1997 suburban gas gauge, air conditioning and steering wheel noise

I have 6 problems.
1.) My gas gauge is not marking. It is lying on the past full position. What could be the problem?

2.) My air conditioning doesn't cool like it used to. A temperature gauge I bought reads about 70 to 80 when it's really hot outside (98-100). I recently took it to a repair shop and they said they found "compressor shavings" and therefore needs a new compresser and some sort of valve that will cost me about 700.00. Is this correct. I'm a woman and don't want to get ripped off. I so glad I found this website!

3.) My front air conditioning vents don't blow air our like the rear do. Even on high you can barely feel the air blowing. I had the people at a repair shop look at it which they didn't. They just said it sounded like the evaporator which "is very expensive". Later for "free" (because I had just paid them 1200.00 for replacing a radiator and hoses which they said were corroded and never been replaced ) they said they would vacuum out the freon and put a dye that would look for leaks and replace the freon which they did. No difference in cooling. It took them about 8-10 minutes to do and I wonder if they really did it. Please help.

4.) My steering wheel makes a stupid, irritating sound since I bought the sub in 1997. It's like a grinding sound. Like something is rubbing. and it only happens when I turn, most of the time while reversing. I had taken it while under warranty and told on 3 occasions it was the power steering. It was fixed 3 times and no change. It never made the sound when I took it in so all they could tell me is they could not fix something they couldn't hear. It seemed to happen most in the winter at first now it's all the time. Wwhat could this be? I read a thread in the forum today and found that a sound like this could be air trapping, but this was on a 4x4 which mine isn't.

5.) My steering steering wheel moves alot while driving although the tires don't react with the movement of the steering wheel. Sometimes when I hit pot holes or bump it moves alot and seems harder to contol. I've noticed when I'm driving the I have to hold the steering wheel more to the right in order to stay in the lane. Why is this?

6.) Last question at last. My sub woul begin vibrating and shaking especially at the steering wheel when I had to come to a stop. I had the rotors replaced twice and machined twice all in about a 2 year period for a total of about 1000.00. I recently took it to a repair shop because it was doing it again and I was told it was because they had always done the front and not the rear. So they did all four this time but now I find it hard to trust anyone. Were these guys correct?

Thanks for any help anyone may have.
Marissa

I'll try to help you out.....

1) There could be a bunch of things that could cause the gauge to stick. The fuel level sender in the tank could be stuck, there could be some type of wiring problem between the tank and the gas gauge, or the gauge could be bad.

2) The first thing that comes to mind when the a/c no longer cools is that there is a freon leak some where. Assuming they already checked this and then found what you described, $700 for a new compressor, expansion valve and labor sounds reasonable to me.

3) Do you have separate controls for the front and rear a/c? I think suburbans have to systems (blower units)...one for the front and one for the rear. To me it sounds like some type of blockage. I don't think an evaporator has anything do to with poor air flow unless the air passages in the evaporator are clogged. To fix the clog, the evaporator may have to be removed to be cleaned...you should not need a new evaporator. As far as them putting in a dye, and putting new freon...that doesn't take long.
One thing to try with the poor air flow....turn the temp control to the hot side and see if the air flow improves. If it does, then I would venture to guess that there is some type of blockage around the evaporator. If the air flow remains the same, then there is a blockage some where...maybe the intake to the blower unit is clogged.

4) I would guess that it is not the power steering pump since it was replaced 3 times without fixing the original problem. I'm not sure if the steering column has any bearings....grinding noises could be a bearing that is failing.....I'm going to check my shop manual..I have a 96 yukon...the steering system is basically the same.

5) If you let go of the steering wheel, do you start to drift out of the lane? If yes, then you need an alignment. In general what you've mentioned sounds like something is really loose or maybe even broken...the steering system should very little "slop"...it should be fairly tight.

6) machining the front rotors is the classic initial repair when the customer states they feel a vibration/shaking in the steering wheel when stopping. Out of 4 visits (twice to replace rotors and twice for machining) the mechanic should have begun to realize that this is not the problem. When I start to feel a vibration/shaking while braking in my yukon, I replace the rotors and the problem has always gone away. I have a feeling you may have been taken for a ride because the mechanics were too lazy to really try to fix the problem.

It sounds like you may have a serious issue with your steering system and all the problems you've listed in 4,5,6 could be related.

Don't do any more rotor changes.

I'm going to look at my shop manual (the same one the mechanics use) and see what I can find in regards to your problems. The reason I have the shop manual is so the mechanics can't take me for a ride. If I have a problem, I research it and if I can't fix it myself, then I will reluctantly take it to the mechanic.

Omar

Thank you so much. For 1. thank you. For 2. 648 was the quote. For 3. yes, there are 2 controls and there is no difference when you turn the air to hot. Thank you for your info. For 4. I believe that in the past I remember trying to see if it did drift out of the lane and I think the answer is yes. I'm going to try it again today. For 5. and 6. I guess I may take it in again to the dealer and mention all that's happened and see if they can come up with something.

Again, thank you so much. I you do come across any info in your shop manuel I'd be glad to hear from you. Bye the way, where can I get a shop manuel?

I can only answer questions

1. The lever is stuck, i just change my fuel pump 2 weeks ago (I did it myself) started freaking out the first week cause the needle wasnt getting any lower, luckily it slowly went lower. Good fix by me then Pheeeww

2. Dang $700 is a killer deal!
this shop i went to wants to charge $1250!!!!!! SCREW that.

Omar

The sub does drift off to the right.
Thanks