Steering wheel locks on cold mornings 2020 1500 crew

Rackmaster · December 26, 2020

2020 crew 1500 silverado, 4x4

My steering wheel locks when it gets to low 20's,

when will not turn, hard stop just like its locked with ignition off.

engine starts, goes in drive and reverse without a prob.

can move pk back and forth, just cant steer.

NO codes, no messages.

after warmup , 20-30 minutes, it will steer, and it feels rough, like i can feel every gear as it moves wheels left and right. .

after a few minutes it returns to normal.

called dealership, they kept it a for 4 days and said they could not duplicate problem.

said they could not diagnoise the problem if it did not duplicate problem for them to verify. .

its happened twice since then, 21 deg and I was out of state, and today 23 degrees in my carport, but dealer closed.

I have videod the issue for them this time , since previously they acted like I was probably over reacting.

anyone experience this ?

lothodon · December 30, 2020

I'll give you my info. 2019 TB with 63k miles. I bought with 61k. Horrible belt squeal, not just when cold either. Backing out of my driveway it occasionally fights me to turn but thankfully it recovers quickly. I can drive 10 miles to my coffee stop in the morning and it'll still squeal turning again. I am going to cheap out and replace just the drive belt as I don't want to fight with the stretch fit, hoping it's a pump pulley slip issue. I am not a mechanic in any way but I know the basics and can turn a wrench but I still haven't found my power steering fluid fill to check it.

I will admit even at 6'4" the TB is a very tall truck and seeing in the engine compartment is an effort even for me and winter makes me really lazy. If only I had a heated garage.

Rackmaster · December 31, 2020

Mine has done it 3 times, all when temps are low 20s,

My first thought was that the fluid is low.

I found out that these units are electric , so they dont use fluid.

No squeals on this one, just locks steering wheel.

lothodon · December 31, 2020

This truck has made my 50+ year old self feel really dated. I've never known engines but I can turn a wrench and have leveled or lifted more trucks than I can remember. These new engines have me so confused. I looked all over for the fluid....that isn't there. My 17 had electric assisted if I recall so I was shocked to learn today that these new ones are electric only. At least I know my squeal isn't my power steering!!!

Sorry I wasn't able to give you any valued input.