Woodstoc

Anyone with these cars experiencing rack & pinion failures? I was in the ZR1 forum and there's a thread about this issue, some cars starting as early as 4K miles.

My 2012 GS just hit 4K, and I have to do the tight turns they describe in the thread, in the garage I park in...this looks like some real BS!

wjnjr

Before you get too excited, find out exactly what the "failure" is.

Woodstoc

It's in the thread. The rack and pinion appears to not be robust enought to support the wider tires on the ZR1, Z06, and GS models. The racks are having internal breakage. GM apparently has a service bulletin going around.

I figured that there might be some issues starting to crop up on our forum, or possibly will be some..

JCtx

Now that you mentioned it, I had a weird episode twice after tackling twisties for several dozen miles on the '12 GS. While backing out of parking spaces, the steering 'clank' the first moment I turn the steering wheel a little bit. It was a metallic clank. Never heard it before. Car is doing fine now, and fluid level is the full line, but will keep an eye on this thread. It only has 4.2K miles now.

If there's already a TSB, please post the #. Thx.

Woodstoc

Here are some direct quotes. None name the bulletin, but I am going to start searching for it...

ZR1 ,C6's, have steering rack failures ________________________________________
Just found out that Zr1's and other C6's with the wider tires are having steering rack failures (rack and pinion) . The failures are attributed to the extra strain the wide tires place on the components when turning at slow speeds. If your car is handling and steering tightly and then becomes twitchy, tracking the road and a slight clunk is felt in the steering wheel you have a failed steering rack. You can feel the very slight clunk at dead center by rocking the wheel back and forth very slightly.
A bulletin has been issued. GM is apparently working with the supplier to correct the weak point of the rack.
Something as simple as tight turns in a parking lot can cause a failure.

The Chev dealer in Lake Havasu City showed me the bulletin. Yes they are using reman parts and are at the suppliers trying to get a properly designed and built rack to replace the existing ones as they fail. I was told the ZR1's and GS and any others with the large/wider tires are subject to failure. I had 5 replaced on my 2010 ZR1 and now this will be the 2nd on on my new 2013 ZR1. I use my car as my daily driver.........

Next time you're at your dealer ask them to look up the bulletin. Service manager at Havasu Chev dealership found it very quickly.

When my 2013 ZR1 was repaired on March 19, 2013 the bulletin was at the dealership, What else can I tell you. Check with your dealer!! Work order quotes Doc ID# 2912839. Maybe this will help you find the bulletin.

This is what we have seen and what we use.

All of the race cars, including the ALMS GT2 Corvette have used stock, OEM racks with no changes other than the outer tie rods. For the most part we have had no issues with them.

In the last few years we have had failures with them as well with the GrandAm car and the latest W.C. Corvette.

Now all of the cars had NEW GM racks save for what we have had coming in lately which are all reman units. The reman units have all had issues from pressure seals leaking, to the hardlines on the units actually breaking. Even had one loose the mount to the cradle. Never anything to cause a crash but still isn't a good thing.

With that being said, I don't think a stock ZR1 is going to put any more stress on that rack than the ALMS car did......but if they are in fact using a reman unit on the cars coming out of the factory....that could be the issue.

I do know for the last 3 years you can not purchase a NEW rack from GM.


Haven't seen the bulletin but it might be worth a look at the rack to see if there is a different PN other than GM on the ones that are breaking.

JCtx

Damn. Now that you mentioned that, I'm sure that's exactly the 'clank' I was referring to. Will try to duplicate it next time I use the car. But what exactly 'failed'? Are we in danger of losing control, or we'd just have to make corrections while on-center, like a 70s LTD? I remember the car feeling weird on the way back, like if it had a blown shock or something. But didn't feel anything amiss when I used it in town last time for about 10 miles. Hopefully somebody can post a TSB#. Some dealers here are so clueless, that sometimes even armed with a TSB number, it's an uphill battle. Thanks again .

Woodstoc

Every thing I read didn't mention it actually coming apart or something like that. Apparently the magnets come apart from their plastic retainers. Doesn' give me any warm and fuzzy.

CABO-Z16

2012 GS. Had my rack fail at 4K miles. Same clank sound when turning the wheels at slow speed backing out of the garage. As previously mentioned by others, rack replaced with a remanufactured part. Not real warm and fuzzy with a $60K+ car using a remanufactured part.

JCtx

I know; that's crap man. And it's not an easy job replacing a rack. I'm going to try to duplicate the noise, but I'm pretty sure my car has that too. And it happens to have 4K miles too.

My question is this: What happens if we leave it alone??? Do we just get decreased assist or what? That's EXTERNAL to the rack itself, for what I understand, correct? If I only have to live with that subtle 'clank' every once in a while, I prefer that than the risk of getting the rack replaced, especially with a remanufactured one that can develop the SAME EXACT crap in another 4K miles. Unless there's a specific upgrade done, why bother? Comments welcome.

glamcem

found this thread when searching ...

I noticed this when the car has about 200-300 miles on it and dealer has replaced the faulty unit.. it now has about 500 miles and started doing the same thing already (clunk when rotating in the center slightly)...what a bummer ...

Anyone else has the same issue with his/hers GS/Z06 or ZR1 ...?

JCtx

Can you please link the thread? Want to read what you were reading. And how about somebody posting the darn TSB? We need to know which vehicles are affected. I also want to read the symptoms listed, and what else is mentioned there. If there's a TSB, somebody has to have access to it here .

At any rate, I tried duplicating the clunking, and my rack is not clunking after that mountain trip. Only did it after giving it a hard workout in the twisties, even though ambient temperature was only 70º. At least in my case, the theory of loose magnets doesn't hold water because it's not doing it now. And nobody has answered the question if it can be left alone without any safety concerns. I don't know where those freaking magnets are, so can't even guess what's going on inside. I wouldn't mess with it to put another equally faulty (remanufactured) unit, unless absolutely necessary. Until GM actually solves the issue with a reengineered rack, I don't plan to waste my time with a dealer. I'm sure my clunking didn't 'heal' by itself, so it probably happens after hard use. That's my guess anyway. And no, I haven't noticed any difference in steering feel, effort, or function, even when it was clunking. So I'm not too worried at this point. Just disappointed at yet another mechanical issue with these cars. You expect this kind of crap on a new model, not an 8-yr-old one; geez.

Finally, the ZR1 with the PDE package has even wider tires than the Z06 and GS by 10mm, PLUS stickier tires (Pilot Cups). Are the steering rack failures more prevalent on those cars? They have to be even harder on the racks than GSs or Z06s. Curious about that.

Also curious if any GS owners have actually felt any difference in steering effort, feel, or function after the 'failures'. Thanks gang.

glamcem

I felt the car is tracking on the highway but I am not sure if it's due to road crown or is it just me

bookemdano

I own an 11 GS, a few months ago I started to hear a clunking noise when turning my wheels sharp left or right, also the tires would start to hop as I was entering a tight parking space with the wheels turned hard left or right.
So I took the vette to the dealer to have it checked since I still have bumper to bumper warranty, they kept the car for three days, finally I get a call from the service manager to pick up the vette, it turn out to be a loose engine cradle, they re aligned it and torque it down...all is fine, no more clunking noise... but I still get the wheel hop when turning into a tight parking space with the wheels cut sharp. I would love to get my hands on that "TSB"...

Woodstoc

Sorry, not sure if this how you link a thread, but here is a try at a copy and paste. if it doesnt work, you have the title to search for...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...-failures.html

glamcem

I am not sure if we experience the same thing. Personally, I put extra effort to be very gentle when rotating the steering wheel and did my best to avoid sharp turns, I always do. Even still, the steering rack issue came back.

Additionally, other people and I experience this clunk when turning the steering at center very slightly ..It even feels like you have a problem at the steering wheel itself .. turns out, it's not the steering wheel ..

X25

I owned a 2012 GS last year, and now do own a 2013 Z06 and have not had any issue whatsoever. It seems to be yet another "parts supplier dropped the ball while GM quality controllers were busy looking at C7 pictures" issue.

It amazes me that the replacement parts do also fail very quickly. Is there no quality control to ensure replacement parts are in good shape, now that GM knows about this issue?

JCtx

That's perfectly normal man. Huge tires and aggressive negative camber do that.

Back to subject. So no harm in leaving the clunk alone??? What I don't understand is folks saying car had a 'dead' spot on-center, it's not going to be a loose magnet, is it? Maybe 2 different issues going on. By the way, I only experienced the clunk when starting to turn the steering wheel from dead center twice in the same day, after a long, spirited drive in the twisties. But it hasn't clunked ever since. Maybe only when the rack gets hot enough? At any rate, with most remanufactured racks failing again, I have ZERO intention of getting mine replaced unless there's a potential safety hazard, like the rack seizing up, or some other dangerous crap like that. Steering feels the same as before. So even if the clunk returns, I could live with it. I'm already living with a lot of crap from this '12 GS, with unbelievable quality issues after 8 freaking years of production. Needless to say, it's my last GM car ever, but would like to keep it for a while if it doesn't start falling apart .

Finally, I'm baffled why nobody has been able to obtain the TSB if it really exists. Plenty of dealers here, and service folks.

glamcem

^^ Yes, what is the actual TSB? please share if you have further information about this