The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has closed an investigation into power steering problems in certain Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon trucks after General Motors issued a recall for affected vehicles.
The NHTSA investigation was launched after GM issued a recall for certain Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon trucks back in 2016 over power steering problems. According to Car Complaints, the recall was issued after GM received numerous reports that the trucks could experience a sudden loss of power steering. However, only 3,000 trucks were involved in the recall campaign – representing a very small percentage of the Colorado and Canyon vehicles that were on the road at the time.
NHTSA went on to receive 50 more complaints regarding sudden loss of power steering in 2015 model year Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon vehicles between 2016 and 2019, all of which involved vehicles that were not included in the initial recall campaign. The safety watchdog later discovered more than 340 owner complaints that were sent to the government and another 924 steering complaints that had been sent to GM. Seven of these reports indicated the sudden loss of power steering resulted in a crash, Car Complaints reports.
The emergence of these additional complaints prompted NHTSA to launch an investigation into the matter. The agency has now closed the investigation, however, after GM issued a recall for just over 60,000 examples of the affected trucks in April of this year. GM says the sudden power steering loss can be traced back to corroded connectors, which may have damaged by the supplier before they were installed at the factory. NHTSA says it will now monitor the recall campaign to ensure the power steering problems do not persist after the vehicles are repaired.
GM has also determined that only 2015 Chevy Colorado and 2015 GMC Canyon trucks built after May 22nd, 2015 are affected by this problem. For more information on the recall, readers should pore over our dedicated article on the campaign that we published in April of this year.
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Comments
This was an early problem. and most have already been addressed. We see few complaints on the forum.
ECM-Engine System Emissions code:
P0496, 2018 Traverse needs to be covered
by warranty. Previous years are covered!!
When Jesus come back cars will be perfect… Until then just be thankful there are recalls, not like back in the 60s or 70’s gas tanks exploding engines on fire making cars unsafe… And you where stuck to fix yourself.
The 2.8 liter durmax Colorado is junk.
The emissions are so screwed, you might as well junk the vehicle at 80,000.
The truck becomes worthless before you can pay it off.
No Chevy dealer can fix the DEF filter problem.
I called my dealer, LINDSEY and they said they’d received no notice about this. I told them I had received a letter from Chevrolet about the steering but they were not aware of my vin number showing up in the recall. OK, if something happens, they will be responsible for sure.
The recall did not fix near the number of vehicle affected by this issue. There are several 2016 models that have the same problem
@John P Tucker, it absolutely didn’t. I’ve got a 2016 with this exact issue. because the sensor is built into the steering column, they told me they’d have to replace the whole steering column, and that would be $1200 before labor.
Did you get it fixed? I thought it was corrosion where the wire plugs in.
I have the same issue and I just live with it. Recently, I went 1400 miles over 3 months without an issue then it started up again.
@Musky I haven’t yet. I’ve been just living with it as well. It started last summer, but over winter it never did it. Now that it’s warming back up, it’s started again, and more frequently. I may have to do something about it soon.
I just had this problem with my truck this weekend and almost hit somebody on the freeway. I could barely get my truck off the freeway because the offramp was a U-shaped and I could barely turn the car.
We just recently purchased a 2016 GMC Canyon with this same issue. It sporadically happens. I’m just afraid I’ll be driving and wreck because I can’t steer the vehicle. We haven’t had it checked yet.
I have the same issue with my 2016 Colorado; of course, it’s out of warranty, but this is very dangerous. They said my battery is weak, but that is not the issue. Codes indicate loss of communication with the power steering module. It is some electrical connection issue. I am an electrical engineer, these guys are full of crap, the battery would not cause this issue.
My 2016 Colorado just started doing this yesterday. I did it while I was driving home from work going about 65 on the freeway and then again when I was pulling out of my physical therapy office just in the parking lot.
I’m getting ready to go on a 20 Day Rd. trip. I leave in two days so if I die it’s Cheri’s fault *shrugs*
My 2016 Canyon suddenly lost power steering and the error code appeared for the first time since I have had it. Called the dealer and he told me that my VIN number was not in the recall and that there was only a few in my state that were affected. I could bring it in and they can see about getting it covered by it is doubtful. The recall should have gone out to more vehicles or GM should have been put on notice that should this happen in other 2016 Canyons and Colorado trucks they need to investigate and fix. I filed a report and spoke to someone at the NTSB and they said they have received a lot of complaints since this was closed but seem to be sitting on their hands.
I went out to my truck the morning of March 16, 2023. Upon starting the truck I saw in the dashboard information center “service power steering” and “Stabilitrak-Stability control” notifications. My truck had absolutely no power steering. Later in the day I arranged to have the vehicle loaded onto a car carrier and delivered to the dealer – Bob Allen Chevrolet here in Danville. They told me the problem will cost $1,750 to fix and, BTW, the parts are on back-order with no ETA. Tonight I checked several sites on the internet and find that these problems with this truck are epidemic! Also Chevrolet recalled some 60,000 2015 Chevrolet Colorado’s for this identical problem but thus far they have not recalled any 2016 Colorado’s even though the problems and the parts are identical. I am very thankful this problem occurred in my driveway! Other owners have had this happen on the interstate at high speeds or in traffic. I think that Chevrolet should/must be forced to issue a recall and fix this known issue on these trucks. Someone is going to get killed if it hasn’t happened already. I filed a complaint with the NHTSA
I appreciate hearing that I am not alone. My 2016 Colorado has the same issues with no luck from dealership. It never happens when I take it to them, only on the highway or in residential areas. This is getting really old.