98 Cadillac Seville L/PwrStr/Rough Frt/End/Struts Go Way Up

98 Cadillac Seville SLS - Continuously Variable Road Sensing Suspension - CVRSS

Thanks for your answer.

Can I easily check the rh steering gear mount by just opening the hood or do I have to remove anything, or move something out of the way etc, etc, or do I have to check it out from under the car?

With this problem why does the front end stay level when you turn the steering wheel from the center position to the right, why doesn't it also cause the front end to go way up too like turning the steering wheel to the left does?

"If you have noise and the front end is raising, check to see that the rh steering gear mount is not broken away from the gear, and/or mounting bolts aren't missing."

What does the "rh" in "rh steering gear mount" stand for?

Is it rear housing stearing gear mount?

If the rh-sg-mount is broken, is that a costly repair or is it in the $300 range. Is there alot of labor or is it hard to work in or get to that area, is it a 1 hour or 2 hour or more job to fix?

If the mount is not broken but the bolts are missing or just loose, is that alot less of a job. Or is just setting up for and getting to the repair area where most of the time goes to?

Could this situation have caused other damage such as to the gear itself or even bent the steering shaft?

Because the PS gear is not being controlled or keptin place as the result of a loose or broken rh-sg-mount, etc, could any other close by or related component, or anything else have been damaged?

Could any steering, front end, wheel alignment, or suspension parts have been damaged by this situaition and from driving it this way around town the past 2 weeks, but not too much driving?

Are there any kind of adjustments that will need to be made after the rh-sg-mount is secured again?
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This car is going to a new mechanic this Tuesday, I won't be there, but I am coaching the owner of the car so that they'll do alot better with this new mechanic, and get a more proper and fairer estimate than if you and I wasn't helping them this way.

He might be a the kind of mechanic we all wish for and I hope he is,

but the last time the person I'm coaching about this car went to a mechanic with this car, they tried to sell her 2 rear shocks for $2000. She actually signed the "go" on the work order and paid for it.

Don't ask me how I did it, but I called the guy the next morning and covinced him to not put in the 2 new rear shocks, which he was waiting to be delivered to his shop.

They gave a full refund on the credit card and gave us a bill for under $500 for brake work and some other things.

He had said the day before that the 2 rear shocks looked real bad.

Well 2 years later and they're still ok.

So it always helps to figure out what's actually wrong with your car as best as you can, before you take it to a new mechanic, or if you're unsure or weary about the outcome and/or the cost of the major repairs you've done with the mechanic you always go to.
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I was sure that this car had 4 air struts/shocks, so that they could all react within the CVRSS system.

After your message I tried to get a clear answer on that.

Here is some info I found on this subject.

At a top Cadillac new parts website an air compressor was one of the oem replacement parts in the rear suspension parts section, so the rear shocks are definitely air shocks.

But the compressor was not one of the parts mentioned in the oem front suspension parts section. So I was unsure that the 1 compressor was for all 4 shocks/struts.

After alot of searching I found another site that sells conversion kits for the 98 Seville front air struts.
You end up with a passive non-air strut.

They say:

1998-2004 Cadillac Seville Front Air Suspension Conversion Kit with Resistor

Fits: 1998-2004 4.6L Cadillac Seville (Front)
Conversion to replace the front struts with dependable passive struts. Electronic bypass included to remove the service ride control message for your Northstar system.

This has to be a conversion kit to go from
air struts to non-air struts, because their is no mention of needing to buy an air crompressor.

After reading what this top suspension website is advertising, do you agree that the 98 Seville SLS with the CVRSS has 4 air shocks/struts and not just 2 air shocks in the rear?

They're not just saying to convert your electronically controlled front struts (CVRSS) to a non-electronic passive strut.

They are saying, to convert your electronically controlled front air struts (CVRSS) to non-electronic non-air passive struts.

If after reading what they are advertising, you still want me to accept that this car has 2 electronically controlled non-air front struts, can you tell me why they are saying what they're saying there at
srutmasters. Com, a very high profile Cadillac suspension parts website, about converting the front electronically controlled air struts to passive shocks?

This is from an article I was reading:

Continuously Variable Road Sensing Suspension CVRSS

Said our editor-in-chief in September '98 about the
Sevilles CVRSS, "It reacts strongly to broken or undulating pavement, stiffening suddenly, which feels unnatural. One minute you'll be enjoying a nice ride; the next it feels as though someone has stolen the tires and you're riding on the rims.I'd prefer a more conventional suspension set-up to this software-fueled and easily fuddled Cadillac CVRSS system.

I give you full compliments on this part of your reply:

"If you have noise and the front end is raising, check to see that the rh steering gear mount is not broken away from the gear, and/or mounting bolts aren't missing."

This is very helpfull and sounds like it mighht be the exact problem or very close to it.

It's probably not this but I just had to ask:
If the front has air struts is it possible that the front end rising way up is being triggered by the CVRSS system filling the front shocks with alot of air, because of the very rough power steering, which only happens when you turn the steering wheel from the center position to the left?

Why is the front end going all the way up when the steering wheel is turned to the left, what is the actual mechanical cause etc, etc.

Are the struts filling with extra air or is the front end being lifted because of the force of an out of control power steering gear pushing the front end up, caused by the possible loose or missing bolts not holding it in its place etc, etc.

Turning to the right causes the front end to go down.
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About the 90 mph message

There are no codes set for the stabilitrack system showing up on my autoxray 1500 code scout.

The 90 mph message only started showing up when the power steering problem started to get worse, so there has to be a connection between the two even if not directly related.

Is it possible that the car rising or jumping up in the air when turning the steering wheel to the left and at the same time backing up could be upsetting the stabilitrack systems feedback to the ecm and causing that message to appear on the display?

It does the same thing again as you take off going forward right after you back up. It also starts to stall and then the engine goes back on as you take off.

This also has never happened before, so it's related to this power steering problem putting too much strain on the electrical system, fuel system,
and/or on the engine itself. It starts to stall for a second and then goes back on as your taking off forward.

Do the best you can replying to this reply. I just want as much good info on what's really happening now with this car, with a clearer picture about what is the actual cause of the front end going way up
when the steering wheel is turned to the left.

It seems that if it's the

"rh steering gear mount is not broken away from the gear, and/or mounting bolts aren't missing"

then it's not that the air shocks are filling up with air in response to the power steering problem.

It's the leverage of the powerful power steering system forcing the front end up because it's moving the whole car up as the gear is being turned to the left and not being bolted down etc, etc.

With this problem why does the front end stay level when you turn the steering wheel from the center position to the right?

What does this symptom tell you:

In park when turning the steering wheel to the left from the center position, as you get to 1/2 way towards full left, their is alot of very rough and grinding sound resistence, and you have to force the steering wheel past that point to get it to go any further to the left.

Once you get past that rough point you can turn all the way to the left without much resistence, but the power steering pump and/or the belt has a very overly loud whining sound all the way to the left.

The more info on this topic that you give me before Tuesday the better.

I wish I could donate more. You and all from your site certainly deserve it.

Thanks again,
Eric

Thanks for all the great info on the CVRSS,

RH Steering Gear Mount

Does the rh steering gear mount stand for the right housing steering gear mount or the rear housing steering gear mount?

Is that the inner tie rod mount to the right side of the steering gear that you're referring to as being broken or missing bolts?

The mechanic said the car has to wait until Thursday to be checked out. So any new info helps.

I read all of the CVRSS info you sent me.

No air assist in the front struts is mentioned. The back shocks are mentioned for air assist.

But why does strutmasters. Com say that they are selling front passive (air assisted or is it not air assisted) struts to replace the original air assisted and electronically controlled struts for the 98-2004 seville?

Is that just because they have shock and strut conversion kit listings for so many Cadillac models and years that that's simply a typo?

Thanks,
Eric

Your last reply was very helpful with dealing with this cars current problem.

It's one of the best code scanners of the ones that don't do alot of kinds of readings such as ABS or RSS.

It's good for emissions codes and for inspection readiness. But it does read out alot of kinds of auto system codes related to engine performance and tune-up. New it's around $100 or more.

I quick checked the right tie rod area and the rubber boot looks really messed up, it looks like you were right about that area being the source of this problem.

I didn't take the boot off yet to check the mount and the bolts. I will do that Wednesday.

The only code that the Code Scout is reading now is a P0103 Mass Airflow.

Is there a way to get that code related to the 90 mph message to read out on the cars dashboard display?

Too bad you wrote such a good answer and lost it to the relogin.

They should give a 2 minute warning for relogin so you can just save your reply, go relogin, and just copy the saved message back into the box and finish the last few sentences, etc.

This is not my car, if it was I would have attempted to fix it myself or found the right person to fix it myself.

But it seems that this mechanic is being very cool about the whole thing. Cool as in good.

After some testing and then parking, the right inner tierod finnally gave way and fell out of the boot, it broke clean off.

As I was trying to park the car I was like uh oh, is it the tranny, is it the steering gear, eventually I went and checked, and the inner tierod was broken and the right wheel was floating on its own.

I didn't get to check out what was left in the boot or the condition of the rh gear mount and bolts.

The boot was very roughed up and looked worn out too.

He's charging $535 for a new stearing gear assembly. $200 for the labor. So he's getting around $400 for the labor.

Since I didn't get to see what was in the boot, I can't say it needed a new steering gear, but the car was driven for 3 or more weeks, with the tierod bending and twisting, it must have damaged the inner working of the rh steering gear mounting area, where it is attached.

If it was my car I would have been there to look at the steering gear rh which he said was damaged, just to confirm, that it needs to be replaced. That's the best way to do it, just go down there so they can show you that it has to be replaced.

I sawa rebuilt one online for $300 with a trade in, $480 without.

The mechanic was ok when asked about it, but I never spoke to him.

He said that it could be a hassle to exchange the broken one (send by usps) to an online co because they might not accept it, when they saw what was wrong with it.

I'll be reading the codes from the dash after the car is fixed.

It sounds like you could build one of these cars if you had to.

This car had alot of work done on it when it was under warranty and not much since, with very little repairs needed after that.

It's got a really powerful engine, with 70,000 miles on it.

Some people really like these cars for alot of good reasons and others don't, because they're expecting them to be alot better quality for the $ they cost, or they just ran into too many needed repairs along the way.

Thanks,
Eric