Steering column is fixed - with a catch...

[BraytonAK]

I *finally* got my car back from the lame dealership yesterday. I thoroughly checked it over before leaving their lot. (I probably looked silly using my breath to try to fog up the windows to check for more finger-written profanity like there was a few years ago.) The repair ended up replacing the whole steering column, wedge, pin, etc, etc. Remarkably, I can let go of the steering wheel on a flat road and it will go ... in a straight line! That's never happened before.

Now for the downside. Something that the dealership did caused the accelerator cable to touch something on the other side of the firewall. When I step on the gas, I can feel the pedal vibrating with the engine. Once the engine is off, it feels as smooth in movement as it did before. I'm going to throw myself under the car and have a looksee to find out if this is something that I can simply use a Zip-Tie to hold that cable away from something that it's now touching.

Anyway, I'm greatful to have my baby back. It looks like all hell because it has rained a few times since I dropped it off, but I know I can bring out its smile again.

[FranksredPT]

Glad you got your PT back and hope the other problem is nothing serious.

[at58]

Glad you are able to drive again too bad it is with complications

[JOEM]

Originally posted by BraytonAK

Now for the downside. Something that the dealership did caused the accelerator cable to touch something on the other side of the firewall.

Yeah, some repair outletys always seem to mess up something else even if they actually repair what you brought the car in for. If you can't fix it yourself, bring it back to the dealer and let them know that this time the zone rep will get involved if they trade you a new problem for a repair again. Good luck.

[RubyRed]

I had a steering column problem with my Cruiser (it felt like an old farm tractor, no precision) and they fixed it in 2 days. But they broke the clock-spring while putting it all back together. then the "wrong" parts came in (or the wrong parts were ordered, each side blames the other). It ended up taking close to 2 weeks to fix my Cruiser. Then the dealership service department was upset when I gave them an "unfavorable" rating on a Chrysler survey. Go figure.

[BraytonAK]

I'll definitely be cc'ing the Zone Rep. Apparently they ordered the part they were missing through the Star Parts system, yet it still took five days to receive. And I can combine this experience with the one a few years ago that gave me a faulty 'repair' and profanity on the window. Lithia Chrysler is their name, by the way. Anchorage Chrysler has always been better in my limited experience, despite their not being a 5 Star. (Maybe Lithia should put a decimal in front of their '5'. hehe