unicode and sort problem??

I have a field that contains data like:
11-0681
11107841051
118U
pretty much it's alphanumeric data. This data is stored
on a AS/400 which also creates a sort field. Like:
11-0681 = ---------00Z--------570
11107841051 = -00-6730-40 110U = --------00-T
This sort field sorts correctly in access 97 but not in access 2000.
I think it might have something to do with unicode, but I am not sure.

Any help??