99 Tahoe Steering Box Issues

[Mike McCloskey]

I have a 99 Tahoe 2 door 4x4. The other day I replaced the steering box with a rebuilt AC Delco unit, and also replaced the lower steering shaft with a new one because the rag joint was sloppy. Bled the system appropriately. At very low speed, seems to work fine. Anything over about 10 mph, I notice that when I begin to turn the wheel, there is a momentary drag in the steering that goes away as I continue to turn. Any ideas on what this could be? Thanks for any response.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

I cannot directly assist you on this, but I would first want to ensure that you have fully bled the air out of the power steering system. I have seen recent posts where members outline a step-by-step procedure for bleeding air out of the power steering system. As I recall, it was a multi-step process, first with the truck's wheels off the ground, and then on the ground.

If you can outline specifically what you did to bleed the system, folks will chime in to verify it, or suggest additional steps that should be taken. If your process is verified, then folks will suggest other areas to look at.

 

[Mike McCloskey]

Thanks, yes, after replacing the gear box, I sucked all the old fluid out of both lines as well as the power steering pump reservoir with a vacuum pump, filled the reservoir up with fresh fluid, raised the front wheels off the ground and turned the steering wheel lock to lock a number of times, checked the level, started the engine, turned the wheel lock to lock, while checking and filling reservoir. At one point the fluid drained pretty quickly, made a whining noise. I quickly shut off the engine and noticed that the fluid level was low and cloudy (air bubbles). I refilled it, and went through the process again. The level is now good and stable and I don't see any more bubbles coming up.

 

[OR VietVet]

The whining noise is a sure sign of low fluid because you are hearing the aerate of the fluid that is in there and mixing with air and therefore bubbles. Plus, I never trust reman/rebuilt pumps or gear boxes that deal with pressures. New only, IMO. I bet the low fluid with the engine running may have caused a problem but who knows.

Here is a new box at RA but is out of stock for now. https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=11541125&cc=1353721&jsn=2264 They are out of stock because people know and buy new instead of the reman pumps or boxes.

Plus, RA put up a new discount code that is good till July 12. It is in the "New Posts".

 

[Mike McCloskey]

Yeah, I knew the whining was low fluid, and it was only for a second or two before I shut the engine down. No whining now. All seems fine except for the problem I described.

 

[Larryjb]

I'm going to go on a limb and say it was a bad rebuild. I've had bad stuff from ACDelco before. They're not perfect. I had a new ACDelco starter motor (not a rebuild!) fall apart on me.

Somewhere, from a few years ago, I had a thread on steering work I did. I believe I used an ACDelco Professional box. However, the search function may or may not be working, so you may have to use Google:

site:tahoeyukonforum.com <search terms here>

 

[OR VietVet]

There is a rebuilt "professional" AC Delco box but only the one supplier for new that I posted the link for.

While I was at it I also looked at "Parts Geek" that I asked about in another thread and never got one response, and they only listed reman units and were higher priced than RA for the exact same steering gear boxes.

 

[Larryjb]

I recall now that the ACDelco Professional box I got was a rebuild, as Ron says. In fact, I also recall that I had an issue with one of the line threads and that it seemed to be cross threading, in spite of my being as careful as I could. I bought a thread chaser and carefully cleaned the threads, keeping the debris out. I was then able to reattach the line. I suspect that some one cross threaded it, returned it, and then it was sold to me. I sometimes think we Canadians seem to get a lot of "returns" because US companies know how hard it is for us to return stuff.

So Mike, it is entirely possible your box is faulty. In retrospect, it would probably have been a good idea for me to "flush" the box as if it were flushing an old system, to make sure there is no debris in the box or pump. However, my box is still holding up well.

 

[Mike McCloskey]

Hmmm, thanks for the reply. In the past, I have always heard that the ACDelco remans were great and the only ones you should choose. Lately however, as I have read around, I am hearing a different story. Perhaps the box is a bad rebuild. I guess I'll have to pull it and return it. Good idea Larry to flush it from the beginning.

 

[Mike McCloskey]

I think I'll try a Cardone box.

 

[Mike McCloskey]

Just to follow up, I spoke to an ACDelco tech and he said that it sounded as if the gear was bad. If it were the pump, I would notice problems at lower rpm/speed which I don't.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

You stated, "At very low speed, seems to work fine. Anything over about 10 mph, I notice that when I begin to turn the wheel, there is a momentary drag in the steering that goes away as I continue to turn."

After the momentary drag, when the steering responsiveness re-engages, does it do so abruptly or suddenly? So abruptly that you have to correct the steering in the opposite direction, so that the truck does not go too far to that side of the original steering wheel turn?

 

[Mike McCloskey]

Not too abruptly. Don't have to over correct. I said 10 mph but probably more like 20 mph. Just a little drag or stickiness. AC Delco tech mentioned that it maybe one or both of the (I think) input shaft seals may have been torn during the reman process.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Not too abruptly. Don't have to over correct. I said 10 mph but probably more like 20 mph. Just a little drag or stickiness. AC Delco tech mentioned that it maybe one or both of the (I think) input shaft seals may have been torn during the reman process.

OK. There is a known issue with a steering enhancement feature that I had on my 97, and you also may have on your 99, that is supposed to boost the responsiveness of the steering wheel, particularly at the first movement in either direction. If this feature fails, like it did on my 97, you lose the initial responsiveness of the steering wheel, but when it finally does kick in, it kicks in hard, so hard that it wants to push you into the next lane.

 

[Mike McCloskey]

Would that be a failure of the gear box or the power steering pump?

 

[east302]

He’s probably referring to the EVO system which is specific to the 97 and up power steering pumps. The sensor on the steering shaft (under the dash) is usually the culprit and, for me, felt like you hit a patch of ice when going around a moderate curve. The valve connection at the pump is also a pretty common leak point.

I put a Delco Professional reman gearbox in my 98 and yanked it out after a half mile test drive. It required constant correction to maintain on-center steering. Ridiculous.

Redhead and Bluetop are mom and pop type rebuild companies and tend to get good reviews. I’d go with one of those before Cardone. I’ve had good experiences with both.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

He’s probably referring to the EVO system which is specific to the 97 and up power steering pumps. The sensor on the steering shaft (under the dash) is usually the culprit and, for me, felt like you hit a patch of ice when going around a moderate curve. The valve connection at the pump is also a pretty common leak point.

I put a Delco Professional reman gearbox in my 98 and yanked it out after a half mile test drive. It required constant correction to maintain on-center steering. Ridiculous.

Redhead and Bluetop are mom and pop type rebuild companies and tend to get good reviews. I’d go with one of those before Cardone. I’ve had good experiences with both.

East302 is correct, in that I was referring to the EVO system. It was so unsuccessful, that GM fabricated and sold a bypass kit to remove it from impacting the steering system.

 

[Mike McCloskey]

East302 is correct, in that I was referring to the EVO system. It was so unsuccessful, that GM fabricated and sold a bypass kit to remove it from impacting the steering system.

Wow!

 

[exp500]

I have also had problems with AC delco professional reman Boxes, Got one that was worse than one being replaced, Another that lasted less than 2 years. Funny how GM boxes were bulletproof up to about 92 model. Did they switch to Mexico manufacturing?

 

[OR VietVet]

The "Professional" series is the low rung of quality when it comes to AC Delco parts.