New 2014 GM Truck Recall Covers Electric Steering Glitch

Roscopcoletrain · October 31, 2018

I honestly never noticed any difference after having it done

Sierra Dan · October 31, 2018

No difference here either.

For those with no symptoms or problems you cannot tell it was even completed or updated.

It is basically just a software update.

Geojohn5 · November 2, 2018

Now im baffled.... I had no symptoms... had the flash, now my steering assist is lower. The way I can tell for sure is if you rock the steering wheel at rest you get 100 percent of the power steering you should get. Then you drive off just going 2 mph and you can feel the assist drop out. Dealer wont do anything about it because its mandatory (wont take it off).

jmee · January 15, 2019

Ok, so here is my deal. I purchased a 2015 GMC Sierra on June 4th 2018. In October, I get the recall letter (you know what this is about) Well, with holidays and all, there was no time to bring it to the dealer yet. So here we are in January....and on the 10th, went out to start the pickup, no problem, went to back it up and drive home from work, and the vehicle would not steer at all. So it stayed at work all night. The following morning, I had it towed from work to the nearest GM dealer. They called and gave me the run around saying the module was dead, and that the earliest they could work on it would be Tuesday. Here it is...Tuesday and now they want to charge me for the recalled module, and 2 hours of labor. AND they are suggesting that the steering rack could potentially be bad as well. Well, this went from a free recall fix to nearly $5000. I have had the vehicle for 7 months and 11 days. Where do I stand on getting this fixed by GM under their expense??

Yotaman · January 26, 2019

On ‎1‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 2:03 PM, jmee said:

Ok, so here is my deal. I purchased a 2015 GMC Sierra on June 4th 2018. In October, I get the recall letter (you know what this is about) Well, with holidays and all, there was no time to bring it to the dealer yet. So here we are in January....and on the 10th, went out to start the pickup, no problem, went to back it up and drive home from work, and the vehicle would not steer at all. So it stayed at work all night. The following morning, I had it towed from work to the nearest GM dealer. They called and gave me the run around saying the module was dead, and that the earliest they could work on it would be Tuesday. Here it is...Tuesday and now they want to charge me for the recalled module, and 2 hours of labor. AND they are suggesting that the steering rack could potentially be bad as well. Well, this went from a free recall fix to nearly $5000. I have had the vehicle for 7 months and 11 days. Where do I stand on getting this fixed by GM under their expense??

Wow ! I am not sure but I hope you get some sort of help. Others will be along to give input that have had similar experience. I think that I would contact GM and open a case be polite and tell them what has happened and request a good will repair. People always say I am biased and brainwashed but stuff like this never happens to the Toyotas that I have owned.

Best of luck,

22R

ic3man5 · March 20, 2019

So here is the problem GM is trying to correct with the power steering (I haven't done the recall and I don't plan on doing it). I have the brights turned on so the camera captures the dim better. My idle is turned up by about 200 more RPM so my alternator is generating a little bit more than a stock truck would but not much more.

I compared it with a 2017 (V6) sitting right next to my truck and you can tell the power assist is lowered which sucks, I already feel its too low to begin with. When I get some free time I'm going to attempt to beef up the cables going from the alternator, battery and power steering motor. My lights dim when hitting the full up position on the power windows also so that leads me to believe GM's grounds and wiring are just garbage in this truck. I feel they took the cheap route out with the recall and did a reflash with less power / current because its practically free besides labor.

m3n00b · August 20, 2019

On 3/19/2019 at 6:22 PM, ic3man5 said:

So here is the problem GM is trying to correct with the power steering (I haven't done the recall and I don't plan on doing it). I have the brights turned on so the camera captures the dim better. My idle is turned up by about 200 more RPM so my alternator is generating a little bit more than a stock truck would but not much more.

I compared it with a 2017 (V6) sitting right next to my truck and you can tell the power assist is lowered which sucks, I already feel its too low to begin with. When I get some free time I'm going to attempt to beef up the cables going from the alternator, battery and power steering motor. My lights dim when hitting the full up position on the power windows also so that leads me to believe GM's grounds and wiring are just garbage in this truck. I feel they took the cheap route out with the recall and did a reflash with less power / current because its practically free besides labor.

I know this is old but I saw another fix for ground issues where insulation got between the grounding cables under the top of each corner of the dashboard.

Found the thread:

flyingfool · October 15, 2019

i've read that a major part that fails on the truck which causes the stabilitrac warning to come on, is caused by the steering wheel angle sensor. try replacing this part before going further.

BigCountryGuns · October 25, 2019

My steering issue seems to be different from what I see others are experiencing. Mine happens on highway or in turns. If I’m in a turn at speed, say I have the steering wheel at the 10 o’clock position going into a left turn, It’s almost like the steering assist suddenly gets a jolt of added power assistance. It causes you to dart into the left lane and then overcorrect which is not only dangerous, it’s very annoying. Anyone have this problem

Michael Box · December 3, 2019

Got my letter on a 14 but the way I read it was if it’s not acting up they won’t do any update. And of course mine is over 150 so not covered anyway.

1997SierraSLT · December 3, 2019

It’s been happening since 1997, when GM introduced their VSS (variable speed steering). Thousands of complaints filed with NHTSA. Not one recall ever issued for erratic steering.

Edited December 3, 2019 by 1997SierraSLT

Chicken Heart · December 27, 2019

This is interesting. I have filed a safety complaint with GM. Truck went to dealer twice but was told, "Can't replicate issue therefore can't fix it!" Really, here is the service bulletin, just go thru each step like I requested. Oh no, cant do that. " So here we sit. I know some have installed new battery ground cables , one each to the engine, frame and body and have gotten results. One replaced the battery junction block and got results.

I was told to take my truck to a dealer and to email GM and they would call the dealer. For what , I don't know, but this will all happen after the first of the year. If I can't get this thing fixed, it's off to Dodge and a trade in. I really like my truck but I can't deal with these issues constantly. I will take the truck to the dealer for the bulletin issues then we will see, I may install the negative ground cables and the terminal junction block. But if this truck isn't fixed in 6 months, its off to La La Land for it. Why should anyone spend 5 to 6 K fixing something that appears to be inherently built in by the factory, either thru design of manufacture defects? Totally bafflying isn't it?

IcaRuss · January 8, 2020

I bought my 2014 almost a year ago with about 54k miles on it. Within about 3 months these same symptoms, except for the power cutting out, started up. I did the G218 fix which seemed to help for a week or two. I replaced the battery and all my problems went away. Until last weekend, that is. The Service Stabilitrack message popped up when I had the cruise control on and signaled to change lanes, which was the first symptom last time. I was able to drive on but when I went to park the truck shut down for a second, the locks unlocked and locked and everything came back on. I was able to restart the engine and park. The next morning the security light stayed on when I started the truck so I shut it down and restarted the truck. Everything was fine after that for a while. This morning I didn't get any errors but the steering felt a little odd on my commute. When I went to park it did the shut down thing again.

I've put in a complaint with the NHTSA but haven't heard anything. I'm going to clean and tighten the battery cables and see if that helps but if I have to put a new battery in every six months until the loan is paid, that's what I'll do. I traded in a 2005 Dodge Ram with 200k miles on it for this.

Chicken Heart · January 8, 2020

So we have another who have joined the ranks of "What happened to my steering?" Just to bring mine up to date, i just last week, did the G218 thing and it was the pitts to get to. Everything was great. Then went to the ground cable that went to the frame and found that the dealer tech had replaced it onto the under coated surface of the frame. Wow- - - not too bright as they say. We ground off the undercoating on the frame and the cable end and used a new bolt and reinstalled all of it. Went for 3 days then it started all over again. Then it was OK for a day and I changed the battery distribution box, found it was oxidized. Skip a day then it went off again, today the 8th. I'm going down the bulletin PIT5405C and checking off those that have been done. I intend to check the transmission plug under the truck as I have read where a few have done that and gotten results. So far: new battery ground cables as installed by dealer, new Optima battery, new battery harness from distribution box to God knows where (installed by dealer) and distribution box. So far we're out $1600.00 for something that the factory should have taken care of. The Battery harness has connectors that go to the steering and we will check those also.

Chicken Heart · October 23, 2020

So here is an update to the last dated January 8th. My 2016 has been in and out of the dealer so often that it was pathetic! I did get GMC involved and finally got some thing done. The dealer, at least his top electronic guy< changed all the cables three times, did all the bulletins covering this issue, but the darn truck still did its "Stabilink ain't working bit. So two weeks ago, he changed out the ECM, flashed all the modules as well as the ECM with all the new updates. Then it went off again!!! Ahhh man! So this time he got involved with GM's Electronic Engineering Division and lo and behold, he found a cable connector somewhere under the hood that wasn't reading correctly. This truck seemed to not like cold weather and went off when it was under 40 degrees? Weird huh? So now after replacing the connector and cable, it works, at least today when it was like 36 degrees. Put bunch of miles on it to see if it would flip out. nada so I'm waiting for a return call From GM. I certainly hope this fixes it! Kinda like the election, as we will see what happens!