Problems with 2004 Chevrolet Malibu STEERING

Power steering assist failed while driving 35 mph. the dealer was notified. *ak ea04018_cat the steering wheel started to pull and shake to the left. the consumer was informed that a part was needed for the power steering. a light on the dash had illuminated and the power steering had gone out again. also, the foam strip near the windshield was coming out of place. *sc *jb

The power steering on my malibu failed. gm has acknowledged a problem and replaced a connector or module under warranty, but there has been no recall to cover this known problem. oddly enough, the loaner car they provided my wife had the same problem. why isn't this getting greater attention before something serious happens? ea04018_cat

While driving 60 mph the steering wheel locked. the consumer pulled over and restarted the vehicle. the horn did not work as well. *jb ea04018_cat

Steering wheel often "jumpy". moves back and forth while at a stand still. 2 days ago, power steering went off, was able to steer car with difficulty, but had no power steering. power steering warning message came on. service warning came on. *ak ea04018_cat

On saturday, 16 oct 2004, while running errands, the electric assist power steering began pulsating/vibrating the steering wheel and pulling the wheel to the right. the pulsation/vibration continued even while the vehicle was in park. it only stopped when the engine was shut off. upon restarting the engine the symptoms disappeared for a short period of time, only to return as before. the vibration is no better or worse at highway speeds than at local speeds, or standing still. on monday, 18 oct 2004, the vehicle was taken to jim reed chevrolet, nashville, tn, where the symptoms presented themselves in front of the service manager. he said that he had "just received a tsb" concerning this problem. he kept the vehicle for the day and replaced the steering column assembly. the problem has not yet reoccurred. ea04018_cat. *ak

About 3 weeks ago i noticed cog-wheeling of the steering wheel when attempting to turn right. it was intermittent, but began to increase in frequency with vibration through the steering wheel. today, while driving the power steering quit working completely. i was about 25 miles from home, and had to drive with no power steering the entire way. i will contact the dealer on the next business day. the car is currently not safe to drive. we own two 2004 malibu's, the other malibu had the same problem several months ago and had to have the steering column replaced. the repair took almost 3 weeks due to back-ordered parts. *jb ea04018_cat

On march 22, 2004 at 2,715 miles steering column locked while driving 56 mph. during the attempt to unlock the steering column consumer broke the steering wheel. at the present time, vehicle stalled while driving 45 mph. consumer believed the problem was due to the computer module. dealer was not contacted during both incidents. *ak ea04018_cat

Complete and sudden loss of power steering without any prior warning which is only remedied by turning off the engine and restarting the vehicle. this condition has led to dangerous situatios on the road. when the power steering does work, the steering wheel tends to jerk on its own causing unintended swerving of the vehicle. ea04018_cat

While driving, the steering locked up. the consumer took the vehicle to the dealer and they replaced the electronic column. please provide any further information. ea04018_cat *jb the steering tightened and gradually became almost impossible to steer at that time. the warning panel showed steering locked. failure corrected. *tc

the vehicle has a loud clunking sound, when ever turning the steering wheel either to the right or left. the sound comes from below in the engine compartment and is heard constantly inside the vehicle. i find it hard to believe that the intermediate steering shaft in this vehicle is not on the recall list with the other 3 notices to this vehicle? *tr

The power steering failed on my 2004 chevrolet malibu on 3 occasions during the weekend of oct. 2 2004. i put the car in reverse and i heard a chime. i looked at the dic and saw "power steering". there was also a service light on the ip. there was no power assist at all, and it was very difficult to steer. i shut the vehicle off and restarted. it seemed ok. it then failed two more times with the same symptoms, but this time i was in a busy intersection. i am taking the vehicle to the dealer asap. i saw many other complaints on this site about the very same issue, so i thought i would let you know about mine. *nm ea04018_cat

While driving at any speed the vehicle would lose power steering intermittently, making it hard to steer. dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.*ak

On october 2, 2004, the power steering stopped working for the second time. steering was very difficult and even more difficult since i am 4 months pregnant. i had to drive the car about 10 miles to the dealership to have them to look at it again. they had to keep over the weekend. the service advisor turned the car off and back on again to see what would happened and the power steering begin to work again. for several months now i have had issues with the steering on this malibu and nothing has been done to resolve those issues. either the problem had to be duplicated by the technician or they were not able to find the codes in the diagnostic system to see what the problem was. i was just informed by the service advisor that the car is ready and the power steering column module had to be replaced and that should fix the problem. i hope so. i have only had the car for a little while now. *ak ea04018_cat

When coming to a stop power steering failed, and the steering wheel locked up. consumer had to restart the vehicle to stop. dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak ea04018_cat found the wheel position sensor not reading consistently. there was an intermittent grinding noise. *sc

While driving power steering pump failed . the consumer took the vehicle to dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that the power steering pump needed to be replaced. *ak ea04018_cat currently the vehicle still does not steer properly. the vehicle was taken four times before the service dealer to say it was okay. the headlights shined too high, there was a vibration when the vehicle was in motion and was unable to be duplicated. *sc

While driving about 5 minutes on back roads at 35-40 mph there was vibration in steering wheel. it would jerk back and forth about 1/2" each way. tried to turn right, but steering wheel would only turn to between 2 and 3 o'clock. however, it took all consumer's effort to even turn that much. saw wrench light up, heard ding, and saw power steering on radio. was able to get vehicle into gas station parking lot, about 3 minutes after she felt jerking. restarted vehicle, and steering was fine. it happened about 3 weeks later again, the third time in about 2 weeks while consumer was in driveway. dealer replaced the steering column. *ak ea04018_cat

Steering wheel shakes all by itself and was replaced by dealer. now there is a clunking noise when turning the wheel. front rotors warped, replaced by dealer, now warped again. front axle seal leaking on exhaust, replaced by dealer, now leaking again causing a foul oil burning smell in the car. *nm

While driving, the power steering failed. the consumer had great difficulty controlling the vehicle. manufacturer stated that there were no complaints on this defect.*ak ea04018_cat. *jb

On 4 occasions during the past week the power steering feature failed while car was in operation. this could have caused collisions. ea04018_cat

Our 2004 chevrolet malibu lt (v6, loaded with all options except for onstar) has between 5500 and 6000 miles on it now. recently, my wife reported an issue with the steering wheel brating "nervously" while idling in line to drop my daughter off to school. this vibration / movement did not actually move the wheels, and she returned home safely.the problem was intermittent, but one morning as she prepared to leave, she noticed the vibration problem again, and wishing to show it to me, called me to the garage. i witnessed the palsy-like movement of the steering wheel and again noted that the tires didn't move with the wheel. after this occurred, i returned to the house (making a note to myself for our next visit to the dealership's service department). less than five minutes later, i heard a knock at the door, which turned out to be my 8 year old daughter (who had gone with my wife). she told me that the steering had "broken" and that my wife was trying to maneuver the car back to the house. i went out to the end of the drive, to find my wife attempting to fight to get the car back onto our street. i stopped her, took over the car, turned off the ignition, then restarted the car. this restored the power steering, at which point i parked the car in the garage, and the wife took our other vehicle. i had already read of this issue on several bulletin boards around the web, and my car is a relatively early 2004 build malibu. however, there has as yet been no official recall from chevrolet, and as i see that there is an ongoing investigation by the nhtsa into this issue, i felt i should report yet another instance of the same problem as was experienced by the other 8 drivers mentioned by the investigation. i consider the twitching steering wheel to be a single failure, and combined with the actual loss of power assist once so far, have indicated 2 failures. my car is currently scheduled to be looked at by the local dealership later today.*ak ea04018_cat

Steering problem. steering in the morning was erratic seemed to hunt. took the car to the dealer and was told it was a sensor problem, dealer had to order part, car still drivable. next morning the steering was the same, after work i came out started the car, steering was still shaky, after pulling out onto the road i lost all power steering, service alarm light came on and power steering failure notification on console. i took car directly to the dealer, received loaner while they repair car. was told all parts must be returned to determine failure mode. ea04018_cat

Vehicle lost power steering assist while coming to a stop light. thevehicle was taken to the dealer. dealer replaced a column kit. please provide any further information. *jbb ea04018_cat *tc

Vehicle 3 times would not start. took into dealer and was told they could not find anything. on 9/5/04 was driving and the car made a ding ding and steering wheel locked. stopped and turn car off and back on and was okay. two days later was making a left hand turn and again the ding ding and steering wheel locked. had car towed to dealer. dealer called and said they had to replaced steering column and would call when complete. dealer called and said steering column was replaced but new steering column during same thing. currently i have a rental from dealer ship.*ak ea04018_cat

When driving vehicle in reverse steering wheel locked. also,steering wheel shook and vibrated, even when the vehicle was not in motion. *ak ea04018_cat

While driving consumer lost power steering. consumer pulled over and restarted the vehicle. dealership was notifed, but did not resolve the problem. *ak ea04018_cat the consumer stated that the power steering is electric not hydraulic on this vehicle. *tc

At approximately 10,000 miles, my 2004 chevrolet malibu developed a steering problem. upon starting the car, the steering wheel visibly shook and pulled when i tried to turn right. i called the dealership and they had to order a replacement part. when the part came in a week and a half later, they replaced the steering column. ea04018_cat. *ak

I was traveling at highway speeds to work on the expressway when the second occurrence of (epa) steering failure. the first occurrence was on 8/30/04 and the second occurance was on 9/2/04. the car was taken to dealer on 8/31/04 for repair they connected the computers and found no code errors. today when power steering stopped working i found a safe place to pull onto exit ramp shoulder to park car and shut down. i waited a few minutes restarted no problems. but my car is at dealership for service the second time. *ak ea04018_cat

Stopped at red light after driving approximately 45 miles per hour on the way to work. steering whell "jiggled" a bit. when i accelerated, the power steering was gone. car was hard to steer; was able to drive approximately four miles to the dealership. dealership said there was a part in the steering column that needed replaced, and that they would replace the steering column. they ordered the part (from michigan), but due to hurricane frances, they could not fix the car until next week. the dealership was very nice and gave me a loaner car at no charge; but my car is now sitting out in the open at the dealership with the possibility of hurricane force winds damaging the car. the fact that the part was not readily available concerns me.*ak ea04018_cat

while driving service message indicated to consumer that power steering column failed. as result, consumer had to restart the vehicle. the dealership reset the computer three times, but problem recurred. *ak ea04018_cat

Power steering. while driving at various speeds the steering wheel jerks up to 45 degrees, side to side, in both directions. no loss of control . no steering has been lost as of yet. appointment set with valley cheverlot, carson city, nv on august 31, 2004.*ak ea04018_cat

While makeing a right turn onto major street wrench icon lit upon on instrument panel, information panel indicated power steering failure,had to manhandle car to parking lot of k-mart. restared engine, drove to chev dealer, left car with them, they replaced steering column. do not feel safe with this car as there other reports of failure after the steering column had been replaced. *ak ea04018_cat

Loss of power steering while vehicle is in motion. vehicle has just reached 10k miles. steering the vehicle during failure is difficult. reported failure to dealership on the afternoon of failure. instructed to immediately return vechicle to dealership for repair. ea04018_cat. *ak

Steering wheel oscillated back and forth while vehicle was on, but stopped; happened again while backing out of parking space; about 5 minutes into 15 minute drive home (going 10 mph); vehicle felt like it was pulling left so it took more steering effort to turn wheel right; had steering column replaced august 19, 2004.

Since i purchased my lemon malibu 2004, i have been experiencing problems with the steering column, the rack and pinion, the car suspension, the power window. the dealer replaced the rack and pinion twice. they removed three times the steering column to place some grease in the system. my husband had a bad experience while driving the car, the steering system got stuck. *tr

Three issues with my 2004 chevrolet malibu ls v6... 1. the steering gear needs to be replaced at 48,000 miles. 2. the starter stays engaged periodically or has trouble turning over to start the car. 3. a/c not cooling vehicle. entire unit eventually replaced. the vehicle has been brought in numerous (13) times to various gm dealers and only has 48,000 miles. *jb

The vehicle became hard to start. it has been an ongoing problem. the power steering locked on the highway at 20 mph. after pulling off the road and restarting the vehicle and getting it to the dealer, they replaced the steering column. no defects were found on the starting problems. now the vehicle accelerates on its own. *jb ea04018_cat

After driving 2004 malibu about 5 minutes, the power steering failed while waiting at a stop light. the orange warning symbol was flashing on the instrument display. got car to a safe area and shut off engine and checked owners manual for more information. *akrestarted engine and streering resumed working. drove home without anymore problems. called chevrolet toll free assistance number for advise and they advised having the car towed to a dealer for repairs - they were not aware of any service bulletins or recalls. local dealer found a service bulletin and ordered parts to correct problem - changed defective part and tested. no further problems to this time. i was informed by nhtsa that a improved part was made available in july to correct this potentially dangerous problem. i have not received any notification from chevrolet that an "improved' was used in the repair and the problem has been in their opinion corrected.

While stopped at a red light the vehicles tilt steering unlocked without warning. as a result the vehicle began to roll forward even with the brakes applied. *jb the vehicles abs light would illuminate when the vehicle was driven. the light would go off once the vehicle was parked, turned off then turned back on. *nm

1) first failure at 4589 miles. while driving 60 mph on winding two lane road at night. warning chime sounded, "wrench" and "power steering failure" appeared. within a few seconds the ps completely failed making vehicle very hard to drive. dealer contacted factory rep then ordered and installed new column. 2) second failure at 9870 miles. turning as i backed out of driveway, ps failed. stopped and turned engine off. called dealer. started car and it was fine. dealer replaced column again. 3) third failure at 10167 miles. while driving up a steep, winding two lane mountain road near here with heavy saturday afternoon traffic, ps became stiff and then there was some involuntary movement back and forth. i do not know whether warnings sounded, i was too busy trying to avoid traffic while looking for a place to get it off the road. called dealer and was towed to shop some 20 miles away. subsequent checks and extensive test driving found no stored codes and no malfunctions. dealer said he could not help me any further and suggested i call gm customer satisfaction, which i did and the formal complaint process is in progress. the tow truck driver also noticed that the steering was very stiff while loading the car. since my wife and i feel strongly that the car is not safe,she does not drive it and i drive it carefully and slowly only as necessary.*ak ea04018_cat

While driving on highway at 50 mph steering jerked from side to side, nearly losing control. when on regular street problem was not so noticeable. also, heard continuous knocking noises when making turns. have taken vehicle to dealer, and mechanic replaced steering column. it worked for awhile but got worse in september. took vehicle back to dealer, and mechanic replaced the rack and pinion. it partially resolved problem, but knocking continued. took vehicle back, and mechanic replaced the steering shaft. knocking noise was not resolved.*ak ea04018_cat

Fax ltr fm james ballou wadford (va) owner of a my 2004 malibu reporting loss of steering capabilities suggest nhtsa recall vehicle safety defect.*mr while driving the consumer lost all steering capability. the service engine light illuminated on the dash as the driver attempted to pull the vehicle over onto the side of the road. the vehicle was taken tot he dealer where they indicated that he received a service bulletin on this problem in may. the consumer feels the problem should be recalled. *mn ea04018_cat

Power steering assist failure while driving. speed approximately 45 mph, travelling in a straight line. was able to get the vehicle (2004 chev malibu lt) home, but exit ramps and corners very difficult to navigate. problem cleared with turning off and restarting motor. this was the second occurrence. ea04018_cat

While driving 25 mph engine service light came on. as a result steering failed without warning. *ak ea04018_cat

While the consumer was pulling into his driveway the vehicle's power steering unit failed and caused loss of steering control. the vehicle was towed to the dealer who replaced the electric power steering unit per a service bulletin issued by gm. the vehicle has been working properly since repaired. *ak *nm ea04018_cat

The incident happened twice. the first time occurred in a low speed turn. the first incident occurred 2 months ago. the second occurred while stopped at a traffic light. in the second incident, all electric power steering assistance was lost suddenly making the vehicle difficult to steer. a warning indicator "wrench/car" shows, audio alarm sounds, and a message is displayed on the radio message display "power steering off". i put the car in park. shut off and restarted. worked ok. *ak ea04018_cat

2004 chevrolet malibu experienced problems with the steering.***no answer required***. *mr the consumer stated the vehicle pulled to the left when he would take off from a stop and it would drift to the left while driving. *jb

Both front side windows did not roll down. also, a steering column problem. vehicle pulled to left. dealership inspected vehicle several times, and could not fix it. *ak ea04018_cat

When turning the steering wheel to the right, i noticed a "scraping" sound from the steering column. this occurred several times and on the date that i was taking the car to have the problem investigated, the entire power steering went out (while traveling at about 35 mph) and i had extreme difficulty managing the vehicle. fortunately, i was able to safely arrive in the parking lot of the dealership. i've been waiting for 3 days for this problem to be remedied and have yet to receive my car. i have been told by the dealership that they will probably need to replace the entire steering column, etc. i'm still waiting for the results. i really don't understand why gm hasn't notified customers that there is this potential since it seems that it could be dangerous. *ak ea04018_ cat

While driving steering wheel vibrated out control to the point it felt like the steering wheel was going to jump out of the window. when making right turns consumer could hear a clicking sound. took the vehicle to the dealer. they repaired the steering problem. however,. the noise problem recurred. *ak ea04018_cat steering wheel jerking back and forth. *tc

While driving at 30 mph steering wheel locked up and wouldn't turn in any direction. when this occurred a wrench icon illuminated on the dashboard. consumer veered off the highway, turned the vehicle off, and restarted it. this unlocked the steering wheel. a service representative indicated that was a common problem with these vehicles,that resulted in accidents. *ak ea04018_cat