1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme problems

What is wrong

Certain passenger vehicles have lower pinion bearings in the power rack and pinion assembly in which the retainer tabs were not crimped properly. These retainers could fail and permit the ball bearings to escape.

Risk

If this occurs, the pinion shaft can be forced upward during left turns and back down as the steering wheel is moved back and to the right. If the pinion shaft moves further, the driver will need to exert more effort to turn the steering wheel, similar to a vehicle without power assisted steering. If the pinion shaft moves even further, the driver will require much higher effort to turn left and may not be able to turn the wheel as much as intended. With the maximum pinion shaft movement, which requires internal gear component damage, the driver can encounter high resistance to turning left, followed by unintended power assist to the right. In any of these conditions, a crash could occur.

Remedy

Dealers will install a new lower pinion bearing unless inspect of the existing bearing indicates that replacement of the gear assembly is necessary. Owner notification began on february 5, 2004. Owners should contact buick at 1‑866‑608‑8080; chevrolet at 1‑800‑630‑2438; oldsmobile at 1‑800‑630‑6537; or pontiac at 1‑800‑620‑7668.

Recall number 03V527000 · Recall details

Gm's letter to the federal safety agency dated december 11, 2003, expands its original recall (the federal safety agency 02v286) to include certain w-body vehicles: 96-97 olds cutlass supreme; 98 olds intrigue; 97-98 olds cutlass; 97-98 chevy lumina, monte carlo and malibu; 96 pontiac grand prix; and 96-98 buick regal.the number of vehicles recalled is 750,283.gm determined that failure of the rack and pinion is related to damage of the lower pinion bearing and the level of the pinion bearing pre-load spring force.gm states, higher rack pre-load spring force (133 lb.) is the design characteristic most closely associated with higher bearing damage rates in most of the vehicle applications that used the general bearing company (gbc) bearing.all of the vehicles covered in the expanded recall have the 133 lb spring force.the 96 lumina/monte carlo and 97-98 century w-body vehicles included in this investigation utilize a lower spring force and are not included in the recall.

EA03019

Gm conducted a safety recall (the federal safety agency # 02v286) to address a steering defect pertaining to a lower pinion bearing (lpb) within the rack and pinion steering gear (r&p). The recall covered 1,159,156 model year 1997-1998 pontiac grand prix vehicles built between march 1, 1996 and october 31, 1997, 1996-1998 pontiac trans sport, chevrolet lumina apv, chevrolet venture, oldsmobile silhouette minivans, and chevrolet cavalier and pontiac sunfire sedans built between january 1, 1996 and october 31, 1997.odi opened this rq after receiving reports that other vehicles were exhibiting the same symptoms as the recalled vehicles.based on odi's review of technical and complaint data collected during the rq, the w-cars are associated with either a higher steering complaint rate or a higher lpb failure rate than the other vehicles investigated under the rq and are above or near the rates for the recalled vehicles.thus, odi will further examine the w-cars (1996-1997 oldsmobile cutlass supreme, 1996-1998 buick regal, chevrolet lumina, chevrolet monte carlo, 1997-1998 buick century, and 1998 oldsmobile intrigue) under a new investigation, engineering analysis (ea)03-019.

RQ03001