New Steering Rack for a 2000 Corvette

I took my 2000 Corvette in for some dealer warranty work to the security system which involved the steering column. When the car was ready the dealer said they did a complimentary 26 point check and that my rear differential, transmission, and clutch fluid all needed to be replaced. I pointed out that rear seals were replaced on the differential and that I had a new clutch put in all only 3 weeks ago and asked if it was likely the Corvette shop used the old oils. The dealer said that it happens all the time. Wow. Now the problem. I notice that the steering fluid is dark grey, milky and the steering has a definite flat spot about 1:00 and doesn?t center after going through a turn. The Corvette shop says I need a new steering rack and I don?t doubt it. Is it possible that the dealer added something that destroyed the steering?

You gave absolutely no description of any symptoms. An example could be the differential seals. The seals were replaced so does this mean the differential was run low on oil? If so, this means damage could have occurred and simply replacing the seals and oil will cure nothing.

As to the steering rack the car is 9 years old. Odds are the fluid is also 9 years old, will darken over time, and stuff happens so please forget the conspiracy theories. The dealer is not adding anything to the fluid destroy the steering.

Hum, to replace the seals on a differential the clip ring inside the differental gets pulled to pull the shaft. To get to the clip rign you have to remove the differential cover. What happens to the oil when you remove differential cover? It spills out all and any thought about reusing it is absurd. Hum.

What happened here was the Dealer got caught,they told you fluids needed to be replaced simply to get more work, they hadn’t thought you might have had work done that required new fluids.

Then to give you a story that “it happens all the time” was a lame attempt to explain themselves.

Don’t use this Dealer again. They don’t deserve your trust.

It is odd you say “warranty work” on a 2000 model, extended warranty?

You say “Corvette shop” you mean a Independant? But if you have extended warranty why would a independant be doing your clutch work?

Curious, Did the 26 point complimentary inspection detect the steering rack problem?

I still don’t see what any of the prior repairs have to do with the steering fluid.
I’m not that familiar with late model Vettes but as far as I know those cars do not use removeable C-clip rear axles at all; they use halfshafts and the halfshaft seals can be replaced without disassmbly of the differential.

Replacing the clutch does not mean draining or refilling the transmission and replacing the clutch assembly does not mean the clutch fluid was replaced so there’s a few things here that strike me as odd.

(And I’ll only say that in my lifetime I’ve never seen fluids reused and one thing that someone should NEVER do is put much faith into what someone at the dealer service counter may say. You’re usually talking to a service writer or service manager. The vast majority of those guys are mechanically illiterate and try to BS their way through things rather than admit they don’t know.)