Thread: Tapping feel in steering wheel

Hi, Brand New here and wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this. I have a 2007 GXP which I bough used with around 12,000 miles and now have close to 50,000. Recently, I've been feeling a tapping sensation at the steering wheel when going around turns and I'm not sure what is causing it. the care seems to handle fine and I don't experience any issues just going down the road, but when making left turns like on a curved highway entrance ramp, I get this tapping feel in the steering wheel. It feels like suspension movement is being somehow transmitted to the steering. Its subtle, but noticeable and just doesn't feel right. Also feeling some movement through the brake pedal when slowing the car down on a long downhill. Everything works, but something is amiss. Anyone else have these symptoms?

Thanks Sabrewings, That post over on the Impala site seems to describe it exactly. Really appreciate you pointing me in the right direction. I was afraid I was oing to have to bring the car to a mechanic who would either tell me something expensive needed fixing (ball joints, strut replacement, etc) or tell me there is nothing wrong with the car since the symptoms are subtle and could easily be missed in a quick road test.

It's interesting that this problem affects the Impala and Grand Prix, but not necessarily the Buick Regal. Prior to owning the Grand Prix, I had a Regal GS with the supercharged 3.8 and really never had anyting major go wrong with the car (put 205,000 miles on the thing before it needed a top end rebuild and I decided it was time to move on).

I then bought a Subaru Legacy GT Turbo, which I ended up not liking due to the turbo lag and its jekyll and Hyde power delivery characteristics (all or nothing). So ended up trading that in on the GXP, which has been great, except for this annoying bug. Hopefully a little lubricant will fix things. Anyway, Really appreciate the advice!!

So I stopped at the hardware store and picked up some PB Blaster and some Lithium spray grease and when I got home went under the dash and sprayed. This morning, no more tapping feel through the steering wheel. Great tip!

I'm so glad I found this post. I too am having the same problem and also thought I was having some serious issues. I'm gonna try it this weekend. Thanks for the post.