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So I just replaced my rack and pinion and outter tie rods on my 06 cobalt ss s/c and now when I turn the wheel back and forth it’s making a clunking/ grinding sound. It sounds like it’s coming from right under the steering wheel around the steering column. Anyone have any ideas what this might be? Thanks.
If you're having a hard time turning the steering wheel, it could be the steering assist. If not, could be your intermediate shaft.
Grab a flashlight and look at the back of the engine down towards the ground in the driver side. You should see a U-Joint. If it has red-brown-rust colour, that's your culprit.
Did you get it aligned? If it wasn't exactly where it was before the wheels may be off and working against each other. If you are at 100k and haven't replaced that intermediate shaft I would cause it's only a matter of time before it fails. Newer ones have a better design and you don't want it failing at a bad time.
Did you get it aligned? If it wasn't exactly where it was before the wheels may be off and working against each other. If you are at 100k and haven't replaced that intermediate shaft I would cause it's only a matter of time before it fails. Newer ones have a better design and you don't want it failing at a bad time.
I did not get it aligned. I kinda just counted how many turns it took to get outter tie rods off and did that. It’s out of alignment right now but it was before and it didn’t do that. I just relaxed the intermediate shaft and still does it
I 'may' replace the intermediate shaft on my 06 SS NA because I can see the rust around the U joint. But when I did the same job and removed it on the SS SC it was a bear of a job. Picture shows it as superficial and it works ok so...it's not an emergency yet.
Sanding, clean up and a spray of rust protective paint might happen when the engine arrives.
Thanks Nova SS I didn't realize at 100K time was up on these shafts.
Last edited by OhSixBalt; May 29, 2018 at 11:25 AM.
Reason: Picture and words added
