GMC Suburban Power Assist Problems

dmilbauer

Have a 1999 GMC Suburban. Recently developed
problems with power assist. First, it would jerk
the steering wheel while in a turn. Now it has
become very hard to turn. Of course both of these
problems are intermittent (dealer loves this!)
Took it to our local repair shop - they are very
reliable and have done all of the work on the truck
since new. They said that they have run into this
problem on other suburbans and that we should take
it to the dealer since it was under warranty (love
those 100K warranties). Took it to dealer last
month and they replaced one of the gears in the
steering unit. Truck drove fine for about a week
then old problem came back (hard to turn, etc.).
Took it back to dealer last week and was told that
they are "looking into it". Anyone else having
this type of problem? Checked NHTSA site and
pulled a couple of similar instances. Plan to call
them tomorrow and check out the status as they
still show open. comments or suggestions?

hprickettx

Dirt or debris in power steering lines. Have the lines thoroughly flushed and refilled with new fluid.

steve227

Check the Magna Steer power steering unit. This problem is not uncommon with 'Burbs. The fix might be with software rather than with mechanical. BTW, there are a couple of other discussions on this topic elsewhere in Edmunds Town Hall.

pat455

Perhaps steve227 could suggest exactly where to look, but using the Topic Search feature on the left side of the page for Suburban finds several active topics in the SUV conference that might be worth checking out.

Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference