Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING - COLUMN | |||||
| SB-09-02-35-006 | 08/01/2009 | 10032292 | Chevrolet/pontiac/saturn: steering column tilt wheel release lever inoperative/broken (replace tilt wheel release lever kit and/or release lever retainer (tilt teeth)). *pe | 03/01/2010 | |
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING | ||||||
| EA04018 | GENERAL MOTORS CORP. | 07/01/2004 | 05/10/2005 | LOSS OF ELECTRIC POWER STEERING | ||
| In performing this engineering analysis, odi determined that the electric power steering system in the subject vehicles can malfunction or fail, causing the driver to lose power steering assistance; however, due to the following reasons, odi has decided that further expenditure of agency resources on this investigation is not warranted at this time: - gm issued customer satisfaction campaign (csc) 04050a indecember 2004 to address the alleged defect in approximately58,700 subject vehicles, encompassing at least 97 percent of thecomplaint and warranty claims population.vehicles outside thecsc 04050a population contain a newly designed torque andposition sensor and have experienced a relatively low complaintrate.this customer satisfaction campaign presently has acompletion rate of 52%. - the impact on the driver | ||||||
| STEERING - ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM | ||||||
| EA04018 | GENERAL MOTORS CORP. | 07/01/2004 | 05/10/2005 | LOSS OF ELECTRIC POWER STEERING | ||
| In performing this engineering analysis, odi determined that the electric power steering system in the subject vehicles can malfunction or fail, causing the driver to lose power steering assistance; however, due to the following reasons, odi has decided that further expenditure of agency resources on this investigation is not warranted at this time: - gm issued customer satisfaction campaign (csc) 04050a indecember 2004 to address the alleged defect in approximately58,700 subject vehicles, encompassing at least 97 percent of thecomplaint and warranty claims population.vehicles outside thecsc 04050a population contain a newly designed torque andposition sensor and have experienced a relatively low complaintrate.this customer satisfaction campaign presently has acompletion rate of 52%. - the impact on the driver | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING | |||
| 11/25/2010 | 65000 | ||
| I was driving along the road, and the yellow wrench popped up,the wheel was difficult to control. also, while turning the car the wheel was difficult to turn. this problem occurs at least 3-4 times a year.my brake peddle acts up in the snowy months. when i press the brake peddle-the peddle jumps pushes up and down into my feet. when it snows, i worry about running into a car. | |||
| 07/19/2012 | 80000 | 1 | |
| While driving in the middle of the rode, steering wheel will lock up causing me to have to restart ignition- as if the car is resetting, in order for the steering wheel to turn properly. this has happened at least 1-2x/month since the first incident. i often drive on the highway and its happened while other cars are driving around me. the steering wheel will not turn or it takes a good amount of force to make the wheel turn. its quite dangerous and very scary. i contacted the dealer and was told there are no warranty's or recalls. checked online and discovered that others are having a similar issue. now i have to pay mechanic to fix the part. *tr | |||
| 07/19/2012 | 80000 | ||
| While driving in the middle of the rode, steering wheel will lock up causing me to have to restart ignition- as if the car is resetting, in order for the steering wheel to turn properly. this has happened at least 1-2x/month since the first incident. i often drive on the highway and its happened while other cars are driving around me. the steering wheel will not turn or it takes a good amount of force to make the wheel turn. its quite dangerous and very scary. i contacted the dealer and was told there are no warranty's or recalls. checked online and discovered that others are having a similar issue. now i have to pay mechanic to fix the part. | |||
| 01/06/2011 | 13400 | ||
| !st time:driving in the drop off area of son's school and power steering went out on my wife. we had to signal the other cars around our car (2004 chevy malibu). my wife could not move the steering wheel so i had to back the car up out of the children' drop off area with no power steering into a parking space after all the children were dropped off. second time:per the message on service indicator power steering went out on a main road in our town after repairs by certified chevrolet mechanics at don hewlett chevrolet was a year later right after the warranty went out. i was told i would have to pay for the repairs since the warranty was up. there have been 46 complaints on a website called www.carcomplaints.com regarding this same issue and the 2005 chevrolet malibu was recalled for this same issue of the power steering failure. | |||
| 10/17/2011 | |||
| The power steering constantly goes out on this car. i can be driving at any speed and it will go out without warning. i have been informed that there was no recall, yet this is a very common issue with these vehicles. the quote i've been given to repair is over $500 and several people had to get the repair done more than once. chevy should do a recall and compensate the consumers. | |||
| 02/01/2011 | |||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet malibu classic. the contact stated that the steering wheel would fail intermittently. in april 2011, the vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who replaced the rack and pinon however, the failure persisted. neither the dealer nor manufacturer were notified of the failure, nor was the vehicle repaired. the current mileage was 110,000 and the approximate failure mileage was unknown. the vin was unavailable. kmj | |||
| 02/01/2011 | |||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated that the steering worked intermittently. in april 2011, the vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who replaced the rack and pinon; however, the failure continued to occur. the dealer or manufacturer had not been notified nor was the vehicle repaired. the current mileage was 110,000. the approximate failure mileage was unknown. the vin was unavailable. bw | |||
| 07/16/2011 | 19000 | ||
| Power steering goes out while driving, twice in the last two days | |||
| 03/02/2011 | 80000 | ||
| While driving down the expressway,my power steering went out. i pulled over to the side of the road and shut my car off and started it up again and it started working again.gm has recalled other models for doin the same thing,but not the 2004 malibu. this is very dangerus and somebody is going to get killed unless gm takes care of this problem. the 2004 chev. malibu has electric assised power steering. the thing is that gm,the dealers and nhsta all know about the problem,but are not doing anything until people are hurt and killed. i bought the car new and have taken very good care of it. | |||
| 02/28/2011 | 115000 | ||
| Electric power steering malfunction | |||
| 01/31/2011 | 86000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet malibu classic. while driving approximately 30 mph the steering column locked up. the vehicle became very difficult to steer. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for the failure and the contact went to move the vehicle and the vehicle was ok. the vehicle was not checked by the dealer. the contact stated the failure only happen once. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not available. the failure was 86,000 and current mileage was 86.030. vwb | |||
| 05/31/2010 | 49364 | ||
| While coming off the highway, i noticed i no longer have power steering. the entire rest of the way home, no power steering. i searched on line to see if there was a resivoir to put more power steering fluid in, and there appears to be none and i will have to fork out over $500 for a new steering column. i was never informed of any problem with the 2004 chevrolet malibu and a power steering problem. | |||
| 09/08/2009 | 1 | ||
| Steering wheel would shimmy while in motion, often accompanied by knocking that is heard and also felt through the steeringwheel while applying brakes, and would stop only when the vehicle came to an near or complete stop. other notable events include a rough vibration with an audible repetitive thumping that was felt from the left front wheel that would slip on regular intervals while applying brakes. the failure happened suddenly while driving my 2 special needs boys to school. the failure started with little warning in front of the school which is located right off the boulevard. i was able to bring the car safely to a stop due to the 25mph school zone rule. the maximum speed limit is 35 during non school hours and 40 mph further down the boulevard. the power steering became extremely difficult to steer with in seconds before the service (wrench) light came on. i parked my vehicle, and called my insurance company to have my car towed to an reputable care repair shop because the car wasn't safe for me to drive. after 50 minutes the tow truck arrived and when the driver started my car, the car was again steer-able and the maintenance light was no longer on. the mechanics were unsuccessful in reproducing the steering malfunction. september 9th, 2009 , the same failure repeated itself, same location same time as before, the maintenance light turned on and then unlike the first event on september 8th, the radio displayed an powersteering failure message on its' screen. the mechanic at the auto shop took a look at my car immediately after he saw the maintenance light, and the powersteering failure message. after the powersteering part from bob stall chevrolet was delivered, the part was then installed. i paid out of pocket, and didn't find out until after service was rendered, that a discovery was made by the shop while searching for information about my car, that there had been a recall. i never received gm's notice. i have the old part. part installed is new. *tr | |||
| 08/17/2006 | 60001 | 1 | 06/26/2004 |
| I kept hearing a rattling in my car coming from the front tires area. i took it to my local gm dealership and it was diagnosed as needing a steering gear. my car is only 2 years old, though it has relatively high mileage. after consulting with others more knowledgeable about cars, i found out that gm has had problems with steering gears in the past, and that my car is definitely too young to have that part needing replacement. it's a 2004 chevy malibu with 64k+ miles on it.*jb | |||
| 06/01/2005 | 25000 | 1000 | 02/15/2005 |
| Dt*: the contact stated the steering on the vehicle locks momentarily. this happens without warning. the vehicle has been to the dealership were the vehicle was test driven. the dealership was unable to duplicate the problem. the manufacturer has not been alerted. | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM | |||
| 01/01/1901 | 1 | ||
| 2004 malibu classic with power steering problems. **cc the consumer was involved in an accident where the power steering went completely out. *jb | |||