[Safety Recall] Electric Power Steering — MY2014 to MY2016 Holden & HSV, VF Commodore & WN Caprice

So as expected, car pulls to the left, got them to print off a copy of the alignment measurements. Will compare it to how it was done 18 month's ago.

Also pretty sure there's faeces on the door card, might be dirt but didn't pass the smell test, taste test is next!

 

Any chance of a copy of the print out..

What I find hard to comprehend is, they replace the rack which only means resetting the toe, yet people are complaining of a left pull....

Toe doesn't cause a pull, unless they aren't touching the rear...

 

Yeah for sure, it's odd though as it's not a constant pull to the left. I'll fight it for maybe 5 mins and it'll come good for a few then go back to a severe pull into the gutter.

1. Image is from my tyre/alignment shop - this was done December 2017 when I had new rear tyres fitted.
   
2. Image is from Berwick Holden April 2020
   

 

Weird one...To me, those figures don't have any indication of a pull to the left at all.....

Unfortunately I'm not up on these new electric style racks, so whether it has something to do with that, I can't actually say

 

Look up tramlining. The VF will do this especially with worn tyres. Mine does it a lot and also my Calais V V6 did this too. I think the steering has a lot of input from the road and causes the electric steering to assist. Although the Coloroado MY16 onwards has the same type of steering but does not tramline like the VF. Probably because of the higher profile tyre on the Coloroado.

 

The Colorado just steers like a drunken turd all the time, it would be tramlining but feels so bad you don’t realise it’s doing it, while you fight to go in a straight line & not wander into an adjacent lane or face-plant a roadside tree.

 

I'm going to make an uneducated guess that going from 0.81° variance in caster to .30° is what's creating the slight pull to the left.

I might also get the toe in / camber addressed as I have some severe feathering on the outside edge of the tyres

 

Nope...There should be a variance in the caster, where the left value is greater than the right, to counter act the camber of the road...As you might notice the road slopes to the left, so you increase the caster on the left to push the car up the road..

With the feathering, yes adjust camber and toe....Camber. with a guess, I'd be going around .30 to .45 degrees negative, with 2MM total toe for starters....Should help with the wear you're experiencing....

 

So true the worst handling car I've driven.

 

But in saying that, if my last alignment was set to .81° variance in caster favouring LHS and is now .30° favouring LHS could that not be reason for the car tracking to the left. My assumption would be that having +1.0° variance in caster would cause the car to track to the right?

 

I wasn’t meaning to single-out the Colorado, mind you! .
I’m just putting it into the same left-in-the-sun-too-long chum-bucket as all Japanese-style utes, along with all SUV’s/4WD’s.

 

you should Colorado is a bucket of **** Holden should be ashamed to sell it, drive a ranger or even better a Endura and you have good steering

 

An Endura is a POS compared to the Focus which it’s the same size as but costs 1.5x as much as without being as good at anything (performance, room, fuel economy, safety, apart from ‘ugliness’ you name it & Endura is inferior).
Every other SUV/4WD/dual-cab is rubbish compared to a VE; except VE was a design from real close to 20 years ago!!

 

I would be surprised if it DIDN'T pull to the left on a slight road fall with those specs. The front camber split is wrong, it should be split with more on the left front to counteract the road fall.

Those settings are rather conservative too, great if you do highway driving but if you drive spiritedly it will hammer the outside front tyre edges. I run about 0.75 deg on the front.

 

I see where I've made a slight mistake....I am reading the first report posted...The 2nd report I can' actually read properly on my computer...

So I'll stop commenting until I can actually read the correct report

 

Whilst I can't actually read the last report, .30 degrees in variance generally is fine not to have a pull to the left as you describe.....It might have a slight drift, on a fairly steep cambered road, but nothing dramatic...

I also have difficulty understanding how the caster could have changed dramatically, when there is no adjustment in this area on this era Commodore. The plot thickens

 

I had a look at the List of effected VIN on Page 1 for my Caprice V (2013 MY14) and its not in the list. I had a look at the LOG book and the work sheet from Sunco Holden and the rack was replaced after the original owner said whist driving the car the steel wheel felt like it locked + the warning light came on. Warranty Job Cost GM $1346 Date done was 05/07/2017

 

hi guy's, the wifes VF SV6 is at the mechanics now, getting the EPS looked at, no steering at all, it gradually went, so i parked it up for a month, now it has no steering at all, maybe 2mm, i put it through the dealership to be fixed, last time the steering went, just after the recall, now 18 months later it's gone again.
local dealerships are fully booked for a month, and they wouldn't/couldn't tell me it i can claim a second fix, after the recall.
so i'll bite the bullet and let my local mechanic fix it, any idea on the cost?, if they only replace the electric side of things, + alignment, if needed?
cheer's TIA

 

I don't think the steering gear is sold as an electric motor to the public. Maybe the dealer stuffed it while doing the change over. You need to make sure the rubber belt in the steering gear is still attached.

 

@blutoy, as is, any warranty work should be done expertly and with proficiency while the work itself carries a Holden warranty. This warranty on the warranty work is either 1 or 2 years or the remainder of the vehicle waranty whichever is longer.

Also ACL doesn't define your statutory warranty duration so if a reasonable person would expect steering should work for 10 years, then Holden should cover it under ACL.

Being that the steering is a critical function and working vehicles were recalled, to have your steering fail again 18 months after the recall fix being done is just deplorable and simply unacceptable. Ring Holden Customer Care and demand resolution as your vehicle can't be used as required. If they claim the dealer is busy and can't get to it for a while, dont accept that and either ask for a loaner vehicle to be provided or state that the fault is a major fault under ACL and your choice of remedy is then a full purchase price refund.

Take control of the situation and handle it with HCC/Dealer. Don't cop a poor 3rd party repair because you're cost focused.

If you need, read the Sudden loss of power Steering stickied thread and get a better understanding of the issue and your ACL rights and act on it. Don't ask questions of how much it will cost you to fix Holdens Fukc up.