Steering wheel makes noise every time I turn wheel

Hi,

For some reason, there is no audio with the video. If possible, please upload it again.

As far as noises, there is a steering shaft coupling that can cause noise. I attached a pic of it below.

Let me know if you can reupload it. If not, let me know if it is a squeak, vibration, banging or any way you can describe it best.

Take care,
Joe

The PT Cruiser is built on the Neon platform, and this noise was real common on those models. I can't find the service bulletin, but I did find a diagram of the steering column, as shown below. What happens is the rubber boot is sticking on the steering shaft as that shaft rotates. This gets worse in colder temperatures.

The repair involves spraying in a little grease to lubricate the boot. On the older models there was a second hard rubber cover that had to be removed first. If your car uses that, it is attached to the firewall with two bolts with 10mm heads. To prevent overtightening those bolts and tearing out the sheet metal, they used special bolts that didn't have threads under the last 1/8" under the heads. That means you have to pull up on the cover while turning those screws. Once the threads catch, you just run them out like normal.

The steering shaft doesn't have to be disconnected, but if you're doing this for the first time, you might consider using a rubber strap to hold it up out of the way. That will expose the rubber boot, and you'll see the shaft going through it. I use a cotter pin pick to pull that boot back. It's just a large pick, but the tip is bent at a right angle. The best lubricant I found was Chrysler's Sprat White Lube. It is also available from other sources, typically as a "Spray Lithium Grease". It goes on somewhat runny. The juice carries the grease into tight places. Later, the juice evaporates but it leaves the grease behind. It works real well for door hinge pins.

You don't need much grease to stop the rubbing noise. I don't recommend using axle or wheel bearing grease as those travel over time and may stain the carpet. Spray White Lube stays where it is once it dries.

Crawling under the dash to do this service is a tight squeeze. If you want to attempt a faster and easier solution, you might try spraying some Silicone Spray Lube on the steering shaft where it goes through that boot. This stuff goes on like water, but it evaporates very quickly leaving a film of "slippery" behind. I've used this for other purposes, but one of the drawbacks is it will wear off over time, and you may have to repeat it multiple times.

The grease needs to coat the shaft in the area of callout #3.