Steering Gear Failure

Hi, everybody.

Here is my latest adventure with my ’99 Intrigue. Went to leave work Monday evening, and it would not start easily. Finally got it started, but needed to keep my foot on the gas with revs above 1000 rpm to keep from stalling. Had it towed to a local garage where I have gotten my car serviced before, a trustworthy shop. After seeing no codes, they said it was the “idle air control motor” that was not moving. They replaced it, I paid the bill, the car started fine and I left the shop.

On the way home, the steering felt loose and clicked when I turned, and the steering wheel was cocked about 45 degrees. After a turn the steering wheel straightened out. By the time I made it home, about 18 miles, I could hardly turn the wheel to the left and the car could not be driven. Had it towed (by the same towing company) back to the garage for them to find the problem, thinking maybe the towing company damaged something when the car was towed the first time.

The garage found the steering gear to be worn out and replaced it and aligned the front end. The car starts and drives fine now, $800 later. Anyone else have any problems with your steering gear? I never noticed any signs of wear, and the car always tracked straight, never had the front end aligned (the car has 199,000+ miles). Seems like it could have been real dangerous if the steering completely failed while I was driving.

Mike