The day before I took the van in for repairs it stopped on me and I coasted home with hardly no brakes and bad steering.the repairs that I was about to have done was for a leaking intake gasket.I did not know what had happened until I read about the same thing happening with other people.some people call it vapor lock. If there would have been people or other cars in my way this could have turned very bad. All the gm dealers say that this is a common problem. When I call gm they say they never heard about it. Something needs to be done now about this problem. Thank you , scott eggebrecht
1997 Pontiac Trans Sport steering complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 54, newest first, as owners wrote them.
No steering control. Steering wheel spins freely. Internal power steering gear problem.
The power steering pressure line malfunctioned, which caused the vehicle to be uncontrollable when driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where the cause had not been determined. Please provide additional information.
Since having the rack/pinion steering replaced twice (once before the recall and once after), I have again noticed difficulty pulling out of parking spaces turning left or right (hard to turn the wheel/loss of power steering?), especially, in cold weather. As you straighten wheel and start driving, problem seems to resolve itself. Went to dealer who thought it could not possibly be the rack so therefore replaced the power steering pump in early november. The failure happened again today.
The steering on our 1997 pontiac transport montana is very hard. I noticed this earlier this week. While driving, when I wanted to turn it takes a lot of effort to make a turn now, and the passenger side rear sliding door still comes open sometimes after you close it. It seems as if it's going to close and then it would just open. I know my husband took the car in for repair and they said it was a recall on these two things and they were fixed, but it still seems as if the problem is there.
The power steering failed.
The consumer was informed that no parts were available regarding the recall on the rack and pinion. *jb
The federal safety agency 02-v-286000 consumer received a recall notice regarding the rack and pinion, however the dealer stated the tools to correct the problem were broke.
No parts were available regarding the recall for the steering rack and pinion.
Steering locks up while trying to turn vehicle to the left. Power steering seems to push vehicle to the right. Occurs at any speed.
I am filing this complaint because, even though we no longer own the vehicle, I understand that you are investigating it. I was lucky that no one was hurt. I had three children in the car, driving them to school, when the steering just gave out while we were in the middle of rush hour traffic; fortunately it was on a city street, so we weren't travelling very fast. I was able to get the vehicle pushed over to the side of the road and out of the way of traffic. The vehicle was taken to a pontiac dealer for repairs, which totalled well over $1000. The dealer said that they were not a aware of any problems like this with the vehicle. Since the vehicle had just passed 60,000 it was noo longer under warranty for this type of problem. We called gm, and they insisted that they were not aware of this type of problem, and confirmed that the repair would not be covered by warranty. They did give us a discount off of the purchase of our next gm car, because of this and all of the other problems we had with the vehicle, includ ing rearseats that did not work properly - they wouldn't stay locked into the floor, and a just a nice little shove from behind would knock them out of the floor. If you are still investigating this, keep at it. I hate to think about what might have happened if I was on the freeway travelling 70 MPH during rush hour and the steering just quit.
While driving at 40mph steering momentarily locked up. Vehicle then locked up making left hand turn. Had to pull steering wheel a few degrees to the right to free up bind. Took vehicle to pontiac dealership, and was told that rack and pinion had failed and needed to be replaced. Was also informed that the rack and pinion failure destroyed the air bag coil which had to be replaced.
Problem #1 - seat belts. Four out of the seven seat belts in the car have failed. Specifically the retraction system. Four out of seven going bad to me, means this is not an isolated failure. I'm concern about the other 3 working if in an accident. Dealers contacted want to charge me $800 - $1000 to fix four seat belts. Need to get it fixed, but nothing to believe I won't be asking that same dealer to fix the other 3 seat belts when they go bad too. Dealers say high cost of repair is directly attributed to the cost of parts. Unlike an alternator, or other engine component, the seat belt assembly is sole sourced from one manufacturer. Locked in to a non-competitive price (and obviously over inflated). Problem #2 - rack and pinon steering. I noticed on your web site what I believe to be the same problem under pontiac transports. Basically told by dealer the rack and pinon steering system is bad. Out of warranty, so big bucks. Have had to pay quite a bit in dealer repair bills already on vehical. For example, problems with automatic sliding door, windshield wipers, back hatch, side window, push buttons on door arm rest, air conditioning.....also poor design with plastic parts in high stressed point areas.
The steering completely locked up without warning. Fortunately I was just pulling out of a parking place in a shopping center, so there was no other accident or activity envolved. I payed to have the rack & pinion unit replaced and have had no further problem. I read the other day that your organization was conducting an engineering investigation on steering lockup problems for certain gmc models. Among these models listed was my 97 pontiac transport so I thought I would report my experience.
While traveling on a side road and without prior warning was making a left turn steering locked up, preventing vehicle to move. Vehicle was towed. Dealership was aware of problem.
While turning left, front wheel would not turn, steering was popping. Vehicle had to be towed. Defect in gear was the cause per dealership.*akconsumer had to run into the curb to avoid traffic.
A pin fell off from rack and pinion steering while traveling at 25 MPH. Consumer could not maintain control of vehicle.
Rack and pinion steering broke while backing out, vehicle started to hesitate, and then all power steering fluid ran out. Contacted dealer, and dealer stated that consumer needed to replace rack and pinion. Please add VIN .
Consumer was pulling out of a parking lot and without prior warning steering wheel locked up and couldn't turn it. Vehicle had to be towed. Dealership was aware of problem.
While driving 40 MPH consumer tried to make a left hand turn and vehicle would not turn. Only able to go straight or make right hand turns. Dealer replaced rack and pinion.
Steering wheel would lock up when making a left turn. Vehicle taken to dealer for inspection, and informed that rack and pinion steering was broken ,and needed replacement. *ak a nut had broken on the bottom of the rack and pinion system causing it to fall apart, the air bag coil was twisted also causing a bind up in the steering wheel.
Steering wheel locked up during curve, unable to turn wheel, van crached into canal. Is considered totaled by insurance.
While making a turn steering wheel locked, causing a collision which totalled the vehicle.
While pulling out of a driveway steering will would not turn to left, but it would turn to the right. Consumer feels he was lucky there was not any traffic, vehicle could have crashsed.*ak the consumer thinks that the steering problem is due to defect.
Steering failed and locked up while vehicle was in motion due to failure of rack and pinion steering. Total failure of steering.
Was driving in the rain & went through a puddle. This caused power steering to go out, and lost control. But there was no accident. Finally, went to a dealership & mechanic indicated that shield was missing. Missing shield caused water to get inside the steering area. Mechanic replaced the shield.
Check the engine light came on due to gas filter failure. Yh
Rack and pinion power steering mechanism disintegrated without warning, failure of power steering pump. Causing loss of steering. Dealer has repaired vehicle. *ak
Upon turning into a parking lot traveling 10-15 MPH, steering wheel locked up, causing loss of steering control. Consumer contacted t dealer, delaer replaced the entire steering wheel and column. Please provide any further details.
While making a turn steering wheel jerked and went to the right and locked up. The dealer is inspecting and repairing the vehicle.
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