Power Steering Failed problems of the 2004 Saturn ION - part 1

The contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 14v153000 (steering). The vehicle was repaired in December of 2016 at the pat o'brien dealer. After the repair and while attempting to park, the power steering suddenly failed. The contact had to maneuver the steering wheel with excessive force. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired again. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

Tl-the contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that while parked, the vehicle was placed in reverse and the vehicle started making a very loud screeching noise. The power steering warning became illuminated. The steering wheel became difficult to turn and the power steering failed. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering motor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The vehicle has had previous problems and has been repaired for the same failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 211,600. Ed.

Power steering failed when traveling on a city street. Luckily, was going slow at the time & was able to come to a controlled stop. No damage to vehicle or others.

The contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion. While attempting to park, the power steering failed without warning and the steering wheel became difficult to turn. After the engine cooled down, the power steering operated normally. The vehicle regained power steering when the engine was turned off and restarted. The failure occurred continuously. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and repaired according to NHTSA campaign number: 14v153000 (steering); however, the failure persisted after the remedy was performed. The repair did not remedy the failure. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 127,371.

Complete power steering failure at low speed. Power steering did not return, and car was manually steered directly to the dealership whereupon the diagnosis was the power steering module.

The contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that while traveling various speeds, the power steering assist failed and the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was not available.

The contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the power steering failed to operate intermittently and the warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the mechanic stated that the steering column had to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 120,000.

Odometer dings and displays power steering warning; power steering fails. Turning the car off and back on corrects this, until it happens again (typically after the car has been running about 10 seconds). This is a known issue, and Saturn extended warranty coverage to under 100,000 miles. My car did not start doing this until after 100,000 miles. Steering is a safety issue. This should be a recall.

This is what happened to me, without warning or prior incident; while on my way to work, driving on a freeway about 55-60mph, I notice a "pwr str" warning light come on on my dash. Since I am driving straight ahead, I notice no change. As soon as I attempt to change lanes to get off the freeway, I realize that I can barely steer the car and that my power steering has completely failed. There is no shoulder on this freeway, so it is safest to get off the freeway. Making the right turn off the freeway is nearly impossible and takes all of my strength just to turn the wheel. This was extremely scary and put me in a very unsafe situation. Luckily, this did not cause an accident and nobody was hurt. There was not a lot of traffic at the time, and once off the freeway, I could quickly and safely come to a place where I could pull over and park. After reading the number of complaints for this exact similar problem, I am amazed that no recall has been issued to date. This is something that could potentially injure or kill someone by way of an accident. . . This is just an accident waiting to happen.

The contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that after turning the engine on, the power steering failed and the steering wheel tightened. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 124,000.

The contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that while driving 50 mph, the power steering assist failed without warning. The failure recurred on three separate occasions. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 124,000.

The contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the power steering failed. The contact stated that she had to add additional effort in order to steer the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection but the contact was not provided with a cause for the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 95,000.

Tl- the contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion-3. The contact stated that while driving 50 mph, the power steering assist failed and the steering wheel became inoperable. The contact managed to exit the roadway without incident however, experienced extreme difficulty in turning the steering wheel. The dealer was notified of the failure who advised that the repair was not under recall and offered no additional assistance. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 75,755. And the current mileage was 75,756. Kmj.

The contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that the power steering assist would fail sporadically and without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed by the dealer and no repairs were been made to the vehicle. The current and failure mileages were 73,000.

Power steering failure occurred on 1/25/12. I felt steering become difficult and saw message on instrument panel. It is incredibly difficult to drive vehicle without power steering. Afraid of what would have happened if this occurred while driving 65mph on highway. Because of my mileage, Saturn will not cover the costs under the "extended warranty". A recall should occur in order to save lives.

When pulling out of a parking space, the power steering failed. Before leaving the parking space I inspected the belt- it was intact- and the ground underneath the vehicle- there was no fluid loss. Steering the car out of the parking space required great effort. Proceeding on the road, the power assist seemed to return. I pulled into a parking lot where the power assist seemed to be working fine with a sharp left turn, but not at all on a sharp right turn. Futher along the road, when making a right turn, the power assist seemed to operate normally. Also normal power assist was experience on a left turn. I operated the vehicle for several more short trips, stopping and restarting the vehcle- the problem did not repeat itself, but I have read online and in news reports that this has been a problem for other Saturn owners.

The power steering is failing nearly every time the car is used. It fails within minutes after the car is started. Making turns requires a lot of effort in turning the steering wheel. The car can still be driven without the power steering, but one would hardly call it safe.

Electronic assist power steering fails without any warning. Steering becomes very difficult if not impossible for some people which could lead to loss of control.

2004 Saturn Ion 2 power steering failure.

The contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the power steering would fail after the warning light illuminated. The steering wheel would then become very difficult to manuever. The vehicle had not been inspected by a dealer, nor had it been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000.

Power steering failure renders vehicle inoperable and just plain dangerous. My power steering went out while driving on 3 occasions this week and would be back to normal after coming to complete stop and restarting the vehicle. Had the power steering motor replaced to correct the problem.

My 2004 Saturn Ion 3 power steering keeps on failing. All I have to do is shut off the car and turn it back on it again and it works again. It appears from the internet this is a common issue with these cars and that the cobalt with the exact same steering column and electric motor was recalled but the Ion was not. This is scary when driving and your power steering just goes out. It is happening more and more on me and is going to cause an accident one day.

The power steering assist suddenly failed while driving the vehicle, making the effort of steering the vehicle increase greatly. Upon turning the vehicle off, the problem temporarily went away, but has continued to happen at an ever-increasing frequency until this date. For the past year, the power steering has failed within driving the first 200 feet every single time I have operated the vehicle. I know this has been a common occurrence with Saturn Ions and related gm vehicles, causing several accidents, and that gm is well aware of the issue. I believe a recall is in order due to the extreme physical exertion required to steer these vehicles after the power steering assist fails.

Power steering failed on its own while traveling 75 miles per hour on the freeway. Since the steering has failed ever time the vehicle is used. I have had near miss accidents on severasl occasions due to this problem. This problem is well known to the manufacturer, including the safety risk, yet no recall has been issued.

Escondido, CA. -- I am a longtime owner of Saturns -- I own a 2009 vue now and have owned four other sedans -- and have always thought they were reliable and safe cars. My daughter drove an sl for years. Now I am not so sure. I just purchased (July 5) a 2004 Saturn Ion redline, 73,000 miles on the odometer, for my son, the first day he drove it, the power steering went out while he was making a turn. He nearly had an accident. There was a chime, the letters pwr str appeared on the dashboard readout, and the power steering went out immediately, making the vehicle extremely difficult to steer. Turning off the car and starting it again restored the power steering. But within 24 hours, the same thing happened twice more without any warning, once while I was driving the car. I have since done a web search and found hundreds of complaints about the Ion for this exact problem. This is not just a simple issue of a part wearing out. It is a widespread and extraordinarily dangerous situation that is going to result in injuries or death, if it hasn't already. I am also outraged that gm has issued a recall for the chevy cobalt ss, which has the same steering system as the Ion redline, but not for the Ion. I have contacted gm, and a spokewoman (merissa) acknowledged the cobalt recall, but said it did not apply to the Ion for reasons she could not explain. Are the safety and lives of Saturn Ion owners somehow less valuable than owners of chevy cobalts? gm has directed me to a chevy dealer (now that Saturn is gone) to have the problem assessed. It says it cannot promise anything because the car is out of warranty. But this is clearly a problem due to a defective steering system. I implore NHTSA to require a recall for Saturn Ions with electric steering. Just do a google search for "Saturn Ion power steering fails" to see all the identical complaints and harrowing reports of accidents and near accidents. Do your job, please, before someone is seriously injured or killed.

Intermittent power steering failure on 2004 Saturn Ion. Restarting engine "resets" power steering. May occur multiple times in one week. Same problematic power steering units used in other gm vehicles that were recalled (cobalts and g5) but no recall for Saturn Ions having same problem with same parts.

I drive a 2004 Saturn Ion-2 and my power steering goes out at random times. This is the first time I have had an issue with my power steering. I feel it is a major safety concern because this issue happens at random and the car becomes incredibly hard to steer. I have done some research on this matter and many other Saturn drivers have the exact same problem as myself and I have also found that the chevy cobalt has the exact same steering column as the Saturn Ion and there has been a recall on the cobalt but not on the Ion. This baffles me because if the same mechanism is on both cars the both cars should be recalled not just one. I feel extremely unsafe on the road driving my car now because I have no indication if and when my power steering will fail. The are no events leading up to this happening and I replaced the electrical power steering fuses in hopes that the fuses were blown but this did not solve the problem. From some internet research the next step would be having the entire steering column replaced but I do not feel Saturn Ion drivers should be responsible for replacing a defect on a car that should have been recalled years ago.

2004 Saturn Ion with intermittent power steering failure. Happens randomly several times a week. Car becomes very difficult to maneuver.

Electric power steering system failure in my 2004 Saturn Ion. Power steering system stops working and steering becomes very hard and heavy. It occurs daily since 6-19-10. Called dealer who informed me that no recall has been made by Saturn even though same problem has caused a recall of chevy cobalt, which uses the same electric part (motor) and has experienced same problems.

While driving, anywhere from two minutes to twenty minutes later, the power steering fails and does not correct until the engine is restarted. This happens every day,up to 5 times a day.

Power steering fails when driving my Saturn Ion 2.

The contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion. While driving various speeds, the power steering failed and the vehicle became difficult to control. The contact stated the failure occurred multiple times in one week. The contact spoke with the dealer and scheduled an appointment to have the vehicle repaired. The current and failure mileages were 83,433.

Power steering fails while driving down the highway/road in my 2004 Saturn Ion 3. Power steering indicator goes off when I loose the power steering. Pull over and shut of car and restart everything seems fine for a few miles then the problem starts over again. Severe safety issue- especially when my wife is driving with the kids. After researching, finding out this is becoming a common problem- why no recall?.

I was taking coming off a ramp at 40 mph when the electric power steering failed. This happens frequently while the car is in motion. Dealer says the module is beginning to fail.

The contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion. While driving 65 miles per hour the power steering failed. The contact spoke with the dealer who advised they will send the part to the contact to repair the vehicle. The current miles were 84000. The failure miles were not available. The VIN was not available.