It'd be like the olden days...

 

Most people today wouldn't know what to do with manual steering and brakes. In the early 90s I had an old Ford Maverick I sold as a winter beater. Manual brakes and steering. One of the people looking at insisted that there was something wrong with the brakes!

 

GM has issued no details on this to dealers. Until we know what the fix is and which VINs are involved there is really nothing any dealer can tell anyone.

 

Is this latest steering column recall unrelated to HHR's. I thought Cobalts and HHR's shared the same steering components?

 

Try this thread: https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/showthread.php?t=28361

 

Threads merged.

 

In December I had to drive a newer GMC Sierra 3500HD diesel dually to the dealership with no power brakes or power steering. The accessory belt broke. We took it to the dealer late in the evening when the roads weren't busy and it required some serious leverage to turn that beast. After that experience I think I could handle an HHR without power assisted steering (but I wouldn't want to for long.)

 

Thank you

 

Cobalt Steering Safety Recall Q&A
Q1. What is the condition?

A1. Certain vehicles equipped with electric power steering may experience a sudden loss of power steering assist that could occur at any time in the drive cycle. If the power steering assist is lost, a power steering message is displayed on the driver information center and a chime sounds to inform the driver. Steering control would be maintained, as the vehicle reverted to a manual steering mode, but would require greater driver effort at speeds less than 15 mph.
Typically, at the next ignition cycle, power assist is regained and the driver information center message is off.

Q2. Why are you doing a safety recall if you think the vehicles are safe to drive?

A2. These vehicles are controllable, not unlike many other vehicles that have been subject to safety recalls, but there have been a large number of complaints and some injuries and it is out of concern for the customer that we are doing this.

Q3. Why did it take so long for GM to step up to this?

A3. On January 27, 2009, GM initiated an investigation of this condition. The investigation was moved to a monitor status on June 9, 2009 due to a low rate of warranty claims in relation to similar issues and the lack of an identified root cause. GM continued to monitor the warranty status while working to identify the root cause. The root cause was identified as the Electric Power Steering motor in July. An increase in warranty claims and VOQs led to the investigation being moved back to an active status in October 2009. This typically occurs at 20,000-30,000 miles, and we were not seeing it very often in warranty repair data.

Q4. What will you do if I do not feel safe driving my Cobalt?

A4. Dealers will treat those on a case-by-case basis.

Q5. Will you still sell these vehicles while you have a safety recall pending?

A5. Affected vehicles in dealer stock will not be sold until repairs are made to the power steering system motors.

Q6. Why are some 2010 Cobalt and G5 vehicles not involved in the recall or stop delivery?

A6. A revised electric power steering motor went into production in late February 2010. Therefore 2010 Cobalt and G5 vehicles built after the following breakpoints are not involved in the safety recall or stop delivery notice.
• 2010 automatic transmission vehicles built after VIN last eight digits of A7186588
• 2010 manual transmission vehicles built after VIN last eight digits of A7187135
• Vehicles built after the breakpoints listed above are not involved and are available for sale.
`
Q7. Is it true that you have the same supplier for Cobalt and the Pontiac models as Toyota has for the Corolla?

A7. It is true for this particular vehicle. It is not true that we use the same steering supplier for all of our portfolio.

Q8. Are there other models in the US that use the same steering system?

A8. The Chevrolet HHR and Saturn ION use a similar steering system; however there are differences in the sensitivity of the diagnostics of the system electronics.

Q9. Why are they not being recalled?

A9. The number of consumer complaints is far fewer and every vehicle has unique tuning, tires and chassis, which causes some vehicles to be more susceptible to this condition than others. That is proven out by the warranty and the customer complaint data.

Q10. Who is the supplier for the steering system?

A10. JTEKT, which is a joint venture of Toyoda Machine Works and Koyo Seiko Co. Ltd. JTEKT had design and validation responsibility for the steering system
.
Q11. How much will this recall cost and who will pay for it?

A11. We don’t disclose the cost of recalls.

 

I had the steering motor in my 06 HHR replaced by the dealer a few months ago (5,000 miles out of warranty) for around $400.
Can't understand how this vehicle isn't yet part of the recall...
If its eventually included, will my dealer refund the repair cost?