While driving at 65 MPH vehicle suddenly lost power steering. Consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and pulled off the road. Vehicle was towed to dealership. A bearing blew through the lower casing, resulting in loss of power fluid. The power steering rack was repaired. This failure occurred because of the defect described in recall 02v286000 concerning power steering assembly. However, this vehicle was not included in the recall due to VIN.
1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette: loss of power steering
6 of the 170 complaints about the 1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette describe loss of power steering.
- owner complaints
- 6
- of this car's complaints
- 4%
- recalls
- 1
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall and 1 service bulletin for this area of the car. See below
Loss of power steering by model year
- 20001
- 19986
- 19976
- 19961
- 19914
- 19901
What owners say
Rel. Claims: 731603, 848089, 870477, 871178, 890098 steering fails when going through puddle at any speed, even 20 MPH. I barely missed hitting someone. I have never seen anything like this in my 20 years of driving. Is their patch or fix available since this was first found out almost three years ago? This problem creates a dangerous loss of steering control on wet roadways. Please advise [email protected].
During wet road/weather conditions power assisted steering failed. Dealership installed a water deflector plate to prevent water from contacting power steering belt. However, while traveling at approximately 25 to 30 MPH in a rain storm, power steering failed, and belt for alternator slipped which caused light for battery on the dash board to come on. Dealership has been contacted, and owner was informed that nothing could be done for this problem. *ak the dealer indicated that the wet conditions caused a belt to slip from the alternator and disabled the alternator.
When driving thru puddles during rain, water splashes on the serpentine accessory drive belt , causing the power steering pump pulley to slip and loss of steering control. The service manager a the dealership where I bought the van said there was no way to tighten the belt. This has happened four times and luckely the speed has been slow and the steering came back after a few seconds.
Engine stops and goes dead. When this happens there are no brakes, no steering, the vehicle goes dead with no indication, no matter what speed when driving. The dealer had replaced the fuel injection system along with a variety of replacement to several other parts. After arriving back home in less than one week, the engine was dead again. (occurred approximately seven or eight times on the way. The dealer cannot duplicate the problem.
When traveling at 5o MPH the vehicle will cut off without prior warning, causing loss of power steering and loss of control. Alsothe problem occurred on a number of times. Consumer has contacted the dealer.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
Steering: rack and pinion
- What is wrong
- Certain passenger vehicles and mini vans have lower pinion bearings in the power rack and pinion assembly in which the retainer tabs were not crimped properly. These and some other retainers used in vehicles assembled between january 1, 1996 and october 31, 1997, could fail and permit the ball bearings to escape.
- Risk
- If this occurs, the pinion shaft can be forced upward during left turns and back down as the steering wheel is moved back and to the right. If the pinion shaft moves further, the driver will need to exert more effort to turn the steering wheel, similar to a vehicle without power assisted steering. If the pinion shaft moves even further, the driver will require much higher effort to turn left and may not be able to turn the wheel as much as intended. With the maximum pinion shaft movement, which requires internal gear component damage, the driver can encounter high resistance to turning left, followed by unintended power assist to the right. In any of these conditions, a crash could occur.
- Remedy
- Dealers will install a new lower pinion bearing unless inspect of the existing bearing indicates that replacement of the gear assembly is necessary. Owner notification began january 24, 2003. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact chevrolet at 1‑800‑222‑1020, pontiac at 1‑800‑762‑2737, or oldsmobile at 1‑800‑442‑6537.
Recall number 02V286000 · Recall details
Questions about the 1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette power steering loss
Is loss of power steering a common problem on the 1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette?
6 of 170 owner complaints about the 1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette (4%) mention loss of power steering. The model year with the most reports is 1997.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette?
There is 1 recall and 1 service bulletin for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette
VIN decoder
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