2011 Enclave Steering Gear

quenlil

Brought my 2011 Enclave (52k miles) in due to a strange noise when turning the wheel and had a diagnostic run. The dealership reported my steering gear and power steering pump needed replacement. Specifically, they said the steering gear had a leak, and as a result the fluid had mostly leaked out and as a result the pump failed.

I have read multiple reports online from customers stating that they had the exact same issues. This is clearly a manufacturing defect that GM should be held accountable to correct. The vehicle has just over 52K miles and I have owned it since it was brand new. Repair quote from a local dealership was $1100 for the steering gear, $360 for the pump, and $1000 for labor. These repairs are not covered under warranty despite the special extended warranty GM issued for power steering pump failure. They said that since the pump failure was due to no fluid in the system and not straight up component failure it's not covered by the special warranty.

quenlil

Wanted to add that I am posting this in hopes of letting people know that this is a problem that has been shared by many Enclave owners and hope that Buick does something to remedy this seemingly common issue. Frankly, I don't have $2500 laying around to get this fixed and despite multiple complaints from different people, neither Buick or the NHTSA seem do be doing anything about it.

Mr_Shiftright

I believe that's called the "Special Coverage Adjustment 14329" and covers the power steering pump. As you say, it doesn't specify any coverage for leakage but if I were you I'd bypass the dealer and talk directly to the factory about this and ask at least for some relief. No harm in trying. The dealer won't do anything because they don't want to have the repair kicked back on them with the factory refusing to pay.