Power Steering Failure.

[JusticePete]

Originally Posted by willhe64

I have heard first hand of a few cases where there is a malfunction in the power assist on a vehicle (not a Camaro, but others, some of the older saginaw boxes) that causes the steering to hard over in one direction and lock. something in the valving in the power steering box. So it can happen.

Think of a steering rack as a zero sum game. i.e. 10 pounds of pressure on each side of the fence. If pressure is lost on one side of the rack, it would require different levels of steering input.

Steering assist, no matter the source, reduce the effort required to steer. No assist equal very hard to steer. Physically impossible to turn the wheel is some sort of mechanical failure. i.e. a broken gear tooth jams the rack in a fixed position.

Any type of steering malfunction is cause for the highest level response from the OEM and the OEM supplier. I speak with great confidence when I say Chevrolet and the Supplier are all over this. Bad connections, bad motor, bad whatever the instant they can isolate a direct cause they will fix it, assuming there is an issue beyond a couple of bad pins in a connector across a handful of cars. They want this resolved faster than the owners.

[Sikoriko]

Glad to see this post, my steering is harder for sure. unless it's my power add on that is causing it too stiffen up

[ec1990]

Originally Posted by JusticePete

What was the mechanical cause of the steering failure on your 05 G6?

Had the same problem in my 06 G6, it was due for me to the intermediate steering rack I believe. Had it lock up on me during a u-turn and I had to shut the car off and turn it back on for it to work.

[One-Bad-ZL1]

I can't find the thread, but after I read about it, I pulled the belly pan off my car and sure enough, if the poster of that thread was right. The wire harness that runs to the power steering motor runs by a brace supporting the front of the starter and the brace has sharp edges that could easily chafe the wires insulation. I found that wire on my car squeezed up against the brace edge. So I grabbed some wire loom and put it around the wire to avoid any chance of shorting due to chafing. Worth being safe than sorry.

[OldScoolCamaro]

...well, sloppy work yields sloppy results, and lucky for you there was not an accident or vehicle damage/personal injury involved as a result of the loose battery terminal post, .....wheeeh! Many times issues can be traced back to the last work performed on the car, not catastrophic failure or complicated malfunctions. This is proof positive.

[One-Bad-ZL1]

Car only had about 80 miles on it, so they must be coming from the factory like this. Worth checking next time your under doing and oil change.

[2001ragtop]

I noticed all the 2014 GM full size trucks are electric power steering as well. surely that design has to be bulletproof since that is their most important vehicle. something tells me this issue (with the electrical connections) was subject to a redesign but it won't be discussed out in the open.

this may have been the hold up of the first ZL1's built since they were the only camaros with electric steering at the time they built them....just sayin'

[S8ER01Z]

Originally Posted by JusticePete

What was the mechanical cause of the steering failure on your 05 G6?

The NHSTA was investigating and I got nothing but grief from the dealership... Picked the car up in October of 2004 and got rid of it a little over a year later with no resolution. Looking now it appears they looked in 2007 and found some crimp issue? Nothing ever sorted for the 'mechanical' steering lockup. I lost power assist frequently but only had the lockup occur twice (both low speed, 5-10mph).

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...h&summary=true