The Under the Hood
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Dear Motor Medics, I drive a 2011 Hyundai Elantra with 78K miles. It started making a steering noise lately that happens only when I gently turn the wheel left and right.
I have found that if I turn the engine off and leave the steering wheel unlocked, the noise goes away completely.
I took it into a shop that was not sure what I needed. They thought maybe a steering column as the noise was located up high in the column. I then took it to a dealership who also said I needed to replace the entire column because the motor gears had gone bad.
I have not been able to locate a good used column yet and a new one will cost over 3k installed. Is there another way to repair it at a lower cost?
Mark in Rapid City, South Dakota
Dear Mark, Those big repair bills hurt, but we may have a solution you should like.
The motor for the electric steering is coupled to the column via a rubber motor coupler to give it a smoother feel. This coupler falls apart with age and now is available only on Amazon as far as we have seen. The part cost is about $6 dollars. Yep, that’s it!
We see a lot of people try to install it themselves and usually get it done in two to three hours but safety first, so a couple hours shop labor should do it.
Take care, The Motor Medics
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