2001 Bonneville Clunk

It may be the intermediate steering shaft. Gm is having all sorts of problems with them right across the board.

Ian

I had mine fixed under a recall in 2001 and it started doing it again last year. They told me it's not dangerous, just annoying. They do have to tear the dash apart to fix it. They scratched the heck out of mine.

Lee

Ed, I have the same problem with my 2001 Bonneville and as both Ian and Lee stated, it is a problem with the intermediate steering shaft. I took it in to the dealer where I purchased it and while there are a couple of T.S.B.'s out here in Canada on the problem, there have been no recalls because it is apparently not a safety issue, just a nuisance noise.

i was getting a small clunking when cranking my wheel when stopped and very low speeds last year, ended up being the bearings in a strut mount were seized

The intermediate shaft problem can be identified easily. It transports the "clunk" right to your hands...just like the old arcade games would do when you crashed your race car.

Lee

I'd question whether they really know what they are doing. There isn't any need to remove the dash in any of these vehicles in order to replace the intermediate shaft. You have to lower the entire steering column on the Cadillacs, but the dash doesn't have to be touched.

Ian

Of course, I didn't actually see it removed, but the telltale ratchet scratches around my dash screws above the gauges led me to believe they had dropped part of the unit anyway.

They told me it's not.

Lee