1996 Chevrolet Blazer: loss of power steering

Filed Oct 31, 2006 · Brakes · AR · crash · fire · 4 injuries

On friday october 20, 2006. My son and 3 friends were leaving a friends house. When my son applied his brake to slow, the brakes failed. When they failed the engine revved completely up, throttled out and shut down the vehicle. He of course had no brakes, but now no steering, and the engine was off. Not having any control, the vehicle hit a loose rock, slid into a ditch which then sent them into a series of rollovers no less than 5 no more then 7. The airbags did not deploy. When they landed 3 of the 4 doors were jammed shut. As they climb out of the vehicle, they noticed it was burning. It burned from behind the dash through the engine. I have pictures if you would like to see. The worst injury at the time was my son's shoulder, they were concerned it had a worse tear. Nothing can be done to fix this vehicle. I have notified chevy and gm. I am also talking to an attorney next week. The service brake hydraulic antilock recall has caused me concern. We don't know if it was ever taken for it's repair. Now gm can't even find or trace yet the VIN number. He had only had it 2 weeks when we had to put it in the shop because it had to be jumped to start. Then a week and a half almost 2 weeks later the brakes go out. Something major went wrong, and he hadn't even had it 30 days yet. It could have killed 4 kids. I want to know what malfunctioned.

Filed Oct 4, 2002 · Suspension · OH

The federal safety agency# 01 I 018 000 & 01 v 200 000/ball joint separation: consumer states that the left front upper ball joint separated and causing loss of steering. Dealer contacted and informd that the vehicle was not cover under the VIN#. Feel free to provide any further information.

Filed Apr 10, 2002 · Steering · OH

Certified master auto mechanic, that's why no specific vehicle. Have seen a tremendous amount of these gm trucks, all lines, blaxer, tahoe, k3500, etc. With the belt tensioners coming apart. The center rots out and the spring just makes the tensioner fall sideways. For a while its not bad, the belt is still on and only slips wet. When they come off there is suddenly no power steering, along with of course no alternator. We are changing these at probably one per day, and check all of these vehicles. I have found that all of them with at least thirty thousand miles either need a new tensioner or have already had the tensioner replaced. This covers a few years, from at least 1995 through 1999, and is such a common problem that all the aftermarket suppliers I have seen (gates, napa, carquest) stock these parts. I can tell you the carquest part number, 89231, from memory. As a side issue, you might consider a seperate form for mechanics to fill out, with questions aimed more the information we can provide. After all, we are in the front lines, and can pick up many of these problems more quickly than individual owners probably can.

Filed Apr 17, 2001 · Engine, Steering · DE

Steering became hard to steer even though power steering. I was told by dealer p/s pump was leaking and lack of fluid made steering difficult. I feel with the low milage of 53,000 this should not be a problem and could have resulted in more severe problems if pump had completely leaked empty causing loss of power steering.

Filed Aug 9, 2000 · Suspension · TX

While traveling 45 MPH during rush hour, the front left top ball joint failed causing the tire to collapse inward and loss of steering control. $1000 to repair. I believe this is another case for investigation ea99022.

Filed Apr 24, 2000 · Suspension · WI

Ea99022, front passenger's ball joint broke, which could have caused a loss of steering control. Dealer said the other 3 ball joints, seem like they may break also. Please provide further information.

Filed Apr 12, 2000 · Suspension · MA

Driving on normal paved road at about 25 MPH, right upper ball joint failed, causing wheel to lock and cant at 45 degree angle (top in/bottom out). This caused partial loss of steering control. Had vehicle been moving faster, the likely result would have been a roll and serious injury. Dealer inspected and said that all ball joints needed replacement despite the fact that the lower ball joints were replaced one year earlier (on 15 sep 98 at 43302 miles). This means that the two lower ball joints were not acceptable after only 22,946 miles). Vehicle has only been used for normal, on-road driving, and has had routine maintenance (including lubrication). This continued and frequent failure of this safety related part implies a serious design defect. I required deeler to supply me with the replaced ball joints should they be needed for inspection.

Filed Nov 1, 1999 · Steering · CT

While driving on the highway there was a loss of power steering due to the power steering pump going out. Dealer replaced steering pump.

Filed Dec 23, 1997 · Brakes, Steering · TX

Power steering failed.

Filed Dec 17, 1996 · Steering · GA

Idle arm/pittman arm/left axle malfunctioned, causing loss of steering/accident.