This is the time for an inspection at a tire and alignment shop. The people there are experts at finding the causes of vibrations, noises, and bad tire wear. For the little you described, there are way too many possibilities to guess at. A tire could have a broken belt. You did not list any recent history that led up to this that could be a factor. Brake work could have allowed a chunk of rust or scale to fall between the hub and brake rotor or between the rotor and wheel. Those can cause that wheel to wobble. Shaking is always caused by something that is rotating, but worn ball joints, tie rod ends, struts, and control arm bushings can allow wheel movements to occur more easily or be more pronounced.
There are two problems that only apply to GM front-wheel-drive cars. If the engine or transmission were recently removed, that is done by lowering the front cross member with those parts on it. When reinstalling that cross member, there is nothing to insure it is installed correctly except if the mechanic knows about this and marks its orientation before removing it. If that is not done, and the cross member is off-center by as little as 1/16", handling will be extremely miserable, and the car will dart in various directions unexpectedly.
The second problem is GM had a huge problem with their rack and pinion steering gears. I doubt this applies to your car, because they all developed the "morning sickness" problem before the 50,000 mile warranty expired. The symptom was always loss of power assist in only one direction, first thing in the morning when the engine was still cold. After a few weeks the problem would affect turning the other way too, and it would take longer and longer before the power assist returned. GM's fix was to replace a valve with sealing rings in hopes it would solve the problem until the car got out of the warranty period, then it was up to the owner to pay for the proper repair. The cause was internal leakage of the power steering fluid caused by those sealing rings grinding grooves into the surface they were supposed to seal against. The aftermarket parts industry did a real good job of coming up with a permanent fix. That was to bore out the soft aluminum housing, then press in a stainless steel liner that had better wear characteristics. The clue to this problem is it always starts out by affecting turning only one way first. Also, be aware that this problem does not cause the inability to steer. It only causes loss of power assist when turning one way. People have been known to think they cannot steer when power assist is lost, so they do not even try, and run into stuff.
At the mileage you listed, there are other things to inspect for tight steering, and some of these can cause harder steering in just one direction. One is a binding upper strut mount. To be bad enough to cause hard steering, it will usually have been making a thumping or grinding noise that was ignored for a long time. The second thing is a tight universal joint on the steering shaft under the dash. You would feel that as a tight spot, then an easy spot twice per steering wheel revolution. That should be noticeable when turning either way, and the steering wheel will resist coming back to center on its own after you go around a corner.
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Sunday, October 29th, 2017 AT 5:01 PM
