Sudden Loss of Power Steering WHEN DRIVING

[Sir Les]

Why is it so hard to find a dealer that does decent work?

Whilst my car was subject to fixed price servicing I used my local Holden dealer, and they also did the power steering motor recall. I haven't had any issues with them, I'm glad to say. After each service I received an email from Holden, asking me to fill in a quick feedback survey. If you get these emails, that's your chance to vent your frustrations. Whether Holden pays any attention is another matter.........

 

[VS 5.0]

After each service I received an email from Holden, asking me to fill in a quick feedback survey. If you get these emails, that's your chance to vent your frustrations. Whether Holden pays any attention is another matter.........

I refuse to get mine serviced at a dealer after my last experience a few years ago.

They still send me a service reminder and a service overdue notice every few months in the snail mail which includes a short survey card where you can comment on where / why you go elsewhere.

My responses are always negative. I have yet to hear back from them.

 

[John Revill]

I hate to say this guy and gals, but Holden are useless. Holden are swearing black and blue that my Caprice has the latest components and will not repair as part of the recall. Yet my car still had the problem. They have said I will need to pay for all investigation and repair costs. Holden can not tell me specifically how I can identify the updated part which make me think Holden actually don't know what is causing the problem and are hoping that replacing the part will fix it. I have only has the steering drop out on me twice in 4 years with the last one being about 2 months ago. Not happy with Holdens customer service.

 

[Skylarking]

@John Revill i think the Aussie Caprice was the first to suffer the EPS assistance failure in Aussie premium taxis, then later the USA Police Pursuit vehicles suffered the problem? And it kept getting bigger and dragged on for years before Holden finally had a recall on this fault

It may be that a later build Caprice had an improved rack design with gold plated pins and other improvements to resolve the issue. Sadly, if you are having a problem, and Holden insist your vehicle has the fixed rack, then the underlying issue may have not been resolved. Remember, Holden has had so many bites at fixing this fault. Maybe Holden are simply too scared to even contemplate that the underlying problem may not have been fully solved

But luckily the reality is that it is not for you to identify what is technically wrong with the vehicle. All you have to do is state that you have a serious safety issue which must be considered a major fault under ACL. So if Holden doesn’t want to help you, and you have proof you’ve suffered the failure, like a picture of your DIK (never gets old), and you also bought the vehicle from a dealer, then use the power afforded to you by ACL. As such, return the vehicle to the selling dealer as having a major fault under ACL and tell them that your chosen remedy is a full purchase price refund as the law provides.

Then go buy from a manufacturer that supports their vehicles better than Holden does. Sadly they all seem to be crap when you have serious problems and the fix is uncertain

 

[John Revill]

@John Revill i think the Aussie Caprice was the first to suffer the EPS assistance failure in Aussie premium taxis, then later the USA Police Pursuit vehicles suffered the problem? And it kept getting bigger and dragged on for years before Holden finally had a recall on this fault

It may be that a later build Caprice had an improved rack design with gold plated pins and other improvements to resolve the issue. Sadly, if you are having a problem, and Holden insist your vehicle has the fixed rack, then the underlying issue may have not been resolved. Remember, Holden has had so many bites at fixing this fault. Maybe Holden are simply too scared to even contemplate that the underlying problem may not have been fully solved

But luckily the reality is that it is not for you to identify what is technically wrong with the vehicle. All you have to do is state that you have a serious safety issue which must be considered a major fault under ACL. So if Holden doesn’t want to help you, and you have proof you’ve suffered the failure, like a picture of your DIK (never gets old), and you also bought the vehicle from a dealer, then use the power afforded to you by ACL. As such, return the vehicle to the selling dealer as having a major fault under ACL and tell them that your chosen remedy is a full purchase price refund as the law provides.

Then go buy from a manufacturer that supports their vehicles better than Holden does. Sadly they all seem to be crap when you have serious problems and the fix is uncertain

Thanks. I have a photo of the fault on the Dash, and an entry in my Log book with the kms (Which also match my photo) and the GPS location on the photo which also matches my Log book entry.

So are you saying they should be able to check the Steering Rack and see if it has the revised part?

 

[Sir Les]

So are you saying they should be able to check the Steering Rack and see if it has the revised part?

The replaced part is the electric motor which bolts onto and operates the steering rack. I see no reason why it wouldn't have an identifying number on it, which would allow Holden to check when it was produced.

 

[Skylarking]

I’d think Holden should know what was used to build the car and by virtue of Holden saying your car is not being recalled, it must have the revised rack installed. Part number stickers on the equipment itself could easily confirm this.

However, all that is irrelevant if you’ve had an EPS assistance failure. Simply put, Holden needs to investigate why you have had such a failure (as is implied by the picture) AND verify what’s actually installed is indeed the revised part.

This should be critically important to Holden because if you do have the revised rack I’d say Holden requires some more engineering investigation to determine why a revised part still has the problem (they’ve done that a few times already). It would be in Holden interest to find out why you have had this failure occur before they get too far into the recall only to later find they have to do a “round 2” rack replacement. But the idiots at Holden Customer Care aren’t seeing the bigger picture and can be a brick wall you can’t get past.

As is, you have a major fault under ACL, and Holden are showing no interest in investigating the cause of the fault (which may or may not be an EPS assistance failure as no DTCs were captured to confirm the actual fault but that’s irrelevant to you as a purchaser). For them to go down the “pay for diagnostics” route seems to highlight that Holden don’t seem to be interested and probably are not following their undertaking to the ACCC.

So the question is, do you want to push them to fix the fault or push them for an ACL major fault full purchase price refund. As they are “useless” in your words, I’d think the later should have some appeal

 

[Skylarking]

The replaced part is the electric motor which bolts onto and operates the steering rack. I see no reason why it wouldn't have an identifying number on it, which would allow Holden to check when it was produced.

The original parts used in manufacturer was one assembly. You couldn’t get parts to repair the sub assembly components.

Holden developed a kit of parts to “repair” the assembly in a more cost effective way. As such, only “repaired” vehicles would have the updated electric motor part. End result would be just like the latter racks used in manufacturer but checking part numbers would be challenging without information on what is what.

I’ve always though the best determination of latest revised rack was gold plated connector pins bu5 never seen any pictures and haven’t gotten under my car to check.

 

[John Revill]

However, all that is irrelevant if you’ve had an EPS assistance failure. Simply put, Holden needs to investigate why you have had such a failure (as is implied by the picture) AND verify what’s actually installed is indeed the revised part.

"{NAME WITHHELD}" at Heartland Holden in Penrith NSW told me that unless the fault occurs while "They" (being Holden) have the car, they will not be able to identify the source of the fault. Seeing as it have been 2 years between faults, I am not leaving my car with Holden until the fault reoccurs. If there is a clear identifying mark that will indicate if the part is the re-engineered part or not, I would like to find out what it is as clearly Holden don't want to do the work.

Just as a side note, Holden have no idea what they put in their cars. My rego papers say I have a 6.2L V8 and Redbook says my VIN number is a WN Series 2 (VF2). It was advertised as a series II. However I have an L77 6.0L and it is a series 1. Clearly Holden has reported to incorrect information to the relevant parties. I also have a Series II fusebox in the boot with Bimodel Exhaust Wiring, which clearly didn't come out in the Series 1. If Holden don't know what engine they put in my car, why would they be so sure about the steering rack.


VF Series I (June 2013 - September 2015) Engine Number Prefix

CFP = 6.0L (option L77) V8 - VF Commodore / WN Caprice (auto trans)
CFR = 6.0L (option L77) V8 - VF Commodore (manual trans)
CFS = 6.2L (option LS3) V8 - F1 Series HSV (auto trans)
CFT = 6.2L (option LS3) V8 - F1 Series HSV (manual trans)
CFU = 6.2L (option LSA) V8 - F1 Series HSV (supercharged, auto trans)
CFW = 6.2L (option LSA) V8 - F1 Series HSV (supercharged, manual trans)

DGA = 6.0L (option L77) V8 - VF Commodore/ WN Caprice (auto trans)
DGB = 6.0L (option L77) V8 - VF Commodore (manual trans)

VF Series II (September 2015 - Present)

DGD = 6.2L (option LS3) V8 - VFII Commodore (auto trans)
DGF = 6.2L (option LS3) V8 - VFII Commodore (manual trans)

 

[Skylarking]

^ missed blanking the serial # within rego papers

Read the undertaking Holden made to ACC and read the ACL. When you have a basic understanding, talk to Fair Trading and ACCC. The fact you’ve had the fault occur twice and Holden won’t/can’t resolve it would be grounds to turn a minor fault into a major fault under ACL. If Holden doesn’t want to diagnose the fault then your only option is to push them into a least expensive option... diagnose & repair or refund what you payed to buy the car...

The fact Holden uses random bits when building the car is irrelevant to the buyer but may be a concern for regulators as their isn’t the traceability needed for recalls which makes it more expensive for the manufacturer and hence the manufacturer tends to be more resistant to do them.

As for the dealer’s issue with diagnosing EPS assistance failure and seeing a DTC, that’s likely a bureaucratic requirement Holden places on their dealers. It’s all irrelevant from an ACL perspective.