[bjornbjork]

Feeling of 'cracking' in the steering wheel

Hello,
I've a 9.5 estate diesel 2002.
My problem is the folllowing :
When I push very slightly on the brake pedal, even in straight line, or when I brake or accelerate slightly when turning the steering of a few degrees, mainly to the right but also sometimes to the left, I've a feeling of suddent "cracking" in the steering wheel.
We've dismantled everything we could, and we didn't find anything wrong anywhere in the steering rack (no motion, no noise), fixation of the steering column, fixation of the steering wheel itself, motion of the antiroll bar and it's tie rods, the steering rods and ball joints, and all other steering components.
In the workshop, it's even impossible to create the 'cracking' in question, it appears only when driving (even at very slow speed-, then impossible to make any diagnostic).
It seems that I'm not alone to have had this problem. Some people have had this problem solved by Saab dealers, but nobody could tell me what they did.
My own Saab dealer doesn't have a solution to it, and my car is no more guaranteed to argumentate a complete replacement of ... ? ... and in extra, I do all the mecanical job myself on my car.
Help me please, it's unsecurising and a very bad feeling to drive in such conditions. And I become crazy, I've already spent several hours (not to say - days) to find the problem.
Where does this problem come from ? SOS
Sorry for my english but my mother language in French
Bjorn
Belgium

 

[MacNoob]

Bonjour Bjornbork

Votre anglais est bien mieux que mon Français!

Sounds like you've got the 'steering click' problem. There is a splined slip joint in the steering column under the dash. Secure the steering wheel so it doesn't turn, remove the bolt that holds the U-joint right at the floor, disconnect the U-joint. This will let you slide the slip joint apart (don't pull it completely apart, it's hard to get back together) so you can grease the splines - I used a synthetic wheel bearing grease.

Also, the sway bar links where the front sway bar connects to the front struts can be a source of all kinds of noises.

 

[bjornbjork]

Many thanks, I'll try tomorrow

Hello
Many THANKS for your quick answer.
I'll do it tomorrow morning.
I'll let you know.
With best regards.
Bjorn

 

[bjornbjork]

It seems OK

Hello MacNoob;
Hello Saab friends,

I've just done the job. I've fill it up with bearing grease.
A small test drive told me that it seems to work ...
I'm so used to have had these 'clic' sensations in the steering wheel that it's like driving a new car, much smoother !
Many many thanks to you, MacNoob, for your quoick answer and quick help.

Regards from Belgium
Bjorn

 

[bjornbjork]

It works +++

It's ok, I've driven 300 km today with the car.
No more 'cracks', very smooth steering.
Beautiful

 

[Chris 9-5]

It's ok, I've driven 300 km today with the car.
No more 'cracks', very smooth steering.
Beautiful

Well done

 

[MacNoob]

Excellent! This seems to be an issue that for some reason the dealers don't have a clue about, yet pretty common knowledge on the owner's forums. Glad to hear your problem is resolved.

 

[stalknace]

Once I get all my other issues sorted, I think I will have to try this as it seems to be a fairly simple fix for a common problem.

 

[bjornbjork]

Perfect


Driven 5 000 km since
No more any problem nor any wrong noise nor wrong sensation in the steering
Perfect guidance for the job
Still many thanks
Bjorn

 

[mihkeltt]

sorry to hijack your thread. i tried to perform this fix myself but could not retract the slip joint enough to actually grease it. i took some pics of the components. are the markings (the bolt to release and the slip joint itself) correct on the images?

 

[michael900s]

Good information- I wll try the grease.

However still does not answer what is the real problem? Is the joint angle wrong by design? Is the tolerance on the splines incorrect? My 2006 has this problem at 60,000 miles. Seems very strange.

Mike

 

[Al's Red Wagon]

I would imagine that it could just be assembly error...every now and then not enough grease on the splines...

 

[mihkeltt]

but can someone confirm that the splined slipjoint is indeed the one i've marked with red in my previous post? i don't want to jump in to fix the wrong thing and end up messing it all up.

 

[Slee_Stack]

What you have circled is correct. It took me a bit of playing with it at different angles to get enough room to pull it completely off.

I suggest protecting the carpet with something. It's real easy to get grease on it.

Overall, it's an easy fix.

I have about 4K miles with click free driving since putting new grease in.

 

[Alebear]

Just wanted to say how useful this thread is. Hope that such information helps a lot of folk - and well done with the pictures. They make all the difference to amateurs such as I when working.

 

[cbr1100xx]

Wish I had seen this post a long time ago. I had this problem with my last Saab for 4 years. I gave up trying things in the end (dealers were no use, although they were aware of the problem, but did not have a solution)and just resigned myself to the fact that it was just a quirky SAAB thing.

Might be worth making it a sticky as it seems very common.

 

[Beltway]

Help..

I completely took off the joint and it won't go back on.. It was moving up and down fairly well so I thought I'd take it off, going against what I had read in this thread. Anyway, I cleaned it a bit, greased it up and tried to put it back on but got stuck half way.

Has anyone done the same thing ? I can't pull it off, it won't move a bit. Recommend a fix ? I'm thinking a degrease ?

Cheers ;oops:

 

[Beltway]

I wish Saab did a TSB for this, like this one for a Mazda6:

http://www.finishlineperformance.com/pdf/m...001-07-1738.pdf

 

[Airflow]

It *is* possible to do this job without taking the joint apart. It can be moved a few mm in and out by hand, enough for you to work the grease down into the joint. I did mine a few years ago with a white lithium aerosol grease squirted carefully through a very fine nozzle (and wearing eye protection as it can splatter around a bit).

 

[Beltway]

I can't pull it off, it won't move a bit. Recommend a fix ? I'm thinking a degrease ?

Ok, well it turns out the spline can only be reassembled in the one same position relative to the sleeve for it to slip and move up and down easily. That's why it was so damn hard to move up and down after I reassembled it randomly. There is a marking on the inside of the sleeve (quite discreet) where it should line up to the 'male' part of the steering column that has a protuding bit at the bottom.

Bottom line is don't force it in, it should slip and slide easily after a good greasing. Better still, don't remove the sleeve completely. Alternatively, mark the positions of the sleeve and spline and make sure it doesn't rub off with all that grease around.

The way I got it off when it was stuck was to lever it off - don't hammer it (like I did) because it's soft metal and will chip and create sharp edges (and it won't work).

Anyway, I broke the airbag clockspring at the same time (rotating the wheel round and round trying to the joint back on) and will have to get that fixed. Otherwise, the steering is working well. I also greased up the u-joint at the same time because it was a little stiff.

To me this fix sounded fairly easy and doable, however the gap in skills of me vs other forumers looks a little bigger than I expected. Just a heads up to those who never or rarely work on their cars, like me.. haha..