civilguy2857

Hi,

My 2008 1500 has about 42,000 miles on it and just recently I have been having an intermittent loss of power steering. It used to seem to only happen during the onset of cold weather in Wisconsin, but I've noticed it happens when everything is warmed up. I can't seem to get the problem to replicate itself so I am hesitant to take it somewhere and have it looked at. However it does concern me because I have lost powersteering while driving down the road.

What gives? I have a hard time believing the power steering pump is bad already (it's practically new). The serpentine belt looks fine and I don't hear any wining or other abnormal noises from the pump. Any ideas on the cause of this are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Nick

Chevrolet Customer Service

If you have such a hard time getting the issue to replicate itself you may want to ask someone at the dealership to see whether or not you could have one of their techs ride with you to see if you can get a more accurate diagnosis for the issue that you're having. I hope that helps you and if you run into any other issues feel free to contact me.

Jeff Morris, Chevrolet Customer Service

QUETRANPA

You know I'm not happy with the way the power steering works on my '07 silverado LT NBS from day one, I used to have a '03 silverado fully loaded, and the power steering was so nice that I was able to steer with only one finger!!! but with the '07 I have to use both hands sometimes!!! is this normal? this one came with power everything, just no bose or navigation, so I'm assuming that the steering should be smother than that. A lot of times I wish I never traded the '03 for the '07, but a lot of times I wish I was able to put both trucks together, there was many nice options on the '03 that I wish to have on the '07, but I have many nice options on the '07 that the '03 didn't have, oh well I guess you are never 100% happy with what you have any way, and this power steering is one of them!!!

civilguy2857

Thanks for the replies. Took the truck to my dealer in Pennsylvania over the holidays and left it overnight. There was definitely something wrong, turns out the steering rack was bad and needed to be replaced. Not quite sure what the exact problem was though. Even though the bumper to bumper warranty was expired (~50,000 mi), the dealer replaced the parts for free. They said it should not have failed so early and there was no indication of any outside force (driver induced) that could have caused it. BTW the powertrain warranty did not cover it. If I can find out what the rack looked like, I will post it.

hartbeat

Hi. I know it's been a while since you've posted about this Chevy steering issue. I congratulate you on getting a good dealer to repair your vehicle. My 2009 Silverado has an intermittent noise (very pervasive) and it sounds like something rubbing. It only occurs when maneuvering to into a parking space of garage. I took it to the dealer (under warranty) and they could not replicate the problem. They finally replaced a 'shaft' of some kind (not the rack). It did not solve. After they replaced the shaft, the steering was 'stiffer' than before. I used to be able to maneuver the truck with one finger, now it takes more force. The ease of steering was a selling point for me. The dealer contends that the steering is normal. Not quite. It's not the same as before. I'm glad to see your post about the rack. At least I have something to go by as I continue to dry to get the dealer to do something about this.

Darcy123

I also have been having a similar issue but a tad different. My steering only gets stiff when at idle but as I increase the rpm by as little as 500 rpm the steering is easy again like normal that I can turn with one finger! So I naturally assumed it was the pump so I replaced it and everything was working normal again but for only a cpl minutes then it went back to the same issue as the old pump was. Then after a few miles the pump stopped working so I assumed it was the rack so I replaced it now and then the system went back to normal operation for a cpl minutes then was I steering at all again!!!!!!! Making me mad at this point! So I put the old pump back on and everything once again went to normal only for a few minutes then now I'm back to square 1 again and at least this time all I have to do is rev truck up a tad and I have power steering again!!! So is it possible I still have a weak pump( the original one) and the new one was a faulty one.... I'm thinking of changing my lines next to see if I have a collapsed line maybe? The whole time I have been putting new fluid which is getting quite costly

LTZZTOP

DARCY123 I have just developed the exact problem ....everything is great until rpm's drop to below 1000...... parking in a tight spot is a nightmare .... Did you find an answer to the problem? I've visited three shops ....they are all scratching their heads ??

LTZZTOP

I have the same identical problem now. Do you find a solution ??

BrandonTM

Same issue is happening to me with my 09 chev.. Has anyone had any luck resolving the problem?

LTZZTOP

I HAVE SOLVED MY STEERING PROBLEM ............
I have a 2008 Silverado Ext'd Cab - 8ft bed ... 5.3L LT model.
I've been suffering for the past 6 weeks with this stiff steering issue .....

I went to 3 or 4 shops asking if anyone could tell me what the problem was ...all I got was speculation .........bad belt, bad pulley , faulty rack .... faulty P/S pump ...... BLAH BLAH BLAH .......

nobody was absolutely sure.

I was down to bringing it to the dealer at 100 bucks an hour ....or throwing money at it and hoping for the best. After a great deal of analysis I decided to throw money at a new P.steering pump .......hoping and praying I was correct.

My issue was as yours ....... steering worked fine at high rpms ....... but in parking lots and slowing down to turn while on the road ...it was aweful. VERY VERY difficult to turn the wheels ..and almost impossible at a dead stop.

The new pump solved my problem. I used a CARDONE pump ... part number - 731-2252 ..... complete with reservoir ...........you can buy the pump w/0 the reservoir a little cheaper but could run into problems at install time trying to fit new pump to old reservoir. All said and done with a total of 260.00 (cdn). In my case - this worked. I fully intended to go to dealer if this had not worked. Thankfully, it did ! GOOD LUCK .....!!!!