[mlkmgr]

As the title states, the Service Traction and Service ESC warning is on the display. There is currently no power steering. Prior to this the steering wheel would shake back and forth uncontrollably. Getting to the point where wife had to use two hands with all her might to keep it straight on the road. --she tells me now .

car has 41K on it. everything was working prior to me pulling the drivers door lock mechanism to clean the contacts and inspect why doors locking/unlocking uncontrollably while driving. not sure if this would have anything to do with this but that was the only thing done recently.

can anyone please help. my wife loves her malibu but is ready to get rid of it due to problems. (brakes, door locks, steering, wheel noise, clunks in steering, moisture inside car fogging windows)

 

[Silver LTZ]

You didn't get the papers in the mail? They are having all sorts of issues with the electric power steering and GM extended the warranties on it. Call your dealer, you should be covered.

And SEARCH here, there are some threads about the letter.

 

[mlkmgr]

no letter. i only searched within this forum but no posts made mention of a letter. the responses were all over the place with wire being burned, connectors unplugged, washers being installed.....

glad to know there is light at the end of this tunnel! appreciate the help and i know the wife will too. i will call the dealer tomorrow.

 

[Silver LTZ]

I searched "letter". Came right up, there are others this is one.

http://www.chevymalibuforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5059&highlight=letter

 

[Starship]

car has 41K on it. everything was working prior to me pulling the drivers door lock mechanism to clean the contacts and inspect why doors locking/unlocking uncontrollably while driving. not sure if this would have anything to do with this but that was the only thing done recently.

Pre-existing EPS problems aside, you may have zapped something while working on the door. I hope it's not the BCM. Take it in and get it scanned.

 

[mlkmgr]

not knowing there was a "letter" in existence, i was did not search "letter". I searched "service esc" and "service traction" and came up with handful of replies. I also only searched in Gen 7 Problems/Service Issues/Troubleshooting area not knowing this is/was an issue that affected multiple generations of malibus.

perhaps a "letter" post should be a sticky so members can be directed to the right area without having to guess what to search?

 

[Silver LTZ]

"Service power steering" pulls up a bunch of posts too....

We can't have stickies for everything. Just gotta use the search function. Sometimes you will need to use some different key words.

 

[Starship]

I had deleted my earlier post because I thought the OP was going to take it in for service. The warning lights are the BCM trying to say something. The EPS problem may be the blown EPS fuse in the engine compartment fuse block, blown EPS motor, or BCM not enabling the EPS control module (I've got a bad feeling about this). So, everything leads back to just what faults were declared by the BCM.

 

[Silver LTZ]

I had deleted my earlier post because I thought the OP was going to take it in for service. The warning lights are the BCM trying to say something. The EPS problem may be the blown EPS fuse in the engine compartment fuse block, blown EPS motor, or BCM not enabling the EPS control module (I've got a bad feeling about this). So, everything leads back to just what faults were declared by the BCM.

Yeah, I undeleted it since I thought it was valid info as usual Star.

 

[Starship]

Okay, no problem. My advice to mlkmgr is to contact the GM customer service to verify the extended warranty status concerning EPS and take it in to the dealership for service. I'd be hesitant to try to fix it myself unless I've access to a Tech 2 and factory service information. If it turns out to be the BCM as well, it'll be another thing you neeed a Tech 2 and factory SI anyway.

 

[mlkmgr]

took it to the dealership. bad steering module or whatever was to be addressed in the letter. will be covered under warranty. they are also fixing the leak in one of the tires and reprogramming something so the tires show up in the correct wheel location. low tire pressure indicated in RR but was actually LF.

no other issues the dealer is fixing or looking at. not sure about the power lock situation though. switch works half the time and fails to pull driver's latch all the way down. will investigate further once we get the car back.

Thanks again!

thanks for the heads-up on the letter.

 

[Starship]

Glad to hear. Thanks for the good news. Let us know if the repair involved more than a replacement EPS motor/module assembly (I obviously have more than a passing interest in the matter).

 

[DrivenDaily]

I realize this is a little off topic, but it's in reply to a portion of the OP's concerns.

My driver's door lock was replaced at about 18K. Intermittently operated the locks. If the rest of the locks on this car are from the same batch then I expect they'll start dying soon as well. Glad it's under warranty!

BTW, I took my car to a dealership that is not the selling dealer. (Selling dealer told, not asked, me to never come back!) I had 3 issues for them: 1. turn signal doesn't always cancel, 2. sunroof shade rattles, 3. dash pad behind dash glove box starting to lift.

1. They found and fixed the turn signal issue with parts in stock!

2. They removed the half of a fix the selling dealer attempted and followed the TSB. Still has a rattle but at different times. Rattles are some of the hardest things to fix so I'll just be patient and work with them.

3. The dash pad was puckering due to a very thin antenna wire I installed from under the glove box, snaking it past the edge into the box. They made it better and, even though it's not strictly covered under warranty, didn't charge me for the effort.

Now THAT'S service! They are Bachman Chevrolet on Bluegrass Parkway in Louisville. They were recommended by the parents of a manager at work. They've bought and serviced their cars there for decades. As a matter of fact, they didn't like how they were treated by the same dealer as me! (Bob Hook Chevy, eat our dust!)

 

[mlkmgr]

UPDATE:

finally got the car back yesterday. dealer replaced the entire steering column, column shroud, and the fuse for the ESC. they could not re-program the module for a couple days. they finally realized the fuse was blown. they could not understand how the fuse had blown but they replaced it as well.

when i first started the car, the steering wheel shook left to right and then centered itself. after that, it settled down and became motionless. the wife said the service power steering light came on, stayed on for a few minutes and then turned off.

we will monitor closely but it appears that it is fixed for now.

 

[Starship]

we will monitor closely but it appears that it is fixed for now.

Not to alarm you but it sounds like they may have missed calibration step(s). I recommend paying close attention to what she says and keeping a log.

 

[mlkmgr]

UPDATE #2: car is not fixed. steering wheel still tried to pull right and left at hwy speeds today. wife ready to get rid of it. i am not in disagreement.

I am calling the dealer tomorrow to see what recourse we have now.

 

[mlkmgr]

Update: 3
Took back 2 dealer and they are stating it is the power steering assist motor has a short inside and will cost $615 to replace. Not covered under the extended warranty offered by GM.

Do I wait and pray GM recalls these motors similar to other models or can this be replaced by me if I buy the part? If so, does anyone know the part number?

This is really upsetting. This happened just after the warranty went out and I held out hoping for a recall but this is dangerous to drive with the wheel trying to oversteer on its own. Pretty scary at 65 mph!

 

[Starship]

It's the EPS motor/module assembly that the letter addressed, i.e., the motor cannot be separately replaced. Frankly I don't quite understand what work they performed, then. I think you should get the GM customer service involved if you haven't already.

 

[BillD64]

Update: 3
Took back 2 dealer and they are stating it is the power steering assist motor has a short inside and will cost $615 to replace. Not covered under the extended warranty offered by GM.

By extended warranty are you referring to the 5 Yr/ 100K mile powertrain warranty or the General Motors Protection Plan (GMPP)? GMPP is a bumper to bumper warranty extension.

Bill

 

[mlkmgr]

BillD64,
I am referring to the extended coverage for the steering column provided by GM that was mentioned in a letter that was sent out.

HOWEVER, according to 2 dealerships the motor is a separate issue and can be replaced separately. What the dealership replaced was the "column", shroud, and module (only items covered under warranty).

I called GM customer service and they are offering to pay for half so long as I agree to have the malibu serviced there from now on (fluid change, tire rotations, etc). croc of shit if you ask me.

what bothers me most is that they had the car for a week and a half and did not recognize this was the problem? they then had it 15 minutes and called to state the motor was bad.

does anyone have a copy of the letter sent out and can quote word for word what is supposed to be covered? We never received any letter so we are not certain what was said.