Power Steering Pump problems of the 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 2500

While driving on a rural country road I soundly and without warnong lost my power brakes and steering. . Steering was very difficult and brakes were almost not functional. I took a great effort to turn the steering wheel and apply the brakes to safely stop the vehicle. If I was traveling in traffic at highway speeds I could not control and safely stop the vehicle. . I immediately parked the vehicle and had it towed to a nearby dealership. The power steering pump was replaced. So the power steering pump malfunctioned (broken shaft) while the vehicle was underway. . The power steering malfunction affected both the power steering and brakes and there was no warning. I feel this is a poor design. Minimally there should be some sort of warning when the power steering and or power brakes are compromised. As I understand it this same issue occurs when the serpentine belt fails. The belt will fail when the belt tensioner does. Again no warning when this occurs.

The contact owns a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 hd. On March 2, 2007, while driving 70m ph the contact noticed oncoming traffic, and when attempting to apply the brakes they failed. The contact was unable to gain control of the steering wheel. The dealer advised the contact that there was a line in the power steering booster that caused the failure. The manufacturer stated that there was nothing they could do to assist the contact with the repairs. The current and failure mileage was 70,000. Updated 04/05/07.