moved the steering slightly after inserting the key and before turning the key. This is the method used for turning the key whenever the steering has locked. Man, I just love those forums and i LOVE the Internet.