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I've got the steering position sensor ordered and plan to swap it out soon. I have the "clunking" steering column at low speed and read about greasing the intermediate steering shaft to fix that problem. I'm wondering if it makes sense to grease that shaft while I have the column off the car or if it would be better to do the jobs separate to keep from loosing any alignment with the steering shaft....

And does anybody have input as to the effectiveness of greasing that shaft vs replacing it...?

My SLE has 100k and I lubricated the shaft, did not replace it. Before lubrication, I had the "clunk" and the steering feel was "loose" and "empty" is the best way to describe it.

After lubrication, no "clunk" and the steering now feels firmer and more road worthy. The difference in feel is huge.

Before I did this, I looked at a new steering shaft from the local Napa store. I could not see any obvious difference from the old shaft. I did not have the old shaft to do a side by side comparison, but they looked the same to me.

Maybe if you look at a new shaft from a GM dealer at their parts counter, there will be a noticable design change.
I have also read that some people who did put in a new shaft still got the "clunk" after a while and had to continue to lubricate it. Also read that some persons have the new shaft and have been good to go.

Anyway, I decided to lubricate first and see how long that lasts.

MrT wrote:My SLE has 100k and I lubricated the shaft, did not replace it. Before lubrication, I had the "clunk" and the steering feel was "loose" and "empty" is the best way to describe it.

After lubrication, no "clunk" and the steering now feels firmer and more road worthy. The difference in feel is huge.

Before I did this, I looked at a new steering shaft from the local Napa store. I could not see any obvious difference from the old shaft. I did not have the old shaft to do a side by side comparison, but they looked the same to me.

Maybe if you look at a new shaft from a GM dealer at their parts counter, there will be a noticable design change.
I have also read that some people who did put in a new shaft still got the "clunk" after a while and had to continue to lubricate it. Also read that some persons have the new shaft and have been good to go.

Anyway, I decided to lubricate first and see how long that lasts.

I had my ISS changed on my car and it is a noticeable difference. The steering seems tighter and not as sloppy. I had them give me the old ISS so I could see what it was and its a complete design change. They revised it a few times since the original I guess. The GM one itself is even different than the *shoot* aftermarket Dorman one I originally was going to put it (long story short, the part was made wrong and didn't work). The guy told me the lube up is only temporary as it will eventually drip and fall away after time.

I did the Dorman and there is a big diff in design and huge diff in steering wheel feel.

That Dorman ISS looks totally different than the replacement I was show. Did not have the large ?rubber? part below the first u-joint. The mid stem also looks different. I think I was show a new part that was the old design.

Sounds like the new design does the trick. How long have you had the new ISS in place>

MrT wrote:That Dorman ISS looks totally different than the replacement I was show. Did not have the large ?rubber? part below the first u-joint. The mid stem also looks different. I think I was show a new part that was the old design.

Sounds like the new design does the trick. How long have you had the new ISS in place>

Don't bother with the Dorman. I had a dealership try and put one on my car and they couldn't get it to fit right. It took them 4 hours just to dick around with it to get the bottom part on. I got the GM part, and it slipped on and was ready to go in an hour. The price was also double, but for the hassle it was worth it to me.

So any thoughts on addressing the iss while the column if off for steering sensor replacement? Good idea? Bad idea? My main concern with doing both at the same time is getting it all lined back up correctly.

Put the steering wheel dead ahead, and lock it in place with bailing wire or wire clothes hangers to keep the wheel from moving when you remove the column...you don't want the airbag clockspring to snap on ya.

There's never any harm in greasing the ISS, but you are going to want a grease that's relatively thick and won't wear or drip out. Lucas makes a good tube grease that'll be perfect, or use a good synthetic grease that is meant to grease yokes for transmissions.

I also replaced my ISS due to the same clunking. When I was looking up the old design vs the new and advice from this site, I discovered that the original design was bad conpaired to the updated version of it. replaced it instead of lubing it and am very satisfied with the end resault very responsive steering feels stiffer at higher speed and very responsive. the long and short of it is it feels safer.