"Service power steering, drive safely"

obrien19 · November 22, 2015

So I can't help but feel like my truck is cursed, with in the last year of owning it, it's been rear ended twice, both times damage has been in the same spot, and to top it off, today when the wife and I went to leave the restaurant we had just finished eating at, started the truck and I got a lovely message saying "service power steering, drive safely" and had no power steering whatsoever. Luckily Chevy roadside assistance towed the truck for me. Anyone else have any issue with their power steering on the new 2014-15s?

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fondupot · November 23, 2015

So I can't help but feel like my truck is cursed, with in the last year of owning it, it's been rear ended twice, both times damage has been in the same spot, and to top it off, today when the wife and I went to leave the restaurant we had just finished eating at, started the truck and I got a lovely message saying "service power steering, drive safely" and had no power steering whatsoever. Luckily Chevy roadside assistance towed the truck for me. Anyone else have any issue with their power steering on the new 2014-15s?

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There has been a few issues with some of the 2014 steering gear boxes. They changed manufacturers I believe part way through the year on the 2014's. So you may be getting a new steering gear box of a new design that will not have issues.

obrien19 · November 23, 2015

There has been a few issues with some of the 2014 steering gear boxes. They changed manufacturers I believe part way through the year on the 2014's. So you may be getting a new steering gear box of a new design that will not have issues.

Well just got an update from the dealer. Need a new power steering motor and a new Power Steering control module. My only real worry, is that my truck is tuned, and I was not able to reset the stock tune, so we will see what happens. They are also going to be preforming the two out standing recalls, one for the 4WD transfer case, and the one for checking to see if the parking cable bolt is torqued correctly.

fondupot · November 23, 2015

Well just got an update from the dealer. Need a new power steering motor and a new Power Steering control module. My only real worry, is that my truck is tuned, and I was not able to reset the stock tune, so we will see what happens. They are also going to be preforming the two out standing recalls, one for the 4WD transfer case, and the one for checking to see if the parking cable bolt is torqued correctly.

I wouldnt worry. The ecm and/or tcm tunes you have will not be affected by anything they are doing.

Garykk · November 23, 2015

Well just got an update from the dealer. Need a new power steering motor and a new Power Steering control module. My only real worry, is that my truck is tuned, and I was not able to reset the stock tune, so we will see what happens. They are also going to be preforming the two out standing recalls, one for the 4WD transfer case, and the one for checking to see if the parking cable bolt is torqued correctly.

It really does not matter if you reset the ECM, they can tell if a tune has been in it...

obrien19 · November 23, 2015

It really does not matter if you reset the ECM, they can tell if a tune has been in it...

I'm not worried about them finding the tune. My worry is I've heard that if the ECM gets reset before the stock tune is on it, the tuner has to be re linked to the truck because the tuner will show different number than what it was linked to. Idk if that is true, just what i've read online.

Avicohn · November 25, 2015

2014 Silverado 1500 LTZ 43000 miles

Power steering failed while driving. Lucky no accident. Contacted Chevrolet customer service. Was advised to have the truck towed to a dealer.

After two days, was told the EPS motor burnt and took the battery and the wiring with it.

Chevrolet agreed to pay for the repair less $130 Also given a rental car for three days...Well done. HOWEVER here is where the fun begins.

Four days later the dealer calls to tell me that they replaced the EPS motor but now have funny noise coming from the steering rack and pinon and that they found water inside the steering therefore it is not covered under warranty and I will have to pay an extra $2,000.

Contacted Chevrolet again. Raise my concern that if I cannot drive the truck in the rain then what good is it?

Chevrolet admitted that there should not be any water penetration into the steering system but insisted I will have to pay for the repair since they cannot verify where the water came from.

My conclusion is that Chevrolet is NOT standing behind the product. GM is aware of the defective EPS. It is only matter of time before a fatal accident will occur. I filed two reports with the U.S. DOT National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. WHEN (not if but WHEN) a fatal accident will occur because of the faulty EPS design, this will be the proof that GM has been notified of the danger.

It looks like I am not the only owner who has suffered from this failure. I am not sure what else I can do.

I paid over $40,000 for this truck, it will be for sale in the very near future. I will not risk the safety of my family or myself.

obrien19 · November 26, 2015

2014 Silverado 1500 LTZ 43000 miles

Power steering failed while driving. Lucky no accident. Contacted Chevrolet customer service. Was advised to have the truck towed to a dealer.

After two days, was told the EPS motor burnt and took the battery and the wiring with it.

Chevrolet agreed to pay for the repair less $130 Also given a rental car for three days...Well done. HOWEVER here is where the fun begins.

Four days later the dealer calls to tell me that they replaced the EPS motor but now have funny noise coming from the steering rack and pinon and that they found water inside the steering therefore it is not covered under warranty and I will have to pay an extra $2,000.

Contacted Chevrolet again. Raise my concern that if I cannot drive the truck in the rain then what good is it?

Chevrolet admitted that there should not be any water penetration into the steering system but insisted I will have to pay for the repair since they cannot verify where the water came from.

My conclusion is that Chevrolet is NOT standing behind the product. GM is aware of the defective EPS. It is only matter of time before a fatal accident will occur. I filed two reports with the U.S. DOT National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. WHEN (not if but WHEN) a fatal accident will occur because of the faulty EPS design, this will be the proof that GM has been notified of the danger.

It looks like I am not the only owner who has suffered from this failure. I am not sure what else I can do.

I paid over $40,000 for this truck, it will be for sale in the very near future. I will not risk the safety of my family or myself.

I hear you on the safety issue. I just picked my truck back up on Tuesday, they replaced the EPS motor and control unit, so far I haven't had any other issues, to me steering feels a little looser, but I can't tell because I drive a company car now, and rarely drive the truck. I only have 23k on my truck and asked the dealership of they could tell me why it failed and they indicated it was the first time they have ever seen one fail.

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Garykk · November 27, 2015

I'm not worried about them finding the tune. My worry is I've heard that if the ECM gets reset before the stock tune is on it, the tuner has to be re linked to the truck because the tuner will show different number than what it was linked to. Idk if that is true, just what i've read online.

If that's the case, you would probably have to pay for a new tune.

Avicohn · November 29, 2015

I hear you on the safety issue. I just picked my truck back up on Tuesday, they replaced the EPS motor and control unit, so far I haven't had any other issues, to me steering feels a little looser, but I can't tell because I drive a company car now, and rarely drive the truck. I only have 23k on my truck and asked the dealership of they could tell me why it failed and they indicated it was the first time they have ever seen one fail.

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So sad that my Electric Power Steering (EPS) Safety issue is going from bad to worse. I own a 2014 Silverado 1500 LTZ, 43000 miles. Two weeks ago the EPS failed while I was driving. Luckily no one was hurt. After long discussion with GM, the EPS Motor, Wiring loom and battery were replece with minimal cost to me ($130). BUT was advised that the rack and pinion would need to be replaced too but GM so far refuse to foot the bill.

I identified the SOURCE of the problem to water penetration into the EPS system through a Non-Waterproof connector. However, No one at GM is willing to investigate this design fault. Instead I was advised to file an insurance claim....Really? What am I missing here?

Yesterday I took my truck to a local car wash, Upon exiting the car wash, the EPS failed again and this time I almost hit a pedestrian. I hope he is not filing a police report as this was a very dangerous situation.

My truck has been towed to the Chevy dealer again. Of course this had to happened Saturday evening when the Dealer Service department is closed, and GM Customer Service is not responding to my call. I am stranded now without a car and no ideal how GM is going to address the repair, the safety issue or even lend me a car while they complete the proper repair. Would GM be able to make amend to such a serious issue? Time will tell. BUT for the time being I lost confident and trust in GM product. What a shame.

obrien19 · November 29, 2015

If it is a design flaw, I'm surprised there hasn't been more issues with it, I imagine probably 90%if owners take their trucks through car washes. Dealership told me that this was the first time they've ever seen a power steering system failed like it did on my truck

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batman900 · November 29, 2015

Following this. Are all trucks missing this shielding? I think I may use a high pressure car wash soon & if I have any issues its gone. I'd rather test it alone than with my family in the truck. I am Very much about safety as well.

Avicohn · November 30, 2015

As per GM Customer Service today: "if the power steering failure was caused by a car wash I should file a claim with the car wash operation".

WOW Talk about denial!!!! So no only should I not drive my truck in the rain, I should not wash it either.

drewmeister · August 25, 2016

Not sure if there are many more of these happening still, but I bough a 2016 Silverado crew cab 2 days ago and I had the service power steering light come up the first day and had no power steering. Its at the dealer now. They are going to replace the fuse box, but I don't think that is it. That's just what GM told them to do.

Alter · August 27, 2016

Well just got an update from the dealer. Need a new power steering motor and a new Power Steering control module. My only real worry, is that my truck is tuned, and I was not able to reset the stock tune, so we will see what happens. They are also going to be preforming the two out standing recalls, one for the 4WD transfer case, and the one for checking to see if the parking cable bolt is torqued correctly.

The GM dealership had to replaced the steering module in our 2015 Canyon( less than 10,000K) after the steering intermittently stopped working after they did a recall and flashed the computer. After that there was banging and clacking with every bump and using the brakes, that Canyon almost killed us on the highway after the first failed flash of the computer. We lost trust in the Canyon and traded it off for a 16 Silverado with some help from our dealer and GM. I feel sorry for whoever bought that Canyon. I'd be very wary about them replacing the steering module since our Canyon was never the same after they did. We now service our silverado at a different dealer that's a hour away.