99 Malibu questions

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.

On Thursday, September 25, 2014 5:23:42 PM UTC-4, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wr ote:

ed 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 l ock when the transmission is in park. This last item truthfully I'm not sur e if it ever did or for that matter is supposed to as the ignition switch i s mounted on the dash. What if anything could we have done to cause the ste ering to not lock now, (if it is supposed to that is). Anyone have an thoug hts 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 th e 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 a nd pinion assembly and then dropped the frame. I'm not sure exactly what yo u 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.

This should take you to a picture of the coupler.

On Thursday, September 25, 2014 5:23:42 PM UTC-4, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wr ote:

ed 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 l ock when the transmission is in park. This last item truthfully I'm not sur e if it ever did or for that matter is supposed to as the ignition switch i s mounted on the dash. What if anything could we have done to cause the ste ering to not lock now, (if it is supposed to that is). Anyone have an thoug hts on these two items? Thanks, Lenny

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

Try

$_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.

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, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wr ote:

ed 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 l ock when the transmission is in park. This last item truthfully I'm not sur e if it ever did or for that matter is supposed to as the ignition switch i s mounted on the dash. What if anything could we have done to cause the ste ering to not lock now, (if it is supposed to that is). Anyone have an thoug hts 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 w heel centering problem, the fact that this is also screwed up seems more tr oubling to me. Lenny

I think it's cable operated.