Steering column noise..

I had my PT in to the dealer today for an oil change (see post under oil consumption) and complained about a noise in the steering that just started a couple of days ago. Seems that my wife pulled into a friends driveway and when she backed out the car started making a funny noise from the steering column. The only way we could explain the noise is that it sounds like corduroy rubbing together and some bumping while turning. The service writer and mechanic looked the car all over and test drove it and came back with that they were ordering parts for it "a new steering rack". The car has 8500 miles on it. Anyone else experiencing this problem?

[Gloucester]

I'm not sure about "A Corduroy noise" but I know people have mentioned a clicking sound in the steering column. Which I was going to post about today myself because I just started getting it last week. What I'm getting is a clicking from the steering column on every slight bump in the road. It comes and goes and when it does 'it', it will continue to do it until I stop the car and start it up again.
I'm bringing it in Monday morning to get checked out, and an oil change (only the 2nd), and I would appreciate it muchly if somone who had this or a similar problem would post exactly what the problem was so I can pass it on the the dealer before I bring it in.

Thanks a bunch }

I've heard of 1 person who had the rack & pinion ,or a part thereof , replaced. I have the clicking in my column too, & have had it for 15k+ miles. I always forget to mention it when I take the car in...

[Lizzie]

I had the same problem (3,000 Miles).
Turned out to be a bad bearing in the steering column.
The dealer ordered a whole new steering column,only needed the car for half a day. No problems since.
Have your dealer check it out, this is not the first I have heard of this problem.
-Lizzie >>)

[PTmac]

2,000 miles and no noises yet. Thanks for the heads up though. If something developes we have a starting point to look at.

[Gloucester]

Hmm, Bad bearing.... I'll keep that one in mind. Of course I haven't heard a single 'click' since I told the dealer about it. When I brought it in for the oil change and told them about the noise they adjusted the heat shield. They said they were doing that to all of the PT's they saw. Apparently it would give a little rattle sometimes the way the factory tightened them down. If I don't hear the noise again I'm going to assume that in this case the dealer was right.

Thanks for the responses

hey all its been a while.. but i have the same thing and have had the steering column replaced and they were not very nice bout it.. they left dirty hand prints all over the interior. and the cover around the column was all cracked.. and they was like thats all we can do and didnt even look at it. so i was not happy.. and now the noise is back... so since im 19 and a male. they dont like me too much ao im going to get my parents to take it in this time... anf if that dont work im getting rid of chrysler forever. customer service is very crappy. they said jus cause i had an aftermarket radio and alarm that. the cover was like that... so thanks for letting me get that off my chest

[Smitty]

I can understand you on that one....im 17 and when i go over to the shop they treat me like crap...they expect me to know everything about it...they will ask me stuff about things i have never heard....but i love chrysler cars so i cant give that up....so maybe they need to hire better people or something.....i dont know..

and about the steering....im not sure if i have the same problem...but i have had this noise that clicks ever now and then....it sounds like it comes from the back but maybe its the same problem......ill try to figure it out.... >( 12:00

I had the PT in last week to have the "noise" fixed in the steering column and they "did" replace the rack as noted. The noise is now gone and the car is back to normal again. Dealer did ok on the service and gave me a loaner (new car) overnite till my was done. The price of the part (rack) alone was $400 that was covered under warranty.

My cruiser just started a few weeks ago (15k miles) making a clicking noise. It sounds like it's coming from under the dash by the steering wheel. It clicks loud enough for everyone in the car to notice it. It sounds almost like when something expands and contracts, but louder. I don't know how else to explain it. "It" happens all the time--mainly when going over very, very small bumps in the road. I'm taking it in this weekend.