Hydraulic Power Assist Steering System Problems of Chevrolet Suburban - part 2

Failure of this component results in immediate and drammatic loss of normal power steering control when engaging in turns. The loss of resistence results in immediate oversteer which, at highway speeds, is very dangerous, sometimes causing the driver to drop a wheel from pavement. My writing is prompted 1) experience with my Suburban; 2) a call to me today from a dealership mechanic who worked on my vehicle who informed me he had another bad one, identical to mine; 3) I drove another Suburban of the same vintage & mileage with the identical problem. Though anecdotal, the multiple occurances in vehilces with which I am acquainted raise a compelling question about a dangerous problem with Suburbans. Thank you for your consideration.

See all problems of the 1997 Chevrolet Suburban 🔎.

Speed sensitive steering fails when driving. Especially dangerous when negotiating a turn, the steering is hard, the sss fails, causing the steering to become loose, resulting in oversteering, causing swerving or loss of control.

Loss of steering power and excessive play in the steering for up to 4-5 seconds at highway speeds.

Power steering pump also powers the braking system. Brakes fail at panic stops and pedals go to floor. Power steering system causes the vehicle to wander at hwy speeds. Requires constant readjustments. At times will lose control. Gm says normal. Have contacted them and refused assitance in these issues but received only standard corporate no assistance/form answers.

See all problems of the 1998 Chevrolet Suburban 🔎.

Speed sensitive power steering does not operate properly, it has little if any road feel, the vehicle floats when driven in wind or around trucks and other traffic. Consumer feels the vehicle is very unstable, difficult to control.

Vehicle was delivered to me with a noticeable pull to the right. Repeated trips back to the dealer for service and repeated talks with various levels of management at the dealership have not corrected the problem. In fact, the service personnel refuse to acknowledge the problem at all. An independent repair shop has also been unable to correct the problem. I have given up on trying to get the problem fixed, but still consider it to be a serious safety issue.

I have owned a 86,93,95,and 97 Suburban. So Suburban steering is very familiar to me. The 1997 Suburban steering is unsafe. When the vehicle was first purchased the variable assist failed pulling an RV trailer. Whenever a vehicle passed our Suburban the steering had so much oversteer that if turned in any direction it would dart left and right either going off the highway or in the other lane. Several attempts were made to repair the steering,then lemon law was invoked. Two more attempts were made,the final one resulted in all of the service manager's steering components being removed from his 98 truck and placed on the Suburban. The steering was better but poor compared to the 95 and 93 Suburban. Today the vehicle is still scary to drive on rutted wet roads at speed. Just recently a chip failed in the steering when turning left, causing over correction into other lanes. The dealer said this had happened in other vehicles and repaired the vehicle. Unless gm fixes this problem,my intent is to buy another vehicle that is safe for family. It will not be a gm Suburban. The steering needs to be completely replaced with previous non variable assist.

Intermittently when making a turn power steering wheel has too much play in it. This almost caused an accident.

The power steering on right turns oversteers. It is like a sudden surge of power steering. Since it is intermetant it is a suprise and has on a number of occasion the suprise was enough to almost lose control of the Suburban. We had it in once for repair but they couldnt find anyting. It has become worse and we have taken it back again for a repair. The service man said he has had three other complaints of the same type of problem.

The low speed power assist intermittently activates at cruise speed when making course corrections such as turning to follow the road, turning to pass and turning to correct for side wind.

The power steering failed, which caused an accident. The consumer was injured.

There has been a problem with the power steering since April 2003. Vehicle lost power steering while driving. Vehicle has been to the dealer four times, but the problem still occurs.

See all problems of the 2002 Chevrolet Suburban 🔎.

Erratic power steering assist while driving.

Intermittently vehicle would lose steering power. Dealer has been notified. Please provide further information.

Steering on this vehicle at highway speeds is not positive, has a floating. . Wander that makes it feel like you have no steering, and when you try to recover, it over corrects and sways.

While driving around curves steering wheel would make noise. Later, noise would disappear while still driving around curves. Dealer has been contacted. Please provide further information.

No summary listed for above vehicle.

Erratic power steering, difficult to control vehicle, wanders, clunk in steering gear. Dealer refuses to repair under warranty.

See all problems of the 1999 Chevrolet Suburban 🔎.

Ea9901 eratic power steering; when driving straight or more often on curves there is slip in the steering. The dealer is aware of the problem. The problem has not been corrected.

Steering goes soft unexpectedly in turn, resulting in tendency to oversteer, possibly into oncoming traffic.

When making a right or left turn, the steering failed.

Steering wheel "skips" during turns at 30 to 50 mph.