stsman504 Posted March 22, 2004 Report Share Posted March 22, 2004 My '02 STS seems to have steering gremlins. Car has had 3 lower steering bearing replacements, and a steering column replacement (all before 10K miles). Now at 35K miles, dealer acknowledges my complaint of a metal-to-metal "klunk" when driving over bumps, especially while turning, has been a common complaint, and said the steering column needed lubrication. Lub job stopped the noise but not the feel -- the problem is still there, just can't hear it any more. Steering wheel seems to "feel" every bump in the road (much more road surface feedback than my wife's '00 DTS). Hitting the average bump in the road feels much more severe than it should. Wheels are balanced and steering aligned -- car drives straight and smoooth. No problems other than as described. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? Any suggestions/ideas would be very much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted March 22, 2004 Report Share Posted March 22, 2004 It could be a damaged intermediate steering shaft. If its anything like mine on the '01 Deville. I also tried the TSB repair lube kit. Worked for about 1500 miles. Clunk and feel returned. I also found my shaft had excessive nicks on the shaft. It appears mine is from poor handling while the shaft was built. The lube kit is just really just a sticker lube. You typically will see the clunk in the same place....every 180 degree turn of the wheel. So TDC of the wheel passes 4 o'clock...clunk. And again at 10 o'clock. New shafts are $400. But yours should be under warranty. Logan Diagnostic LLC www.airbagcrash.com www.ledfix.com www.ledfix.com/yukontaillightrepair.html www.ledfix.com/ledreplacements.html www.ledfix.com/j42385toolrental.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickster Posted March 22, 2004 Report Share Posted March 22, 2004 Had the clunk. After dealer replaced many parts (tie rod ends, bushings, bearrings and strut mount bearrings) they finnally did the lub on the steering colum. That was the one that fixed it. To this point, can't feel it as you describe. Still waiting for it to come back. Hope it does'nt. On a nother point.... I have the vibration at 65-70mph. Kinda let it be for a while as I was getting new tires. Put the michelins on a few weeks back hopeing it would go away. Hasn't gone away. Found a TSB dated March 2003 that addresses this. Talks about screened tires (I don't quailify) but there was an other solution that talked about replacing the lower control arms with a newly designed hydro-bushing lower control arms. Took the TSB to the dealer the other day and will take the car in this week to hopefully get them to replace them. I will repost after my visit. The TSB is on the CaddilacForms under the Caddilac Seville,STS,SLS,Eldorado thread on page two titled "Explanation highway shake please" I beleive getting any slack out of the front end will help that feeling you still feel Rick 2001 STS Mettalic Otter Grey, Black Leather, 213,000 kilometers - miles - ? Still running strong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted March 22, 2004 Report Share Posted March 22, 2004 Ummm....I had the vibration also on the '01 Deville.....aka the fake DTS. Most vibration issues are related to bad tires. Either crappy tire, crappy mounting, or crappy balance. Issue....the balance machines are suppose to be calibrated daily. Finding a real shop that actually does this is rare. Also, its very easy to damage a sidewall of a tire during mounting......the *smurf* is the tire will look perfect and it will vibrate for the life of the tire. It cannot be repaired. That being said.... My vibration was in a narrow band....maybe 66 to 72 mph. Last week...checked my lower front engine mount. The lower stud was starting to tear away from the mount. Bad mount. Also moved one tire to the back. I got a new Cadillac mount for $77 with tax. Best $77 I have spent in a while.....the vibration is gone. Its easy to check....remove the craddle mount nut.....jack up the engine and check. Uhhh....replacing it is another issue. The manual has you jack up the engine. Drop the engine cradle....and remove the upper nut. Cant be done. There is no access to the upper nut. You have to remove the complete bracket with the mount attached. The upper nut is huge and very tight. I hope this mounting system does not end up like the early '90s Taurus. Bad engine mounts. They would just tear up after 20k or so.... Logan Diagnostic LLC www.airbagcrash.com www.ledfix.com www.ledfix.com/yukontaillightrepair.html www.ledfix.com/ledreplacements.html www.ledfix.com/j42385toolrental.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickster Posted March 22, 2004 Report Share Posted March 22, 2004 Logan. Interesting. I did follow the other info posted on your steering colum. Did you not do a self fix on that one. But..... the motor mount comments. I also had one replaced a while back and that seemed to fix some of the looseness in my handling. But back to the vibration, I am hopeing the lower control arms will fix the vibration. The new tires did not so I am assumming it is not the tires. Hard to belive that two sets of tires would have the same vibration. Have you hear anything on the newer lower control arms? Rick 2001 STS Mettalic Otter Grey, Black Leather, 213,000 kilometers - miles - ? Still running strong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted March 22, 2004 Report Share Posted March 22, 2004 Well......its a combination of issues........... Tires are the #1 issue. Motor mounts. Brake rotors. The '01 Deville has a high baised rear feel...it may just be me. Also, in my case...I actually snugged up the steering rack a bit. Logan Diagnostic LLC www.airbagcrash.com www.ledfix.com www.ledfix.com/yukontaillightrepair.html www.ledfix.com/ledreplacements.html www.ledfix.com/j42385toolrental.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickster Posted March 24, 2004 Report Share Posted March 24, 2004 OK. Took the STS in for the vibration today along with TSB I had mentioned before. They did a bit of work on her. Rotated tires, turned rear drums, adjusted tire pressure and found a frozen front left level sensor. Gota wait for parts on the sensor but....... the vibration is still there. They don't have the Hunter GST 9700 balancer so I might on my own take her to a place that has one and try that. If no success, I will push for the replacement of the lower control arms. And the cost for the Hunter balance. I won't quit until she's perfect. This is a high end car and it should perform like a high end car. Will post back later. Rick 2001 STS Mettalic Otter Grey, Black Leather, 213,000 kilometers - miles - ? Still running strong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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