I assume you are listening to two-channel sources (analog, PCM stereo, or Dolby 2.0 sources) and applying Pro Logic II decoding when testing the center width adjustment, because it only affects Pro Logic II. In fact, I believe that those adjustments are only applied to Pro Logic II-Music (not Pro Logic II-Movie).
If you are using Pro Logic II-Music decoding with a two-channel source, adjusting the center width will vary how much signal stays in the center - and it should do so to a noticeable degree. While the 990 manual says that step 7 will basically shut down the center, I'm not certain if it really will. There was a lengthy discussion of that a while back, and I don't recall what we concluded at the end of it.