My STS is a BMW

[chubbyranger]

So I drop it off yesterday with my alignment shop since there's been a little play in the steering lately. Not bad but enough to be annoying when you can move the steering wheel a little to the left or right and not have the car change direction. I'm figuring a tie rod end is probably shot, maybe a ball joint. But no, not for a Cadillac owner. The steering rack is broken Not sure exactly what he meant when he said that, I'm assuming a mount let go. I want to see it before it goes back for the core; $329 for a reman + ~$200 installation + an alignment Break My Wallet

[submariner409]

Dig back in your recall database..........there was a series in the early 00's concerning improper steering rack attachment bolt torque..........

www.alldatadiy.com has an extensive recall and TSB section.

[chubbyranger]

I'll recheck nhtsa.gov but if I recall right 99 has only the flaming alternator. They probably practiced getting the torque wrong on my car before they started screwing it up regularly.

[HowardW]

Hey bro you're lucky it's not a real BMW..............I once brought my 540i in for a routine discounted oil change with a dealer coupon, and I find out later it's an extra $465.00 for a 30K "inspection" which includes basically nothing except changing the 2 cabin air filters which I could easily do myself in less than 5 minutes and about $55.00

[ryannel2003]

The other day my A/C was acting up and I took it to my dealer to have them look at it. From the day it started acting up I knew it was low on freon... but the tech suggested it could have been an actuator... easily a $400-$500 repair.

Luckily it was the freon. But lately I've been pricing struts because my fronts are starting to leak a tiny bit...

[chubbyranger]

AT 116K I'm thinking it might be time for struts on mine too. But I'll wait and see what difference the new steering rack makes before I decide to bite that bullet. The level ride compressor is starting to run more often too...

[trainwreck68]

My 95 Seville's rack went bad. I went to www.autopartsgiant.com and got a remanufactured rack for $250.00 plus free shipping. It also comes with a 3yr, 30k warrenty. I put the rack in and had an alignment done for $80.

P.S. www.autopartsgiant.com has been a good source for parts for me especially with the free shipping.

[chubbyranger]

I checked them out, not too bad. $308 for my car + free shipping. RockAuto is $282 + shipping for the same part so its about a wash. I ended up paying $329 locally since its already sitting in the shop.

[chubbyranger]

So the final tally:$329 for the rack + $250 to install + $75 alignment +tax tag and title = $712. He showed me the old rack, one of the mounting backets was cracked through on the front and starting in the back. Looks like I was living on borrowed time. The scary part is that the car didn't drive that bad with the broken rack, it was still better than some cars I've owned that were fine.

[ejguillot]

Ouch. When my STS's steering rack sprang a leak, I grabbed a used one from a recycling yard for $75, installed it at home with a friend's help following the FSM, and after the install did the alignment (toe in/out is all that is needed) the old fashioned way with string and a ruler! That was 4 months ago and the alignment is still spot on.

Total cost: Under $100, including new fluid. Then I found out the pressure hose leaked too, got that for $60 thanks to Autozone rewards.

[chubbyranger]

Its never easy... take it for a spin today and exactly as the odometer hits 117,000 miles I get 'ding' - SERVICE STABILITY SYSTEM. Pull the codes and get ABS C1283 - Excessive Steering Centering Time. Takes 10 minutes to go off according to FSM when it can't get a relative steering position. I have to believe it has something to do with the new rack but FSM diagnostics lean toward the yaw sensor or steering wheel position sensor. Any ideas?

[Ranger]

Steering wheel position sensor would be my guess, but it's just that, a guess based on the DTC description.

[chubbyranger]

Just seems too coincidental that it happens right after I get a new steering rack installed...