Sudden Loss of Power Steering WHEN DRIVING

[RoganJosh]

I'd like a copy for prosperity. Thanks.

Sure I have "Started a Conversation" in your profile and copied and pasted it there..

 

[wobbles123]

Does anybody have a clear copy of the letter Holden sent out to VF owners in February 2015 about the loss of power steering? There's a few on the net already but all are poor quality and unreadable.
It would be a handy thing for anybody who has this fault to show the 'forgetful' folks at Holden that they should know exactly what loss of power steering means for a VF owner.

I have a SV6 Auto Oct. 2013 build....I received a recall for the switches on the power steering unit....to be unplugged and Dielectric grease applied to the terminals....this was in 2014....there is no need to replace the rack if this was carried out correctly....the dealers are probably bleeding GMH for a new rack $$$$$$....do not forget there are 2 connections to the power steering rack...one you can see from under the bonnet...the other you have to remove the splash plate under the motor....to gain access.....mechanics would not know this...and probably would not do this due to time restraints etc.
I had another recall to secure rear axle wiring harness last year....They put the smallest plastic tie cables that they could find...9 in total....they should of been aluminium ties due to the proximity of heat shields and exhaust pipe....when they did this I told them to check the dielectric grease on the 2 power switches for the power steering unit....they wanted to charge me for that @#$% until I reminded them it was a recall from 2014 with the switches...I will bet my bottom dollar that did not look for the bottom switch....the service invoice said they applied more Dielectric grease to the switches.
So when you get your serviced done ( I do all the work myself....not going to pay $$$$ for an oil and filter and visually inspect everything...Make sure you include the power steering unit switches.

 

[Skylarking]

@wobbles123 GM has had three tries to correct this serious safety issue that culminated in a recall of caprice and SS vehicles within US.

The history as i have read is that 1st GM tried the dielectric grease, being a cheap and easy solution. They then tries epoxy around the connector and dielectric grease in the hope of resolving the problem. Finally GM settled on a redesigned rack with attension around the robustness of the connector so movement would not cause fretting corrosion of the now gold plated connectors. It is this latest solution that was used within the US recall.

The issue is one of poor design which has been addressed in the US via the recall. It is not one of poor maintenance or of dealer service incompetance.

Sadly, down under GMH has not done a recall to correctly address this safety issue (and the grease was just a cheap hack job that did nothing to resolve the underlying problem). So now GMH informally fixies safety issues as they arise and as people complain. This is less that acceptable and people should show GMH the contempt they deserve.

For the life of me, i can't fathom why people that have experianced such a failure of their power steering don't report this event to DOTARS and/or ACCC.

And now reading how an implied periodic greasing IS the solution just boggles the mind.

 

[wobbles123]

@wobbles123 GM has had three tries to correct this serious safety issue that culminated in a recall of caprice and SS vehicles within US.

The history as i have read is that 1st GM tried the dielectric grease, being a cheap and easy solution. They then tries epoxy around the connector and dielectric grease in the hope of resolving the problem. Finally GM settled on a redesigned rack with attension around the robustness of the connector so movement would not cause fretting corrosion of the now gold plated connectors. It is this latest solution that was used within the US recall.

The issue is one of poor design which has been addressed in the US via the recall. It is not one of poor maintenance or of dealer service incompetance.

Sadly, down under GMH has not done a recall to correctly address this safety issue (and the grease was just a cheap hack job that did nothing to resolve the underlying problem). So now GMH informally fixies safety issues as they arise and as people complain. This is less that acceptable and people should show GMH the contempt they deserve.

For the life of me, i can't fathom why people that have experianced such a failure of their power steering don't report this event to DOTARS and/or ACCC.

And now reading how an implied periodic greasing IS the solution just boggles the mind.

 

[wobbles123]

Well you talk about dealer service incompetence and this was with 2 separate dealers....put my VE ute for a major service like $900 for everything including new brake linings.....paid the money...was about to go home...saw the bloke who did all the work supposedly...ask him did he changed the brake linings....oh I forgot...a person with no mechanical knowledge would not know to ask....assuming all is well....another GM mechanic told me they do not change the sump plug....just use the old one all for $8 but is included in the invoice as new....and then they screw you another $10 to $15 for shop supplies.
All you see when you go into the dealer to book in is a clerk ( just out of a Vogue Magazine )....who does not have a clue about your complaint...and just types it into a computer.
I cannot remember whether my the car was serviced on a Monday ( recovery day from the weekend ) or a Friday ( rushing towards recovery day on Monday )....get your car serviced mid-week!
I for the life of me where you would have dedicated Holden Mechanics any more.....with a dealership selling so many different brands these days.
Do you get a brand new power steering unit ( I do not think so ) only a replacement one that has been refurbished?
A bit off topic....dealer service no longer exists....and no use reporting to DOTARS/ACCC no one cares and who reads emails these days....as I have found out.

 

[DJF1989]

Had mine replaced today cost covered by holden 2013 SSV 70k. Definitely a scary thing to happen whilst driving.

 

[Skylarking]

@wobbles123 we all have horror stories of poor service or repairs done by a dealer service department and I do believe that there is a problem with such. However, poor service or poor repairs are a dealer issue and not really under ACCC or DOTARS scope. I’d say poor service is more an issue for Consumer Affairs organisation in your state.

As is, there are some rather poor dealer service departments around that I wouldn’t let fix my lawn mower. Others experiences may be different.

But again, this power steering failure issue is not one of poor dealer service but of poor design, pure and simple, and it makes our commodores a danger on the road. The issue can only be fixed with a new rack which has gold plated terminals so I doubt GM would refurbish the racks in such an instance. Maybe they would refurbish but i’d think likely not.

As to whether reporting product safety issues to ACCC/DOTARS would make any difference, well we won’t know unless people do report their experiences. The more complaints are received, the less any regulatory body can be seen to ignore the issue.

When an issue is reported to ACCC/DOTARS, something will be done and as a minimum you should get some response back though it may not be immediately comforting. It may simply be something they monitor for more instances or complaints...

Sadly reporting product safety concerns can take time a long time for the issue to be resolved. Just look at the ‘thermomix’ issue that took possibly more than 6 years? before the company was thumped $4.6M? for selling an unsafe product, misrepresenting the issue to consumers and not reporting the injuries to the regulators.

Meanwhile, this power steering issue has the scope to potentially cause deaths so it must be reported by all that have experienced it (regardless of Holden having fixed it). The more reports, the less ability for regulators to be seen hiding the issue.

So again, all that have experienced this failure must report to DOTARS, it’s the responsible thing to do.

As to your last statement where you say no use reporting, no one reads emails and no one cares as you have found out... Care to elaborate whether you have reported this power steering failure to DOTARS?

 

[Dylie]

Hey guys, made a new account just to post here. Had this happen to my VF Evoke first whilst making a sharp turn to park at uni, and since has happened a few times. Have photo and video evidence of the error on my dash for when I eventually need to wrestle with a dealer to get this fixed.

I spoke to HCC and, just as expected, I had a lady that told me that she couldn't do anything, that she couldn't find a recall or customer campaign number for the issue and when I explained to her that this very issue was being recalled in America, she told me "Well, that's America, their cars are completely different and every car is individual". Knew once that came out of her mouth, our conversation clearly wasn't going to go anywhere; very frustrating.

Spoke to the dealer I purchased the car from at the end of November 2017 (Brighton Holden, VIC), the tech denied ever knowing of this issue (which seeing now all you guys have the very same issue is hard to believe) and told me I'd need to get the car in for a diagnostic check. I tried explaining that the error disappears and that it was unlikely they'd find anything, leading me to a slap of $150 for no reason, but as expected, they were very unhelpful and short.

I found a Facebook post of an individual that had even gone to the very dealer I got the car from and had his rack replaced by Holden out of warranty, so it's very frustrating they won't acknowledge it is even a known issue when I probe them.

I'm pretty stressed thinking of how I'm going to get this resolved when literally everyone I contact is working against me. Are there any dealers around the Victorian Brighton one people would recommend, or something I should do? As mentioned before I'm a uni student and I can't afford to pay the $150 to get this rolling if there's a chance they're going to turn me away. I also don't exactly want to leave my car in a state where it's ready to throw me into a curb or wall whenever it feels like it.

Here's the photo of the error if anyone would like to use it themselves

 

[Skylarking]

@Dylie welcome to the world of “Holden doesn’t give a sh!t”.

Just to be clear, there are no recall on this issue in Australia as there was in the USA. I understand there was a service campaign to grease the connector in 2015 but that did bupkis..

All I can suggest is you also take the time to report this serious safety concern to DOTARS via this web page and in time maybe there will be a mandatory recall on this issue which will help others.

In the mean time, you could ring CAV on 1300 55 81 81 and discuss your options but also mention to them that Holden seems not to be following their enforceable undertaking made to ACCC. They should give you some ideas how best to handle it.

You could also remind HCC about their undertaking to ACCC but I’d think the minions wouldn’t know their but from their elbow on this subject.

 

[Red Centre Bluey]

I’m not sure if it’s my own imagination, but it feels to me as thought our 2014 is pulling to the left, every now & again, more than it ever has before.
Problem is I may just be being over-sensitive. Unsure of whether it fixes itself, or if I’m just driving onto a chunk of road with less camber.

This can’t be anything to do with the faulty rack design, can it? The failure is either total or there’s no failure at all, innit?

It's not a faulty rack design, the problem is to do with the electrical connector where the harness plugs into the rack, the connector has to be cleaned, regreased with special dielectric grease.
It's a standing recall, and takes about 30 mins to do, altho if your dealer is like mine, they want the car all day