[shaman6]

Hello all, am a new member... and this is my first post.
I am having problems with the intermediate steering shaft in my 02 Z-71 silverado 4x4 pickup.
I had it replaced (they said they installed a "lube kit") at 9600 miles.
Same symptems at 15k (and now out of warranty).
G.M. tells me they are aware of this problem, but don't have a fix and say that there is no recall.

I was interested to know if anyone else has had or is experiencing a similar problem and what they did or what the dealer told them.

Truck has never been off road and is well taken care of.

P.S.- does anyone know what the "lube kit" consists of? Did they replace a part or did they just grease it?

HELP!

 

[jpgoodnu]

The lube kit DOESN'T replace any parts, it packs the space where the shafts mate with grease to take up the slop(tiny amount of play) and dampens any clicking noise. I had a LENGTHY discussion with the Head of a local Dealership's service dept and he told me that YES GM is aware of the problem and NO there isn't and won't be any Recall, because there is NO safety issue(their opinion), just a annoying noise issue. If the story I got is correct, the vendor GM contracted with to manufacture these(I thought GM did everything themselves) built them with sloppy tolerences and they are looking for a replacement. My dealer is www.gmpartsclub.com . I was GM is required by law to maintain a certain number of each replacement part in stock and they DON'T want to order more from the same Jackasses who built them poorly the first time. He had NO IDEA when a new source would be available and apparently the Aftermarket has missed the boat also. The good news is pulling the locking bolt and pumping it with grease WILL shut it up for 10-15K.

 

[ems3639]

He is correct, they just grease the shaft, which will need greasing again in 10- 15k miles again. I have the same problem with my 2003 Silverado. The parts man I talked with today said the replacement shafts which he will sell do not have grease fittings on them, so Chevrolet will still have to grease it for you later at a price of about $150.00. I also had the brakes redone within 36,000 miles which Chevy would not warranty and the instrument cluster went out. Now they come out with this 100k warranty on the drive train, I am sure it does not cover the steering shaft.

 

[shaman6]

Thanks for responding, I was beginning to feel lonely. Has anyone been able to make any headway with GM about replacing these shafts gratis?

Also, you mentioned a grease fitting, I have searched on my steering shaft, both under the dash and under the hood and could find no grease fitting. Is it possible to drill and tap this shaft to accept a fitting?


Shaman6

 

[ems3639]

I haven't heard of any headway on free replacement. You can check some of these free internet selfhelp repair clinics and see all sorts of people with the same problem. They have different year mo. tks. and diff. size tks. The dealer in my town does not know of any grease fitting for the replacement shafts, but one of the selfhelp places said to ck with a larger dealer like in Houston. Some dealers will not sell you a shaft unless your truck was wrecked, but the dealer in Huntsville will. I have 50.000 mi. on my tk. and the cotton pickin thing rattes like h--l. I am still trying to find out how to maybe drill and tap a grease fitting into it. If not I may just have to break down and spend the $150.00 to get it greased.
Rattling along in Huntsville!

 

[shaman6]

Thanks for the info, I am going to check with the dealer to see what I can do. I have a nice looking, 4.5 year old truck with 15K on the odometer that feels like the front end is going to fall off. In my opinion, GM owes all of us a FIX, not a lick and a promise.


Shaman6

 

[MidWestGMC]

I have the same problem. 03 gmc sierra z71. first the shaft was lubed then replaced under warranty,now it is doing the same thing. Now I am out of warranty. I am going to grease it myself. I like the grease zerk idea. I expected more from a 35,000 truck. GM needs to fix this.