Milk Money
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Jeff
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2019
- Threads
- 4
- Messages
- 54
- Reaction score
- 39
- Location
- Lake Orion, MI
- Vehicle(s)
- 2019 JLU Sport S (previously 2008 JKU Sahara, 1998 TJ Sport)
- Occupation
- Engineer at GM
- Vehicle Showcase
- 1
- Thread starter
- #1
It looks like the steering issue is finally going to be resolved on my Jeep.
I went in yesterday, and I talked to the service adviser. Explained the issue and brought up bulletin S1819000003. They printed out the bulletin and had it attached to the service order. The only thing they deviated on was not riding with me - the tech drove my Jeep and drove a comparable Jeep themselves. Today I got the call: No trouble found. I was a bit ticked off, but kept my cool when I went to the dealership. My Jeep was built in March and has the updated track bar. It was well past the date code for the steering stabilizer, so neither part was replaced. They did do an alignment, put the toe at the right setting, made sure tire pressure was correct (it was), loosened all bolts and re-torqued them to the correct settings. I told them I didn't want to just bring it back if the issue hadn't been resolved. Finally after talking to the adviser long enough, I said the magic words that I believe you must say if you want this resolved:
"Can someone in the service department ride with me so I can show them what the Jeep is doing?"
The shop foreman went with me for a drive. He's an older gentleman in his late 60's. We chit-chatted a bit until I had the vehicle up to highway speed and showed him the loose steering. I had explained to him that while it's there at lower speeds, it's really apparent at highway speeds. He took the wheel and felt it for himself. He immediately told me "This isn't an alignment issue, it's a steering gear issue. Our tech thought it was alignment based on how it was written up." We took it back to the shop where he explained better than I could what the issue was to the adviser, and told him the gear box needs to be replaced.
I would bet this is a common issue. Unless an experienced service tech rides with you and sees what you are looking at, they read the write up and assume "alignment". They completely miss the lack of response when there is no load on the steering, because they aren't looking for that. They believe it's an alignment issue and will evaluate and repair based solely on that because the write-up from the tech - even if it's written correctly - makes them think alignment.
So the key lesson for me is to make sure an experienced tech rides in the car with you so they see what the issue is. I'm pretty confident that the gear box is going to be changed and they will make sure it doesn't handle like it did, because now they know what to look for.
I'll update when the work is done (hopefully tomorrow). Keeping my fingers crossed...
I went in yesterday, and I talked to the service adviser. Explained the issue and brought up bulletin S1819000003. They printed out the bulletin and had it attached to the service order. The only thing they deviated on was not riding with me - the tech drove my Jeep and drove a comparable Jeep themselves. Today I got the call: No trouble found. I was a bit ticked off, but kept my cool when I went to the dealership. My Jeep was built in March and has the updated track bar. It was well past the date code for the steering stabilizer, so neither part was replaced. They did do an alignment, put the toe at the right setting, made sure tire pressure was correct (it was), loosened all bolts and re-torqued them to the correct settings. I told them I didn't want to just bring it back if the issue hadn't been resolved. Finally after talking to the adviser long enough, I said the magic words that I believe you must say if you want this resolved:
"Can someone in the service department ride with me so I can show them what the Jeep is doing?"
The shop foreman went with me for a drive. He's an older gentleman in his late 60's. We chit-chatted a bit until I had the vehicle up to highway speed and showed him the loose steering. I had explained to him that while it's there at lower speeds, it's really apparent at highway speeds. He took the wheel and felt it for himself. He immediately told me "This isn't an alignment issue, it's a steering gear issue. Our tech thought it was alignment based on how it was written up." We took it back to the shop where he explained better than I could what the issue was to the adviser, and told him the gear box needs to be replaced.
I would bet this is a common issue. Unless an experienced service tech rides with you and sees what you are looking at, they read the write up and assume "alignment". They completely miss the lack of response when there is no load on the steering, because they aren't looking for that. They believe it's an alignment issue and will evaluate and repair based solely on that because the write-up from the tech - even if it's written correctly - makes them think alignment.
So the key lesson for me is to make sure an experienced tech rides in the car with you so they see what the issue is. I'm pretty confident that the gear box is going to be changed and they will make sure it doesn't handle like it did, because now they know what to look for.
I'll update when the work is done (hopefully tomorrow). Keeping my fingers crossed...
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