Just bought the car 13 months ago, and now I'm getting a power steering warning, and I have no power steering after that. And it's not as simple as just having manual steering, I've had that in the past, with the HHR the wheel becomes extremely hard to turn, almost like it doesn't want to turn at all.

Happened twice yesterday, but didn't happen this morning. After some Google research, I discovered that this problem should have a recall, but doesn't (yet). And, a couple people mentioned overheating causing the issue. I certainly didn't do anything to cause it to overheat, but, it was 98 degrees with a heat index of 108 yesterday when this happened. The dash temp said 104 at the time.

I would be glad if the weather caused the problem and I don't have to have anything replaced, but then again, I want to know that this won't happen again, so I'm still taking in the car. Should I show them the service report that pertains to the Cobalt and mentions the 2006-2010 HHR in it? Anything else I should say? Thanks.

By the way, the first thing I did was try to check the power steering fluid. Couldn't find it. Checked the manual, couldn't find it. Did a Google search, and discovered that the car doesn't use power steering fluid. LOL.

 

Time to use that warranty.

 

2010 model, 13K miles, you still have plenty of warranty left.

 

Just use your warranty, they will replace it and you will get the new, revised motor. No need to mention anything about the recall....... THAT HASN'T HAPPENED.

 

Oh, I fully realize it's under warranty. What I forgot to mention was that I was passing the dealership yesterday, and stopped in and told them what was happening, and he said they were so backed up that I needed to leave the car or drop it off so they could look at it, then he mentioned that if the problem didn't happen for them, it would be hard to troubleshoot, and that it could have just been a "glitch".

So finding the TSB and Canada recall really ticked me off, and I want them to know that I know about it, so they don't have my car for 2 days and just shrug their shoulders and say they couldn't find anything wrong.

 

Not that it doesn't need to, sooner rather than later. Those of us that have not experienced PS problems, (YET) IMO is only a matter of luck, good if you haven't, bad if you have!

 

I have faith in GM.... They will do right.


After people die.

 

Verify if the Power motor Harness is not loose.

 

Just for the sake of curiosity I checked the NHTSA database for complaints on the HHR. As of today there are 366 formal complaints filed with NHTSA on the HHR from 2006-2011, of those formal complaints only three involve the power steering motor(no fatalities, no injuries). The majority of the complaints are filed on brake issues, mostly the infamous brake judder problem.

We will never see a recall on the power steering motor because enough complaints haven't been filed with the government. Filing a complaint with NHTSA isn't difficult at all, and the more who complain about an issue, the more chance that some action may come of it. Here's the link to NHTSA.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/

 

Thanks everyone.