Chrysler Sebring 2001

[Jordanaiz]

Hey guys, I've got a Chrysler Sebring 2001 with 174k and I've been having some issues on it in regards to the steering. I purchased this vehicle about a month or so and now some issues are starting to come out. I figured I would have to repair a few things when I first purchased the vehicle, because the price I paid for it was quite low. So anyways, without further a-do here is the issue I am experiencing.

There are a few things wrong with the steering, for one when I steer if the radio is off, and you listen very closely you can hear a really faint Zippy-tie sound when I steer, it led me to the conclusion that it may have something to do with the power steering fluid, however... it also occurs if the vehicle is turned off, so I assume it cant be the power steering as it needs to be turned on for it to kick in. This of course, is only a minor issue and it doesn't seem to be giving me too much of a problem. Since the sound is extremely faint its not anything I can't deal with. The main issue I am concerned about however, is the steering wheel coming off alignment. I noticed the other day it was off alignment, so I took it to my mechanic and they did an inspection.. they ended up saying it was the rear-arms of the vehicle and they needed to be replaced, however they said its something that doesn't need to be taken care of right away, and I should only be concerned about it when the time comes. So they said that maybe in 6-12 months I would start having issues with it, they ended up doing a steering wheel alignment, and rotating both front tires to get it back to its regular position. Which worked great till today, I got back in the car and noticed the steering wheel is off alignment again, and its only been 4-5 days since I had it aligned! What could cause this? I have a funny feeling its not the rear arms of the vehicle as this would only cause the vehicle to become un-aligned after a period of time, but not 5 days. So I wondered, does it have anything to do with hitting potholes? I highly doubt potholes would be able to throw it off in a few days like that, specially since I am a careful driver, thus I try to avoid every pothole I see. Which leads me to the conclusion that this may be a much more serious issue than I thought, and I am hoping not to have to end up spending over a grand just to fix this, as I all ready need to replace the rotary disks and brakes at the end of the year :\! Anyone have any ideas as to what might be causing this? Or what the solution to fixing this may be? I am not very experienced with vehicles as this is actually my first, any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[Jordanaiz]

Well you guys can go ahead and close this, turns out I found out what the problem was and it ended up being a costly fix. I am not exactly sure what the piece is called but its a fairly big bar that helps to hold the wheels/engine/suspension and some of the steering mechanisms, apparently it was rusted and it was loose the first time.. so when they did the alignment they corrected it. But the reason it became un-aligned the second time around is because it actually snapped, not fully.. but part of it cracked, because the part was completely corroded with rust on the right side of it. The mechanic showed me and put a hammer to it, and made a hole right through it by barely tapping it. So I am getting it replaced, and I am lucky that it didn't fully break, else I could have damaged the rest of the car not to mention gotten in an accident. So for whoever is reading this, if you have a similar issue or a serious issue, PLEASE get it checked out and don't wait! If I had waited I could have been in much more serious problems, and boy am I glad I didn't wait!

[gmtech1]

Thanks for posting what you found! Glad it was caught before things got worse!!