Hey everyone

In November i got a brand new steering rack for my 2001 and its been a pretty tight car. The popping noise that we usually hear due to the intermediate shaft went away as well when the rack was replaced.

Recently, this is like the past week or so ive noticed that sometimes i need to hold the steering wheel a tad to the left or right and sometimes it sits normal as i drive. It doesnt pull any weird direction, like if i needed a wheel alignment. Also the popping noise is back. I wonder whats going on down there?

Any thoughts? it may very well be that shaft which is making the noise, but im guessing maybe soemthings loose or stripped. Any input is appreciated.

when my steering wheel was crooked, my control arm was bent. it didn't pull, but it scrubbed the outside of my right tire off pretty bad. i think the tire was bowed in. no knocking either.

sorry if that wasnt helpful

I would start at the wheel and work my way down to the rack, checking all the bolts. I haven't had the pleasure of working on the later models, but GM seems to work in a groove when it comes to these things. Double D steering shaft, 30 spline coupling, and a rag joint to dampen out vibration. If the double D is loose (it telescopes on impact to keep from ramming the wheel into your chest) or any of the shaft bolts, the car will have the ability to wander a little, yet still pass an alignment check.

BTW, did GM fix the tilt-wheel problem in newer models? It seems like every tilt-wheel from the 70'* to mid 90'* eventually works loose on the 4 bolts that hold the universal to the column...resulting in a steering wheel that flops around a little (or a lot) as the bolts work loose.

Check the sticky at the top of the page, and listen to the audio in the video that is linked there. Does that sound like what you are hearing? I agree with Curt. Check all the bolts, in particular the ones holding the rack. There have been a few reports of those working loose.

it goes in tuesday and ill look at it then myself. thanks for the input, ill keep you all posted, this may be helpful in the future.

So is that the new ISS you have that is now popping? The dealer was telling me that the new part fixed the problem. He even showed me both the parts and explained why the new one was a permanent fix. These guys usually don't jack me around, they give me good discounts and are pretty straight with me most of the time. Sorry for the hijack.
Grant

Grant,

ISS ? dumb it down for me a bit haha. sorry im not with the lingo sometimes, i should be,im young enough.

what was replaced at your dealer??

Intermediate steering shaft. Nothing has been replaced yet but I am considering replacing the intermediate steering shaft with the new one that is supposed to stop the popping in the front end. If you have the new one and it is already popping then I won't replace mine.