I have a 2004 chevy malibu with 200 some thousand miles. as I was backing out over my drive today my steering wheel started to knock and the wheels won't turn. It finally did turn after about one and a half rotation of the steering wheel. I drove around the drive and it worked ok but everytime I went right it would just spin and knock almost like the gears are striped.

Think its on the steering rack with this car as a lot of american cars have one but less so on our europeon vehicles,they dont come with power steering thats why or autogearboxes ,they even leave the spare wheel out now and give you a silly blow up can full of gooey stuff

There is one wire that attaches diirectly to horn that can be removed to stop horn. There is a fuse in fusebox that may also be removed. There are screws in the backside of steering wheel to remove front of steering wheel cover and inspect horn contact for damage or corrosion. If removing steering cover, use care to disconnect airbag actuator to prevent airbag inflation.

If you mean your steering wheels are stiff then you need to check the hydrolics for the power steering...

sounds like a steering column universal gone bad try shaking wheel while in park an look under hood at steering shaft

yes your problem is the motor. theres a new part number to replace that one. and correct not only malibu but also cobolt has the same problem

The need to turn the wheel further than usual indicates that there is excessive wear in the steering system. I'd have it checked right away by someone reliable. I won't make a guess what's wrong, but component failure in steering is a dangerous condition, not to be ignored or put off 'till later!!!

I have owned about 15 cars so far. ALL of the Chevy vehicles had developed problems with the ball joints / ball bearings. The most recent one was the one where I heard the rubbing noise. Unfortunately the front tire almost totally came off. It turned out to be the ball joints / ball bearings & the pinion. cost a couple thousand to fix. Get it checked. I saw another Chevy & that driver was NOT so lucky - their tire completely came off.

Lube your intermediate steering shaft. It is very easy. Remove the bolt in the shaft that you can see from under the hood and push the steering shaft up toward the firewall. Where the shaft goes into itself place some grease and work it back and forth. This will last quite a while, but is easy to do again if need be. Replace the bolt and you should be go to go. The dealer will charge you $150 to do the same job. The knock goes away as soon as you test it out.

track rod end

i believe they are sealed units but you can ask the dealer to be sure