2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara: loss of power steering

Filed Apr 3, 2010 · Steering · 32,750 miles · CA

Getting off the freeway I experienced a major loss of power steering on my 2006 suzuki grand vitara. I was barely able to "muscle" it to my office a few blocks away. In searching the web, I discovered there is a design flaw with the belt tensioner where a molded plastic outer ring is prone to failure. When this breaks, the belt becomes loose and looses its grip on the power steering pump. Sure enough, parts of the broken outer ring were found in the pan under the engine. Suzuki has corrected the problem on newer cars with an all metal pulley and it's an easy replacement. I was lucky, had the failure occurred going around a curve or turning in an intersection it could have caused a serious accident. Suzuki is aware of the problem but there has been no recall and will not replace the part if the car is out of warranty.

Filed Mar 18, 2010 · Steering · 41,400 miles · IN

I was driving my 2006 suzuki grand vitara 2.7l SUV -turning through a major intersection when the power steering belt tensioner pulley lost it's outer ring without warning. The loss of this ring caused the belt to slip, resulting in a complete loss of steering, not just power steering, but of steering altogether because the belt slippage was causing intermittent pumping of the power steering pump, causing fluid cavitation and making the wheel impossible to turn. By sheer luck I managed to get my vehicle to turn by almost hitting a car head -on. Suzuki knows about the issue with the 2006 and 2007 grand vitara power steering pump tensioner pulleys and has even released a revised part that uses a metal outer ring on the pulley instead of the original plastic one. Had to have my vehicle towed to the dealer where I was told this was not covered under the warranty since I had 41,000 miles on my vehicle and my extended warranty did not cover this failure. There needs to be a recall on this defect before somebody gets killed. After discussing my concern with the service manager I called the 800# for suzuki and complained and the local district manager called my dealer service manager and decided to cover the replacement after I told them about what I read on the internet about so many others having this problem and that I was going to file a complaint with the federal safety agency.

Filed Mar 16, 2010 · Steering · 67,487 miles · KY

Power steering pulley broke without any warning. Failure : lost power steering. Had to tow the SUV to the dealership (since it was hard to control the vehicle without power steering). Dealer replaced the power steering pulley. I have the old pulley.

Filed Feb 28, 2010 · Steering · 41,800 miles · MI

Sudden loss of power steering on 2006 suzuki grand vitara.

Filed Feb 1, 2010 · Steering · 52,000 miles · TX

I was driving my 2006 suzuki grand vitara 2.7l SUV on a highway when the power steering belt tensioner pulley lost it's outer ring without warning. The loss of this ring caused the belt to slip, resulting in a complete loss of steering, not just power steering, but of steering altogether because the belt slippage was causing intermittent pumping of the power steering pump, causing fluid cavitation and making the wheel impossible to turn. By sheer luck I managed to get the car off of the highway without crashing. Suzuki knows about the issue with the 2006 and 2007 grand vitara power steering pump tensioner pulleys and has even released a revised part that uses a metal outer ring on the pulley instead of the original plastic one. The part was $180 after tax, and took an hour of labor to install. There needs to be a recall on this defect before somebody gets killed.

Filed May 16, 2009 · Steering · 54,025 miles · NY

My 2006 suzuki grand vitara has a broken power steering tensioner pulley. The reason is that the many 2006 models of the grand vitara used a metal pulley wrapped with a piece of plastic around it. The plastic has cracked, and according to suzuki, it is not free to replace it. Since 2007, suzuki has started using a all-solid metal tensioner pulley after realizing that plastic tends to break more often. According to suzuki, a broken tensioner pulley will lead to immediate and sudden loss of power steering. This could cause major accidents when power steering stops working without prior notice. Having realized this design flaw, suzuki is still not willing to replace the plastic-covered tensioner pulley for free, asking me for $200 for the replacement. This issue seems to be a safety concern where I am not at fault. I specifically asked the technician if there was anything I could've done to prevent it, and he said no. This problem could have dire consequences if left in it's current state. I feel like this type of design flaw should be the responsibility of suzuki to correct, and not the consumer.