Hey guys, this has just been a problem for me this past 6 months on my 2008 Uplander. When raining hard and it's puddled up, I can lose power steering which makes it practically impossible to turn if needed, a critical safety hazard. The belt was changed this past summer, no squealing or noises in dry or wet weather. Googling this a good bit, I've seen no concrete solutions except where one Impala 3.5L owner said the dealership replaced the harmonic dampener to fix the issue. However this hasn't been a problem in over 5 years of owning it so I'm wondering if the tensioner could be weak??

Anyone with similar experience, solutions, etc?

Thanks guys!


Jeremy

 

water from the puddles you drive through is splashing up on the belt causing the slip and temp. loss of power steering. The older Grand Am models had that issue the fix was a revised splash guard cover/ lower inner fender piece it didn't help I beleive there was a TSB for those cars. Thats just a guess on what you are experiencing on your uplander

 

I had the same problem on my 2007 Uplander for a while. It was pretty scary losing power steering every time it rained. I replaced the belt, pulleys and tensioner with no improvement. Finally, one day while driving, i felt a lot of vibration and lost engine power. I had it towed to a mechanic who replaced the harmonic damper. This also fixed the problem with losing power steering whenever i hit a puddle. That was 3 years ago and it's never happened since. This was the only part in the belt system i had not replaced! Apparently the rubber which bonds the damper together had been deteriorating for awhile and finally separated. Replacing the damper was the solution for me.

 

i occasionally lose power steering at idle, very slow speeds, and very low temps. i occasionally get a belt squeak/chirp if i mash the gas. my guess with mine is the belt being old and stretched. i know that new/shorter belts would stop intermittent squeeks and probs with belt driven components on gm rwd 3.8l and 4.3l motors. i think the ls1's in trans ams and camaros would have similar issues, they would usually squeak loudly instead of lose functionality though. either way, the new belt fixed the issue everytime. i remember 4.3ls having replacement belts of up to 10 inches in length difference when new, but the part stores would say all of them were a perfect fit... i would buy the shortest name brand belt i could find for a decent price.

also, if i had problems with driving in rain i would check the splash guard on the right front that protects the belt and pulleys. mine was broken for a while but i never had symptoms due to water.

the power steering pump on mine has always whined and fluid seeped somewhere, 'lucas power steering fix' seemed to stop the leak and quiet down the pump some. i think i need a belt and probably a new pump to quiet it totally.

i am waiting on my new belt now..