Thread: Intermediate Steering shaft replacement. Help needed.

So went out to go for a drive and no steering. It appears that I disconnected the lower connection of the intermediate steering shaft. For those of you that have done this repair, what was necessary to do it. I can't seem to gain enough access room to reconnect it. Think of disconnecting the tie rod ends, disconnecting the rack from cradle and lowering the cradle. Any tips/advice welcomed.

Jack and support driverside. Pull wheel. Push boot up and undo 11mm on rack where it connects

Pull boot out and put pieces back together, tighten the worlds smallest screw to hold it together.

Slide boot back on and then reconnect to rack..might need someone to wiggle wheel slightly for it to pop on Put 11 back in.

lower the rear of the sub frame, lift that damn boot as far up as you can so your hand can fit in there, wheels straight, and the steering wheel straight, pull the shaft down to the rack, lay it on the nub there, have a friend wiggle the steering wheel back and fourth till it lines up and slides on. its a snug fit. i used a long screwdriver to help push it the rest of the way on once it was on a bit. ( put it through the U joint at the end) spreading the end a bit does help, but dont spread it to much.

if the bolt is still in the shaft, take it out. 12 inches of extensions will get a socket to it. the bolt is 11 mm iirc

ive done this 2 times so far, it sucks. first time it slid right back on, second time the fight was on. as most seem to say.

Thanks, Sounds like it's just tough. I have the wheel off and I can push the boot back a little bit, but I just can't get my hands and arms in there very well. I'll grab a friend and mess with it when I get back from NJ.

bill and i were talking in the chat, not sure if the shaft came apart on you or not, if it came apart, you may just want to change it. it should slide back together but its not supposed to come apart. theres a locking screw or rivet that hold the shaft from separating.

I believe the end of the ISS just slid off of the rack. I lowered the cradle quite a bit to get my cam in and I did not disconnect the rack from the subframe when doing this. I can't get a great look, but I had the boot partially pushed back and looks to be disconnected here. IF I get in there and see that the ISS has come apart itself, I will just replace the whole ISS.

Thanks

If u do replace it u should take tons of pics and do a write up

problem with pics is, its so tight, most of the work is by "feel" you can hardly see what your doing.

its pretty simple tho, ( on paper lol ) unbolt the shaft from the column from inside the car, as well as off the rack and pull it out, the fight starts when installing the new one.

No steering wheel removal or anything else required? I wanna try to figure out omit my ISS is bad causing my steering wheel only wobble

nope, its under the dash, in that damn boot/tube the shaft lives in. both sides of the boot is tight, and dont bend much, its rather rigged. i came close to just cutting it but thought better.

Is there a way to test to see if its bad?
OP sorry to thread jack

id try greasing it, if it stops clicking its on its way out. you take white lithium grease in a spray can. with the tube. you want to spray in the hole under the U joint where it bolts to the column, this will spray the grease into the siding part of the shaft and lube it. see a post where a guy used vac line i think to extend the spray tube to make life easy.

Could the ISS cause a wobble if bad? And I don't have a clicking noise. But it appears my wobble may just be in my steering wheel or rack.

http://www.colinkraft.com/shaft.php heres a how too.

it wont cause the wobble your dealing with, at least i dont think it could.

ok. i looked at that and read through the gm manuals and it dont look like i need to pull the rack. but i think i will anyways and replace it to since its still got that annoying leak

^^ this for sure. Sorry I didn't mention it.

Follow what I wrote you. Get the 11mm off, then you can pull the boot out and reconnect that shaft ends. Put the boot back in and rehook to the rack.

Hmm. Thanks for telling me in advance guys, I may or may not have already done this

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You'll know for sure if the steering wheel controls don't work and the air bag light is on.