Replace Steering Rack or Not?

[A_User55555]

A week ago I took my Cadillac DTS to the dealer to get the rear valve cover gaskets replaced. My car has an extended warranty on it.

A few days later I get a call from the dealership saying my steering rack is leaking. It would take a few days to replace the rack, but everything would be covered under the extended warranty. So I approved it.

A few days later I get a call saying the steering rack is discontinued, but they can source an aftermarket BBB Industries reman steering rack and install it. Also covered under the warranty.

Here's the thing. I never noticed any problems with my steering and I've never lost any PS fluid. The steering rack sits near the back of the engine and I think the "leak" was actually engine oil seeping from the valve cover gaskets.

Is it better to keep my current rack? or have them replace the rack with a BBB Industries Remanufactured one?

Id rather keep using my OEM rack than to install a cheap reman that could break easily.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

I heard Maval does good reman jobs, so see if they can get Maval for you.

GM does offer an "OEM reman" steering rack. OEM and Maval should be better than BBB (more like FFF)

 

[ragtoplvr]

BBB is in mexico. Quality on a par with most mexico stuff. Chinese sourced repair parts.

They try.

 

[Trav]

A week ago I took my Cadillac DTS to the dealer to get the rear valve cover gaskets replaced. My car has an extended warranty on it.

A few days later I get a call from the dealership saying my steering rack is leaking. It would take a few days to replace the rack, but everything would be covered under the extended warranty. So I approved it.

A few days later I get a call saying the steering rack is discontinued, but they can source an aftermarket BBB Industries reman steering rack and install it. Also covered under the warranty.

Here's the thing. I never noticed any problems with my steering and I've never lost any PS fluid. The steering rack sits near the back of the engine and I think the "leak" was actually engine oil seeping from the valve cover gaskets.

Is it better to keep my current rack? or have them replace the rack with a BBB Industries Remanufactured one?

Id rather keep using my OEM rack than to install a cheap reman that could break easily.

ACDELCO 19330571 for 17" wheels
ACDELCO 19330570 for 18" wheel

I would not accept anything less than an OE reman.

 

[928]

Maval has a good track record, but I'd leave the stock one in there until it got to the point where you were constantly adding fluid

 

[A_User55555]

ACDELCO 19330571 for 17" wheels
ACDELCO 19330570 for 18" wheel

I would not accept anything less than an OE reman.

The Service Advisor said he "looked everywhere" for the rack but could only find the BBB one.

I did some googling myself and I think RockAuto had AC Delco ones in stock. Are dealers not allowed to buy things online?

 

[The Critic]

@01rangerxl may know.

 

[60jeffrey]

Rackdoctor.net

 

[AutoMechanic]

The Service Advisor said he "looked everywhere" for the rack but could only find the BBB one.

I did some googling myself and I think RockAuto had AC Delco ones in stock. Are dealers not allowed to buy things online?

No not usually. When I worked at a dealership if a part was discontinued or the customer didn’t want to wait for us to get it in we got it from the parts store we never bought anything online.

 

[A_User55555]

No not usually. When I worked at a dealership if a part was discontinued or the customer didn’t want to wait for us to get it in we got it from the parts store we never bought anything online.

So I dont mind waiting for the part, I just don't believe that they cant find a good quality part.

If an AC Delco rack is available online, then some kind of supplier should be able to provide it

 

[01rangerxl]

The Service Advisor said he "looked everywhere" for the rack but could only find the BBB one.

I did some googling myself and I think RockAuto had AC Delco ones in stock. Are dealers not allowed to buy things online?

19330571 is discontinued, but there are dealers showing it within driving range for you. McGuire Cadillac in Woodbridge, NJ shows 1, Crown Cadillac in Watchung, NJ shows 1, and WS Healey Chevy Buick shows 1 in New Hampton, NY. Since it's a discontinued part, GM doesn't really provide any recourse for your dealer to get it from one of these other dealers, and they probably aren't close enough that your dealer has a charge account with any of them. It would likely be on you to buy the part and pick it up, or pay for shipping. Shipping may be more than the gas to just go pick it up if you have the time. If none of those dealers will sell it, I can provide you with many others around the country that still show it. This should be a shippable part, for a fee, and personally I love getting rid of stuff like this. Because it is discontinued, GM won't pay a penny for it, their only hope is selling it to someone.

19330570 is actually still active and GM is showing stock in Flint, MI. Flint is still slow to ship regular orders, but it shows that this part can be overnighted, so your dealer should be able to get it next day for a fee. I do not know if the 18" wheel rack will just work on a 17" wheel car though.

Most dealers cut checks via their accounting departments. Sometimes they will have a credit card for things like this, but not usually. They also don't want to get stuck with a discontinued part if you change your mind.

 

[AutoMechanic]

So I dont mind waiting for the part, I just don't believe that they cant find a good quality part.

If an AC Delco rack is available online, then some kind of supplier should be able to provide it

Yeah I know if it wasn’t in the system of parts we had to get it from the parts store absolutely nothing online because we had to have an account with whoever we got it from usually it was O’Reilly if we couldn’t get the OE at the dealership.

 

[A_User55555]

19330571 is discontinued, but there are dealers showing it within driving range for you. McGuire Cadillac in Woodbridge, NJ shows 1, Crown Cadillac in Watchung, NJ shows 1, and WS Healey Chevy Buick shows 1 in New Hampton, NY. Since it's a discontinued part, GM doesn't really provide any recourse for your dealer to get it from one of these other dealers, and they probably aren't close enough that your dealer has a charge account with any of them. It would likely be on you to buy the part and pick it up, or pay for shipping. Shipping may be more than the gas to just go pick it up if you have the time. If none of those dealers will sell it, I can provide you with many others around the country that still show it. This should be a shippable part, for a fee, and personally I love getting rid of stuff like this. Because it is discontinued, GM won't pay a penny for it, their only hope is selling it to someone.

19330570 is actually still active and GM is showing stock in Flint, MI. Flint is still slow to ship regular orders, but it shows that this part can be overnighted, so your dealer should be able to get it next day for a fee. I do not know if the 18" wheel rack will just work on a 17" wheel car though.

Most dealers cut checks via their accounting departments. Sometimes they will have a credit card for things like this, but not usually. They also don't want to get stuck with a discontinued part if you change your mind.

That could work. I would be able to pick it up myself. But how will that work with the warranty? Will my dealership purchase the rack there and then I can pick it up? Or do I need to buy it myself and get reimbursed by the dealer?

I also don't mind paying ~$100 to ship it to my dealer in NYC. Because this is covered by warranty, Ill only be paying $100 for the entire repair anyway.

Do you still work at a dealership? Maybe I can PM you and you can help my service adviser get the part for me

 

[14Accent]

I would have them fix the VC leak, degrease the entire engine, and hold off on the rack. If you say it's fine and there's no fluid loss, I wouldn't worry about it. Take it back in a couple hundred miles after the degrease and have them show you the issue with the rack if/when they discover it. It sounds like they may be trying to squeeze a bit more money out of the extended warranty company since the car it already in the shop.

 

[01rangerxl]

You need to call the warranty company to find out what they will allow. Is this some sort of GM warranty, or is it from an aftermarket company like CarShield? Typically with aftermarket companies, they request an itemized quote with part numbers from the dealer or shop. They check the pricing of the parts, and if they don't like it, they will source their own parts and ship them to the dealer/shop. It is ultimately up to the warranty company to approve the parts beforehand. They may be agreeable to something outside the box, if they haven't already vetoed the OEM parts based on the price. If this is a non-GM aftermarket warranty, they may have already determined that a cheaper aftermarket replacement is all they will cover. If that's the case, I'd think the service advisor would say that though since it would take some heat off him.

There isn't really much I could do for your service advisor, basically if 19330571 is the part your car needs, it's up to your warranty company to approve you either buying it yourself and getting reimbursed, or the warranty company buying it direct from a dealer that has it. Your dealer won't be able to get that one through any of their normal channels. If the part your car needs is 19330570, the dealer may be blowing smoke because GM shows it to be available...they'd order it like any other special order part. If the warranty company won't approve it though, you're probably stuck with what they will pay for or trying to work out a deal with them where you pay a portion of the part cost. You really need to verify which part number applies to your car, then your next call needs to be to the warranty company to find out what they will agree to. If you send me the last 8 digits of your VIN, tomorrow I can verify which part number applies to your car according to the GM catalog. Knowing the part number you are after will let you know how to approach the warranty company and the advisor.

 

[A_User55555]

Thanks for the help. Just sent you the last 8 digits of my VIN.

Its a DTS Premium and comes with 17in Wheels. I don't know why there's a different rack for a slightly bigger rim.

The warranty is the GMEPP warranty. So it's the official GM extended warranty. In that case, I'll call the warranty number to see if I can buy it and then give it to the dealer. Or I can insist to my service advisor to have the GM part shipped from a different dealer, and see if I can work out a shipping cost.

Here's a picture of the leak. It does seem like its leaking, but again I've never had to add power steering fluid

 

[HangFire]

A few days later I get a call from the dealership saying my steering rack is leaking. It would take a few days to replace the rack, but everything would be covered under the extended warranty. So I approved it.

Parts availability aside... doesn't anyone else find this callback very, very strange?

 

[AutoMechanic]

Parts availability aside... doesn't anyone else find this callback very, very strange?

Yes that’s what I was thinking too.

 

[01rangerxl]

Thanks for the help. Just sent you the last 8 digits of my VIN.

Its a DTS Premium and comes with 17in Wheels. I don't know why there's a different rack for a slightly bigger rim.

The warranty is the GMEPP warranty. So it's the official GM extended warranty. In that case, I'll call the warranty number to see if I can buy it and then give it to the dealer. Or I can insist to my service advisor to have the GM part shipped from a different dealer, and see if I can work out a shipping cost.

Here's a picture of the leak. It does seem like its leaking, but again I've never had to add power steering fluid

Looking it up by the VIN, both part numbers come up in the catalog, with the notation about wheel size. Since this car uses 17" wheels, 19330571 is the correct number, but it's unclear if 19330570 would work or not, and how it might change the steering feel. Both racks use the same inner and outer tie rod ends.

I think with the Cadillac Protection Plan, claims would be handled like any other GM warranty repair. Prior approval from GM would be needed to use an aftermarket part, so whoever gave that approval is probably who you need to talk to. We have used aftermarket parts for warranty work before, but only after the warranty clerk got pre-approval from GM. I would explain to the service writer that you may have found the discontinued part at other dealers, and ask them what options there are for using that part for the repair, and explain that you would be willing to handle shipping/pick up. Assuming the part is available at one of the dealers I mentioned, the dealer working on the car should be able to pay for the part with a check and have you pick it up. Depending on the dealer, getting a check from accounting for something like this is sometimes much easier said than done.

If 19330571 is just a no go, the dealer can try calling GM Partech (parts technical support line) and asking if 19330570 is acceptable to use on this vehicle.

I think the dealer is pushing for the aftermarket part because it's the least legwork to obtain. They probably already have a charge account with the vendor selling it, and it was one phone call to get approval to use it.

All of that said, I'm not sure I'd do anything. That looks like seepage that has happened over a long period of time, and it is odd that they called you about this days after the valve cover gasket repair. Did they note anything about it on your repair order for the valve cover gaskets? Did it seem like they were slow or desperate for work? Whatever the case, I would not put in an aftermarket rack to fix a leak that minor. If you go forward with the repair, I'd insist on a GM part, but I think it might be a can of worms that's not worth opening at all. I know you don't have a ton of time left on the Cadillac Protection Plan, but I'd just clean the rack off and see how bad it really is before letting them tear into it.

 

[A_User55555]

I think the dealer is pushing for the aftermarket part because it's the least legwork to obtain. They probably already have a charge account with the vendor selling it, and it was one phone call to get approval to use it.

This is what I think too. He said the aftermarket part would come from an auto-part warehouse in my neighborhood.

So I called the GMEPP warranty hotline. The person there saw my info and said the claim to replace the power steering rack was approved. Because its approved, its okay for me to buy the part and bring it to the dealer. Then the warranty company will re-imburse me.

Heres one thing the warranty person told me. GMEPP will reimburse a parts cost up to MSRP. So if a part costs $500 but the dealer selling it charges $600, GMEPP will only pay $500 and the person buying it will have to eat the extra $100.

When I called the dealer with the steering rack. The parts guy told me that my service advisor actually called him a few days ago asking about the steering rack. The parts guy gave a quote and everything, but my service advisor never followed up. So I think it would have been "too expensive" for my dealer to get the OEM part and instead tried to push the aftermarket rack on me.

Right now I'm planning on picking up the rack and giving it to my dealer.

Regarding the leak, I brought my car to the dealer 2 days before thanksgiving. I knew the VC was leaking for a while, I just didnt have time to bring it in. This dealer is actually too busy and understaffed. It takes a few days for them to actually get to bring the car in and look at it. So one week after I brought the car in, the service advisor said that yes my valve cover gaskets are leaking but so is the steering rack.

Given how "busy" they are I think the tech just spent 5 minutes looking under the car and not actually trying to verify the leak is actually from the power steering. I can tell you I've never had to add PS fluid and my steering always worked fine. I did have to add engine oil from time to time. Its very possible the leak is just engine oil seeping from the valve covers over time. If you look at the picture, you can kind of see a black oily spot by a heat shield above the rack. I only have ~30 miles left on the warranty, so cleaning the oil and driving it would make me exceed the mileage.