River

OK, so is the 'intermediate shaft' the vertical shaft coming off the ujoint on the shaft coming through the firewall - connecting to the rack?

I meant to ask earlier, how hard is it to R&R the rack? Looks tight down there but in this economy, I need to do as much myself as I can.

Thanks!

donbrew

I really don't know specifics. But the part that would be making noise is most likely the U-joint, based on your description. Try looking at a parts catalog, like at GMPartsdirect.com for a blowup pic of the parts. I believe that if the car is up on a rack, the rack & pinion should be fairly easy just a couple of bolts. Probably a bit tough laying on your back, not impossibly. Oddly enough most of the front end work on the HHR turns out to be pretty easy. This job is probably he only time You may hear me say to get an alignment to set the toe.

River

10-4 on that, i have lifetime alignment service due to the dirt road!

donbrew

Then they are not doing what you paid for. You cannot do a reliable alignment with bad parts, they should have done the diagnoses the first time you went in, unless the alignment shop doesn't care about the "sell". That's kind of the complete opposite of most shops that try to sell you a new percofabulater on every visit.

KMREINSS

2009 HHR-SS had the dealer replace the sway bar bushings and vertical links last month noise came back, then they replaced a part on the steering shaft. problem solved. Car still under warranty so all I had was $50 deductlible on my major guard from chevy. ride is running smooth no more issues

SteveMaine

How do you replace Front stalizer shaft bushings? I had new greaseable bushings put in about 6 months ago and now they are loose. Thanks for any help.

alexrckid

are you saying that the bar's loose inside the bushings..?? if so, the attachment brackets may have loosened up. cant see the urethane bushings beating themselves out......especially if they were kept greased.....i've heard of the brackets becoming loose in some instances.....

loweredd

Steve, check about 4 topics lower on the page. There is a big topic about replacing the sway bar bushings. From replies I have read in here, the poly bushings are too big to begin with. They are 1", which is 25.4 mm. The front bar on a non SS is 25mm. Not 25.4mm. I got the correct OEM bushings at the dealer for about $4 a piece. They are very easy to replace. I think it took me under 45 minutes to do both.

Here you go.

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/brakes-%7C-suspension-%7C-shocks-%7C-struts-24/replacing-sway-bar-bushings-35868/

SteveMaine

A while back I replace the bushings with the red greaseable sway bar bushings but still rattle. Found out I had wrong size. My HHR has Sport Tuned suspension. What dial bushings do I need. Of coarse I threw out the old GM housings. I need new housings and would like to find a split bushing I can just slip over sway bar. thanks for any help.

donbrew

Micrometer?
If you search "sway bar bushings" one of the top 10 results will be a link to "Part Numbers for illusive and common parts - Part I"