Hello,

On my 03 Silverado, I hear a popping sound when I make a corner, and I can feel it in the steering wheel. When I went to the dealer they said that it was not a safety issue, and that they do not have a fix for it until next year. The service guy said that 2 million or so were affected by this problem. Anyone else experience this, or aware of any recalls?

Can the dealership simply say that they do not have a fix for the problem or that we have to wait a few months before they might have a fix, or are they required to take care of this issue? They claim it is not a safety issue, but I somehow and still a little concerned.

It is not a safety issue..the shaft will not come apart.
There is a new shaft in development and the part will not be available until next year.
Dealers are directed to lubercate the shaft per this TSB
Clunking Noise Under Hood and Can Be Felt in the Steering Wheel (Lubricate the Intermediate Steering Shaft Assembly) #00-02-35-003G - (Oct 22, 2004)

This is a temporary fix until the new shaft comes out.

They should have put the lube kit on for you no charge in the meantime, though. I had that done on mine about 5000 miles ago, not a peep out of it since. Of course, about 4700 of those are 200+ mile trips on the highway, so I'm not working the steering shaft too much..

i told my dealership about it. they lubed it up. it was fine for about two days, and its doing it again.

i told my dealership about it. they lubed it up. it was fine for about two days, and its doing it again.


How long should I expect to wait to have my shaft lubricated? 20-30 minutes?

yea it doesn't take very long.

I called the dealer a couple weeks ago about the replacement steering shaft to correct the problem on my '02 and they said they had it and it was something like $150. Is this a different part or were they mistaken?Jeb

I just came across this thread. I'm looking for info about how close GM is to either issuing a recall or offering no-cost replacement for the defective Intermediate Shaft design that affects 2000 to 2004 (?) Chevy trucks. It's pretty obvious from all the chatter that there are hundreds of thousands of instances of these shafts wearing out and causing the clunking noise, especially on turns. My dealer has been backordered since October 2004 on this part. He says because I didn't report it before my 36,000 mile warranty ran out, GM won't pay for the repair. Wondering if the Dept. of Transportation or other agency knows about the size of this problem.