2011 GMC Acadia: sudden loss of power

Filed Aug 2, 2022 · Steering · NJ

Power steering rack & high pressure power steering line. If this fails while you're driving on a highway you will lose power steering causing a serious accident. Also the timing cover is leaking. Both of these expensive repairs seems to be an issue with all gmc acadia SUV's yet the federal safety agency has not investigated or required the manufacturer to do a recall and cover the costs of repair. Costs for both repairs is $5000.00 !!!

Filed Oct 22, 2021 · Engine · MI

I was driving on a busy freeway, my car lost power and became very slow at only 20mph. Almost got rear ended, luckily I was able to pull over. Then check engine light came on. My engine failed and had to tow it. Mechanic said faulty timing chains destroyed my engine. Bought a used engine and is costing me over $4,000. I was lucky not to get killed. GM knows there’s a timing chains issues with these engines. People have complained about this costly and dangerous problem. They should recall and pay for the repairs. There was no warning for me until it was too late.

Filed Sep 17, 2019 · Steering · 105,000 miles · GA

While driving encountering a dangerous loss of power steering intermittently especially during braking (low engine revs). Steering appears to lock and bind. Dealer states failure of power steering pump and rack and pinion gear. Rack and pinion gear. Rack failure should be covered under recall. Car is not safe unless rack and pinion is replaced. This is second failure reported. 1= previous owner 70k / 2=current owner 105k

Filed Mar 12, 2019 · Steering · 100,245 miles · CT

While driving encountering a dangerous loss of power steering intermittently especially during braking (low engine revs). Steering appears to lock and bind. Dealer states failure of powersteering pump and rack and pinion gear. This is 2nd time. Power steering first failed at 36,000 miles requiring full rack and pump replacement under warranty. Now, at 100,000 miles pump fails again and requires pump, seal and full rack and gear replacement. Car is not safe. Service bulletin #14329a acknowledges problem with pump and covers pump and gear *seal* but not rack and pinion gear. Rack failure should be covered under recall.

Filed Jun 6, 2018 · Steering · 72,531 miles · FL

When going slow and making a turn right or left I lose power steering this happens both forward or backward when I speed up the power steering come back to normal.

Filed Aug 5, 2017 · Steering · 135,000 miles · KY

At slow speed turns power steering seems to lose power assist

Filed Jun 21, 2017 · Steering · 86,000 miles · NY

Loss of power steering at low speed. Had the entire rack replaced (prior to power steering loss), as well as the power steering pump replaced (after power steering loss and covered under the tsb) and within to weeks of having the power steering pump replaced, the exact same thing occurred. At very low speed, in a parking lot, making a right hand turn, I lost all power steering and heard a loud screeching noise as I attempted to maneuver my very heavy SUV to a safe area with no power steering. "service battery charging system" error came up on my in-dash screen and then it went away. I turned the engine off and re-started with no power steering still and then re-started again an that is when the power steering worked again. The entire time, the radio and lights were on and did not fail. I drove the car directly to the dealership and after a full day of having my car, they told me I needed a new alternator now at at cost of $1200!!!! I'm not sure how the alternator is related since I do not have electric power steering?!?!?! I feel like this defect is costing customers thousands of dollars for a defect from the manufacture and gm needs to wake up and issue a recall before someone is killed!!

Filed Mar 12, 2017 · Suspension · 30,950 miles · TX

2011 gmc acadia, #14329b special coverage adjustment-loss of power steering assist. Coverage good for period of 10 years or 150,000 miles. Acadia started having power steering problem in jan 2017. 2/1/2017 service acadia at the dealer's from 2/1/2017 until 2/8/2017 to replace steering pump. Drove the car from the dealer, noticed it was scary, bouncing right away. Took it back right away. The advisor told me that since the car had been left on the lift the struts on the shocks had expanded. Mechanic drove the acadia and said it was safe to drive. Drove home and other people said it was not normal. Took the acadia back on 2/21/2017. On 2/22/2017 the advisor called and said the car needed new struts for $648.53. The car had only 31, 180 miles. The dealer said it was wear and tear. As a 77 year old retired school teacher, I drive carefully, prudently. Have the old struts. Does this make sense? The dealer should have performed this 'special coverage adjustment to ensure complete safe vehicle operation from the beginning'. Due to dealer incompetence bamboozled into paying for strut repairs. These struts were operating just fine before the pump repair was completed. The car is better. Still does ride as well as before. The car was unsafe. Have 2 invoices, plus special coverage bulletin, plus old struts.

Filed Feb 9, 2017 · Acceleration, Engine · 105,490 miles · MI

I was driving down the road with almost 1/2 a tank of gas, and I lost power suddenly, and had no control over my vehicle because the power steering and everything quit. Because I am fairly strong, I was actually able to turn off the road into a safe place, and not be stranded on a very busy two lane road. After having the car towed to paul's automotive garage, I was advised that the vehicle was out of gas.

Filed Feb 9, 2016 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 89,000 miles · NC

While driving this morning I had a series of messages appear : "traction control off" , then "service stabilitrak" and then very soon after "reduced engine power". The car would still run, but would not go above approximately 20mph and struggled to maintain speed. At one point had to pull over and turn engine off to almost "reset" car to be able to continue driving to destination. This is the third time that this has happened and have had to take to the shop. I have small children that are typically in the vehicle when this happens and am concerned for their safety if this issue cannot be resolved.

Filed Jan 20, 2016 · Driver assistance, Engine · 67,000 miles · SC

While driving this morning this message appeared : "traction control off" , then "service stabilitrak". Very soon after message "reduced engine power" appeared. The car was still running, but would not go above approximately 2k RPM's or 15mph. This is the second time that this has happened and have had to take to shop and have throtle body inspected and recalibrated. This is my wifes car and I have a small child that was in car when this happened. This happened in an area that is heavily traveled to include school buses.

Filed Jan 11, 2016 · Driver assistance · 60,000 miles · MA

While driving a message appeared : "traction control off" , then "service stabilitrak". Very soon after (a minute or two later) - a message "reduced engine power" appeared. The car was still running, but would not go above approximately 2k RPM's. Luckily we were on a slow road, so we were able to pull off and there were no high speed cars behind us. Shutting the car off, waiting a few minutes then turning it back on appeared to clear the issue. The traction control showed as off when it first stated up, but then it showed 'traction control on" as it strated to drive. It looks like there are a lot of reports of this on the internet.