madrussian190

hey guys,

when im driving and a do a turn into a drive way, or off a a red light, i get a popping noise when my steering wheel is returning to straight forward position from a left or a right turn. no pop when im standing still.

i havent had a mechanic inspect it yet, going to do that later in the week.

i have a 2005 malibu maxx.

emzornes

It could either be the strut hat or a broken coil spring on the strut they are both pretty common problems on these cars.

mattthehoople

I had that same problem with on 06. All I had to do was lubricate the steering components.

SandyB1222

Did you lubricate the steering yourself or take to do a mechanic? I have a fear that the dealership will find a very expensive fix. No longer under warranty. I have a 2004 Malibu.

mattthehoople

All I had to do was go under the car and find the steering u-joint. I use wd-40 on it. And to noise stopped. For me the noise started around 40,000 miles and then I came back at 60,000 miles. Both times I put wd-40 on the steering u joint and the noise went away. I don't know if this is the right fix but from what I’ve read on these post people take their cars to the dealer and they just put new parts on it. And the noise just comes back. So I'll just use the wd-40 and fix it when it really breaks or when GM figure out how to permanently fix it.

kizzelwhix

someone told me that its common in the 04-07 malibu's that the steering will bind in the column somewhere, and I read somewhere that re-setting the the rack&pinion corrected the problem

I have a very very similar issue, just as you described, but I also find its hard to turn right, and extremely easy to turn left.

I just put new struts, sway bar links, and tie-rod ends in all within the last month so I know its not any of that, checked the control arms, steering knuckles while I was down there and all thats good, its GOT to be in the column, which I am afraid to mess with cuz its so screwed up design wise on this car... (06 malibu) I dont know where to start or what to do...

davet

I had a clunk also. With the engine off I reached with my left had down under the dash to where the steering shaft goes through the firewall. Put your hand on the shaft and with your right hand move the steering wheel back and forth slightly and you'll hear and feel a clunk in the intermediate shaft.
There is a plastic shield under the dash that covers the wiring. Remove that shield to access the intermediate shaft. There is a pinch bolt holding the intermediate shaft to the end of the steering column. Remove the bolt and pull the intermediate shaft off of the end of the steering column. Now extend the intermediate shaft all the way out. Put the thickest, heaviest grease you can find (semi truck 5th wheel grease for example) on the exposed shaft and work the shaft in and out to get the grease into the splines. Wipe the excess grease off and reinstall the intermediate shaft onto the end of the steering column and install the pinch bolt. There is no need to go under the car or under the hood for this job. This is a 30 minute job or less and is one of the fixes that GM lists in a TSB for this clunk. You can also buy the grease kit from GM.

truckboy

that can be caused by bad inner tie rod ends or bad ball joints on it, also bad cv joints on it,what you need to have done is have someone put it on lift and turn the wheel and check it for wear and tear on the steering parts,those cars gave a lot of problems from bottom ball joints and also a-frame bushings and cv joints wearing out on them,good luck on it.

mjshort

I had the exact same problem. One of the springs on the strut was broken. I replaced the strut with a Monroe Quick Strut from Advance Auto. It cost about 211 bucks. The wheels should be aligned after replacing a strut.