Steering shudder in 97 Riviera

[Albertj]

The service adviser's guess is probably better than mine. Do you think it might be the case that they have seen other seal failures before that looked like this?

[edwinn]

Originally Posted by Albertj

The service adviser's guess is probably better than mine. Do you think it might be the case that they have seen other seal failures before that looked like this?

They have probably seen many. The SA replied by email and said the seals don't get replaced anymore.. the unit would have to be rebuild and that would be LOTS of labor hours. He said it's more cost effective to replace the whole rack.

So now I'm not sure about doing that.. until it gets worse.


-Ed

[Albertj]

Originally Posted by edwinn

They have probably seen many. The SA replied by email and said the seals don't get replaced anymore.. the unit would have to be rebuild and that would be LOTS of labor hours. He said it's more cost effective to replace the whole rack.

So now I'm not sure about doing that.. until it gets worse.


-Ed

Actually your best value is to go ahead and get a reman rack, just Do Not Buy A Cheapy Reman. Get a good one but buy it cheaply. Most likely this would be a junkyard rack.

One way to do this is contact Ed Morad, moradpartscompany.com is the web site, he specializes in GM cars and should have a tight and dry Magnasteer rack for you no problem.

There are 2 bits of wisdom here. One is people don't junk their cars over a power steering rack. (alternators, heater fans, windshield wiper motors and many other parts are also very good junkyard bets for *the same* reason. Two is it's pretty easy to ascertain if a rack has a problem based on simple visual inspection - the junkyard pros are good at this.

Another way to get a good rack cheaply is use a parts discounter (you can find them on the internet, gmpartsdirect.com is one, rockauto.com another but there are others with somewhat better pricing). The wisdom here is that the remans sourced thru the dealer tend to be decent, rockauto.com sells ACDelco remanufactured parts too and often shows something about the grade (economy/daily driver/high performance) of part.

Finally - ask your mechanic if it is OK if you order the rack and have it drop shipped. This kind of puts the parts supplier on notice that a pro will do the install, it saves time for your mechanic from chasing down parts. And it keeps the PS fluid off the kitchen floor. Mechanics usually get a spiff for parts, depending on their buying volume. The spiffs are not all that much. If you can save them time by sourcing the thing yourself they are usually happy. But you have to ask first. If you don't then they will usu their usual supplier and you will pay close to retail.