99 Malibu questions

We just replaced the front sub frame on my sons 99 Malibu and we've noticed two things that I'm questioning. One is that the steering wheel now has to be turned one half turn to have the car go straight ahead. the steering is however very responsive and does not pull. Also the steering will not lock when the transmission is in park. This last item truthfully I'm not sure if it ever did or for that matter is supposed to as the ignition switch is mounted on the dash. What if anything could we have done to cause the steering to not lock now, (if it is supposed to that is). Anyone have an thoughts on these two items? Thanks, Lenny

wrote:
> We just replaced the front sub frame on my sons 99 Malibu and we've
> noticed two things that I'm questioning. One is that the steering
> wheel now has to be turned one half turn to have the car go straight
> ahead. the steering is however very responsive and does not pull.
> Also the steering will not lock when the transmission is in park.
> This last item truthfully I'm not sure if it ever did or for that
> matter is supposed to as the ignition switch is mounted on the dash.
> What if anything could we have done to cause the steering to not lock
> now, (if it is supposed to that is). Anyone have an thoughts on these
> two items? Thanks, Lenny

Set the wheels straight ahead. Unbolt the steering shaft and rotate it
the 1/2 turn counterclockwise so the wheel is correct and bolt it back
together.

BUT you may have a different issue as well. Did you secure the steering
wheel so it didn't turn before you unbolted it the first time? If yes
then the above may fix both issues.

If you didn't then you have more work ahead of you. You will need to
remove the steering wheel and remove the clock spring for the airbag and
any wheel controls. Then rotate it to the correct position, bolt it up
then reinstall the clock springs so that they are centered. This will
ensure that when you turn the wheel the wiring in the clock springs
doesn't get damaged.

--
Steve W.

On Thursday, September 25, 2014 5:23:42 PM UTC-4, wrote:
> We just replaced the front sub frame on my sons 99 Malibu and we've noticed two things that I'm questioning. One is that the steering wheel now has to be turned one half turn to have the car go straight ahead. the steering is however very responsive and does not pull. Also the steering will not lock when the transmission is in park. This last item truthfully I'm not sure if it ever did or for that matter is supposed to as the ignition switch is mounted on the dash. What if anything could we have done to cause the steering to not lock now, (if it is supposed to that is). Anyone have an thoughts on these two items? Thanks, Lenny

When you say unbolt the steering shaft is there some type of yoke to unbolt from? I don't know where exactly to do this from. Also we never removed the steering wheel the first time. And we never secured it either. We simply dropped the tie rods, separated the lower ball joints, supported the rack and pinion assembly and then dropped the frame. I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Lenny

wrote:
> On Thursday, September 25, 2014 5:23:42 PM UTC-4,
> wrote:
>> We just replaced the front sub frame on my sons 99 Malibu and we've
>> noticed two things that I'm questioning. One is that the steering
>> wheel now has to be turned one half turn to have the car go
>> straight ahead. the steering is however very responsive and does
>> not pull. Also the steering will not lock when the transmission is
>> in park. This last item truthfully I'm not sure if it ever did or
>> for that matter is supposed to as the ignition switch is mounted on
>> the dash. What if anything could we have done to cause the steering
>> to not lock now, (if it is supposed to that is). Anyone have an
>> thoughts on these two items? Thanks, Lenny
>
> When you say unbolt the steering shaft is there some type of yoke to
> unbolt from? I don't know where exactly to do this from. Also we
> never removed the steering wheel the first time. And we never secured
> it either. We simply dropped the tie rods, separated the lower ball
> joints, supported the rack and pinion assembly and then dropped the
> frame. I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Lenny

Look right at the top of the rack near the firewall, where the steering
shaft connects. There is a joint there with a bolt going through it.
You remove that bolt and pull that joint apart. To make sure you have it
correct count the turns from lock to lock. Say you get 5. If you turn
2.5 times from either side the steering wheel should end up in the
correct spot. So you would center the steering wheel. Remove the bolt,
lift the coupler off, then rotate the steering rack input shaft 180
degrees to point the tires straight ahead. Put the coupling joint back
together and reinstall the bolt and you should be OK.

http://arrc.ebscohost.com/statics/gm...441/441911.png

This should take you to a picture of the coupler.

--
Steve W.

On Thursday, September 25, 2014 5:23:42 PM UTC-4, wrote:
> We just replaced the front sub frame on my sons 99 Malibu and we've noticed two things that I'm questioning. One is that the steering wheel now has to be turned one half turn to have the car go straight ahead. the steering is however very responsive and does not pull. Also the steering will not lock when the transmission is in park. This last item truthfully I'm not sure if it ever did or for that matter is supposed to as the ignition switch is mounted on the dash. What if anything could we have done to cause the steering to not lock now, (if it is supposed to that is). Anyone have an thoughts on these two items? Thanks, Lenny

Steve I wasn't able to get to the picture. The link sent me to an "Ebsco" support site which asked for a login. Lenny

wrote:
> On Thursday, September 25, 2014 5:23:42 PM UTC-4,
> wrote:
>> We just replaced the front sub frame on my sons 99 Malibu and we've
>> noticed two things that I'm questioning. One is that the steering
>> wheel now has to be turned one half turn to have the car go
>> straight ahead. the steering is however very responsive and does
>> not pull. Also the steering will not lock when the transmission is
>> in park. This last item truthfully I'm not sure if it ever did or
>> for that matter is supposed to as the ignition switch is mounted on
>> the dash. What if anything could we have done to cause the steering
>> to not lock now, (if it is supposed to that is). Anyone have an
>> thoughts on these two items? Thanks, Lenny
>
> Steve I wasn't able to get to the picture. The link sent me to an
> "Ebsco" support site which asked for a login. Lenny

Try
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTg1WDE2MDA=/z/Lj0AAOSwd4tUIbGM/$_57.JPG

See the rusty U joint on the top? Yours has the same style coupling. If
you look at the yoke that is attached to the steering rack you can see a
clean bolt head. That is the one you remove.

--
Steve W.

On Thu, 25 Sep 2014 14:23:42 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

>We just replaced the front sub frame on my sons 99 Malibu and we've noticed two things that I'm questioning.
> One is that the steering wheel now has to be turned one half turn to have the car go straight ahead
>. the steering is however very responsive and does not pull.
> Also the steering will not lock when the transmission is in park.
> This last item truthfully I'm not sure if it ever did or for that matter
> is supposed to as the ignition switch is mounted on the dash.
> What if anything could we have done to cause the steering
> to not lock now, (if it is supposed to that is).
> Anyone have an thoughts on these two items? Thanks, Lenny


What Steve is saying makes no sense to me. Assuming things were as
they should have been before you did the sub frame replacement the
only thing you should need to do is have an alignment shop reset your
toe. Most likely the new sub frame is just a little bit off of where
the old one had been. As a result the front wheel alignment is not
quite right anymore. If the steering wheel is no longer centered what
the alignment shop will do is simply turn the steering wheel to where
it's "centered" (without disconnecting it from anything) and then
adjust the two tie rod ends as needed to make both front wheels point
straight ahead and parallel to each other. So just go have the front
end aligned.

Can't say as to why it's not locking, seems like it should but like
you mentioned, you aren't sure if it ever did so maybe it was broken
before.

On Thursday, September 25, 2014 5:23:42 PM UTC-4, wrote:
> We just replaced the front sub frame on my sons 99 Malibu and we've noticed two things that I'm questioning. One is that the steering wheel now has to be turned one half turn to have the car go straight ahead. the steering is however very responsive and does not pull. Also the steering will not lock when the transmission is in park. This last item truthfully I'm not sure if it ever did or for that matter is supposed to as the ignition switch is mounted on the dash. What if anything could we have done to cause the steering to not lock now, (if it is supposed to that is). Anyone have an thoughts on these two items? Thanks, Lenny

Does anyone understand the mechanics as to how this steering is supposed to lock without a key switch on the column? Because aside from the steering wheel centering problem, the fact that this is also screwed up seems more troubling to me. Lenny

On Sun, 28 Sep 2014 12:59:20 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

>On Thursday, September 25, 2014 5:23:42 PM UTC-4, wrote:
>> We just replaced the front sub frame on my sons 99 Malibu and we've noticed two things that I'm questioning. One is that the steering wheel now has to be turned one half turn to have the car go straight ahead. the steering is however very responsive and does not pull. Also the steering will not lock when the transmission is in park. This last item truthfully I'm not sure if it ever did or for that matter is supposed to as the ignition switch is mounted on the dash. What if anything could we have done to cause the steering to not lock now, (if it is supposed to that is). Anyone have an thoughts on these two items? Thanks, Lenny
>
>Does anyone understand the mechanics as to how this steering is supposed to lock without a key switch on the column? Because aside from the steering wheel centering problem, the fact that this is also screwed up seems more troubling to me. Lenny

I think it's cable operated.