My '99 Seville STS is now off the road and with my local repair guys as a couple of weeks ago I was reversing out of a parking bay at the store and the steering started to grind and knock badly and as I turned the front end of the car seemed to rise and lower.

Fortunately I was only 5 mins away from where I take it for servicing/repair, they put it up on the ramp and initially said it looks like steering rack failure. Subsequently, they found that the steering rack was fine and the only fault was that a metal bracket on the steering rack casing that fixes the rack to the sub-frame had broken.

BTW. the car still steers, at speed on the way to the repair shop you hardly notice anything wrong, at slow turn when parking that's when it is at it's worst.

They said it was highly unusual and had never seen this type of fault before but should be able to get it welded back into place. All the welders that have inspected the car said they are unwilling to try and weld the bracket back on with the steering rack in the car. Therefore the options presented to me at the moment are:

1) Seriously think whether to scrap the car as the repair could cost more than the car is worth.
2) Remove the steering rack then take it to a welder to have the bracket welded properly (I am waiting on what the cost of this would be and whether even after removal the welding would be a guaranteed fix).
3) Buy a new steering rack (only one place in the UK who supplies parts for these right-hand drive Caddy's, they want 1700 Pounds + VAT for the rack alone!!!).

Has anyone else ever come across this fault before? Are there rebuilt ones available in the UK, or places where they can be rebuilt?

The repair shop said it's a real shame because the car other than that is real sound and in great condition. Would be a huge shame to have to break a car which is in such good order.

Regards,

Craig

 

Update:

Called a Cadillac dealer in the USA today that I normally use when I'm out there and they said they have stock of new steering racks but fell on the floor when they saw the price! lol They realised it was then a right-hand drive car hence the heavy price tag of $1908.28 + sales tax.

So basically that rules out getting a new one from the States.

Now I'm just waiting to see what my local garage will charge me to remove the old one

 

you have a picture of the damage?
i cant even imagen it.


.

 

You talk about "more than the cars worth", But do you have the funds to buy a new car ?
If its basically sound other than that problem, then you do the math. Buy a new vehicle for X amount more, Or bite the bullet and fix this one.

BTW. Im quite sure if you went to a specialty or a "micro welding" shop they could do it without removing the rack. You pay more for that specialty welding...but damn they do a great job.

 

I did the math that's why I could say it's more than the cars worth, but just so you and others know what it would cost to put a new rack on; New power steering rack from Bauer Millet is £1700 + VAT for a right hand drive version (buying direct from GM in USA is $1900 + shipping, Duty and taxes to UK). Labour cost to fit is approx. £700.

So the math in this case comes out at approx. £2700, I can easily buy another mint car for that money. In fact, I just purchased a donor vehicle from a guy in Rochdale who is also selling his 2000 STS for £2700 and it's beautiful.

So in short, I will take the rack off this donor car and fit to mine so I can get my car back on the road then see about taking the broken rack to a welding specialist who can see about repairing it.

BTW. We got three different specialist welding opinions on welding the rack on the car and they all refused for the same reasons, so I would say if a shop states they can repair it on the car I would walk away, it's too risky a repair.