My 2006 3LT has had a mild clunking sound coming from it lately, seems to be more prominent when turning left. Past couple of days I can feel it through the steering wheel, so sitting in my driveway I was wiggling the steering wheel with the car running and it clunks when I wiggle it back and forth. I checked both tie rods, they seem to be tight, I really reefed on them hard and no movement. Anyone know what this could be?

 

Is there ever a time when a GM doesn't make some sort of noise or problem...

Honestly, out of the many cars all of them have had some problems: here are only 2...
`99 Camaro- Numerous rear end noises.... PLUS much much worse problems
`01 Monte Carlo SS - some front end sounds and rattles.... much worse in the rear end though.... plus been having to replace sensors every so often now

Take it to the dealer, theyseemed to know what it was

 

A friend of mine had that problem on his Avenger. His was caused by the upper control arms.

 

shmedley, see my reply to your steering rack question in the Service Advisory thread. Popping noise at slow speeds while turning. Steering rack was replaced and for right now all is well. Rack was replaced around 6000 miles on 2006 LTZ.

 

When you are stationary, it is normal to feel that clunking when you move the steering wheel side to side. When the tires aren't rolling, the steering components are working against all of that force. What you are hearing and feeling is probably a result of the little bit of freeplay within the system,which you don't feel under normal conditions. As for the clunking while driving, GM cars are known for intermediate shaft problems. It is noticeable under light acceleration, braking, turning during low-speed maneuvers. You are not alone my friend. As for a permanent fix, there isn't one. But they are working on it. All you can really do is grease up the one you now have. They do have a replacement shaft, which is a little different in design and isn't greased. Either way, what I find works really well is some type of high quality spray lubricant. WD-40 works good for me. Just pull back the boot and spray away at different angles (just remember to put a rag or something down there to catch the drips). This seems to do the trick and lasts for weeks when I do it. The clunking is caused by the fact that the shaft actually extends and collapses as you are driving, and you can imagine the difficulty of this task with one pipe inside another and no lubrication in-between.

 

I have the EXACT same problem.

Dropped her off at Goodwrench today.

They are going to replace the entire "steering rack."

I believe this is the same thing as the "ISS."

This will be the second time in 1 year.

 

Thanks for the responses guys...guess I better get it in the shop...AGAIN! just got it back from having the remote/tire pressure problem fixed, they had it for a week and a half for that problem.The wifes gonna be pissed, she was never thrilled about me buying this car in the first place...

 

i been watching this post for a few days untill i saw the add of the white lithium grease..
so i been having the same problem with my 02 ss clicking and clocking lol
i went out this morning bought my self a can of the W.L.G. spray the crap out of it and the most anoying sound i had on my car is gone .i was so happy that it only toke me 5 minutes and the clicking anc clocking went away

try it save some money it works ....8$ canadian lol

 

I'm gonna try this today...it's such a hassle to get it in to the shop, and from what I gather this is probably all they would do to it anyways. I'll post my results...

and oh ya... GO RED SOX!!!

 

Well I'll be a son of a bitch! I squirted about a half can of white grease down into the ISS, and the clunking is gone. I guess this will have to be done about once a year, which isn't bad I guess. Problem is quite widespread, Monte's, Impala's, Pontiac G6's, and Tahoes all seem to have this issue, probably alot more vehicles, too. Anyways, thanks for the help guys.