Help, after pulling into my parking spot my car now makes a loud clunking noise when turning the wheel so far. It has made a little noise for awhile when I turned and the dealership said it would get worse before I would have to worry about it. All of the sudden now when I try to even back out with wheel turned the tire like does not want to move, almost like it's dragging then catching. I believe it is related to the same thing I've been having going on for awhile but now it is really bad....

Please let me know what ideas you have. I am trying to figure out if I can drive it to a garage to work on it or if I'm going to have to tow it or whatnot.

Thanks!

 

Check tie rod ends, ball joints, steering linkage and lug nuts (loose?)

 

Is it coming from the front or rear. Sound like it could be the limited slip in the rear end. Change the fluid and make sure you add some GM limited slip additive. It will make weird noises without the additive.

 

It sounds like it is coming from the front passenger side. I had the dealership change the fluid in the limited slip when I had brought it in about 2 yrs ago.
It definately seems like a steering problem though - everytime it turns so far it makes that noise and becomes hard to steer.

 

Alright, we lifted it up and here's what we found.
The bracket that holds the rack & pinion on is broken off. That whole piece now swings out when the tire is turned.
Do they sell that bracket w/out that rack and pinion or is it supposed to be permanantly attached?
If they do sell it, anyone know where I can get one - or even used?

Thanks very much.

 

Replaced the rack and pinion tonight. Seems to work alright now. The suspension is now a lot more loose - not nearly as tight as it was. I got it from NAPA. They only gave me one to choose from so I took it. Autozone's was not in stock. It was more expensive this way but it seems to work I guess. I just wish it were more stiff.

 

http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#rack_preload

Might be able to tighten it up like that or possibly getting a rag joint eliminator kit.

 

I would NOT mess with the steering preload. But that's just me.

I'm guessing these racks just get tighter with age, because I recently replaced mine and noticed the same thing -although I wouldn't call loose -just VERY easy to steer. The rack itself (judging by the amount of travel the steering wheel can make before it turns the front wheels) is much tighter.

I'm not all that sure it's even the rack. Maybe it could have be the difference between having old and new fluid in the system.

The best way to describe mine is that when making a casual, low speed turn (say into an open parking spot) my old rack took 2 fingers to steer, while this one takes 1.

Is this what you're describing?
Have you gotten an alignment yet? That REALLY helped my car. I had carefully counted, and marked old outer tie rod loactions, but it didn't seem to matter. I was WAYYYYYYYY off from my goal settings.

 

It is as you described it, "easy to steer". It seemed to snap back to the center much faster while driving, where as now it seems to give much easier. For example when you hit a bump in the road, it will now give more, where as before it would be much stiffer and not give as much. I guess that's the best way I can explain it.
I have not gotten an alignment yet, but it is very close to being center surprisingly enough. I plan on doing that in the near future. I was just happy to get it driving again.
I was just hoping it would feel the same, it feels more like when I had my V6 camaro before I upgraded to the z28.
Thanks for the replies!