When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Problems/Service/RepairsIf you have a problem with your HHR, want a tip on repairing or performing a particular service to you HHR here is the place to post!
I took it to my mechanic who adjusted the tie rod a little but couldn’t find anything wrong with it, but going down the highway I’m correcting it much more than I should have to just to keep going straight. It pulls to the right most often but then a minute later its trying to pull left, then right after its smooth sailing perfectly centered. Can’t be the ruts in the road or anything. I overheard a guy talking about his old buck 50 how a u-joint in the steering column went bad and he had to turn the wheel farther to actually negotiate turns, wondering if this is something similar in an earlier stage. Also had to replace the power steering quite a while back. Any insight would be much appreciated, I rely on this vehicle
Dan, welcome to the site, this problem can stem from a loose unjoint in the intermediate shaft, it could be a worn steering rack pinion gear, it could be the rear bushings in the lower control arms.
How many miles in you HHR?
Have you rotated your tires to eliminate them ?
Any grinding noises, it could be a hub bearing headed south.
When you had the EPS motor replaced , did you do that or your dealership?
Thank you for the response, I guess problems like this can come from a number of different places. It has 155k, good bushings and good wheel bearings, and a trusted mechanic didn’t replace the entire eps but had it apart for a minor electrical issue. Tires are good, rotated them about 4 months ago and made sure there was no broken belts or anything
Originally Posted by Oldblue
Dan, welcome to the site, this problem can stem from a loose unjoint in the intermediate shaft, it could be a worn steering rack pinion gear, it could be the rear bushings in the lower control arms.
How many miles in you HHR?
Have you rotated your tires to eliminate them ?
Any grinding noises, it could be a hub bearing headed south.
When you had the EPS motor replaced , did you do that or your dealership?
Just a question..... Is this car new to you or have you had it for a while. Reason I ask is that for some people, the Electric assist steering feels alot different than hydraulic, and often times you can find yourself over correcting without realizing until you get used to driving the car.
My experience with the twitchy steering was the input shaft pinion gear in the rack itself , it would move up the rack almost 3/8 of an inch.
The upper motor mount was amplifing that woobly steering under braking at highway speeds.
The rack is fairly easy to replace,no power steering fluid to leak out on you.
The GM rack comes aligned with new inner and outer tierods.
Just remove the intermediate shaft, the outer tie rod ends, unwind the 18mm rack retaining bolts and wiggle the rack out the drivers side.
If you have had an alignment, you might need to realign the steering wheel.
I did that at the upper intermediate shaft joint to the EPS motor.
After installing dont forget to tighten the lock nuts on the tie rod ends (Mine werent completely tight) and get the wheels oriented straight. convienently on my OEM replacement rack there were center/alignment marker lines from the input shaft to the body of the steering rack, allowing you to look down from under the hood to see if they were aligned.
Also when reinstalling the I-Shaft just back the car out and pull forward without holding the wheel (if that makes sense) I had to move the splines on the wheel ends a hair after reinstalling because it didn't line up right at first. My rack (GM OEM) came fully centered.
The rack comes out as a unit, ends attached and all, through the wheel well. New one goes the same. Its supposed to go in and out like butter, but I had to temporarily disconnect my sway bar end link to get it to come out properly. The two mounting bolts are tight to work with from under the car but both are accessible from the top.
The hardest time I had was getting the footwell boot for the I shaft perfectly in place.
