More bad news for GM

[SVT666]

General Motors has declined to issue a formal recall over a steering glitch that has startled many owners and even allegedly contributed to an accident.

Dozens of owner complaints reported "locked up" steering while driving affected vehicles. The issue appears to be limited to highway driving, rather than occurring at slower speeds or in city driving.

"While driving at 65-70 mph on straight and level highway, steering would develop a 'stick or dead spot' on center when attempting to make a slight correction," a driver wrote in a complaint to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "It required increased effort to overcome the sticking spot resulting in oversteer causing the vehicle to over-veer. Very Dangerous. Hard to believe there is no recall."

Acknowledging the behavior in several models, the company sent "customer satisfaction campaign" letters to owners of the 2012-2014 Buick Verano, 2011-2014 Chevrolet Cruze and Volt, 2010-2014 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain, and the 2013-2014 Chevrolet Malibu.

"[Affected vehicles] may have increased friction in the steering system," the letter reads. "This could cause the steering wheel to stick in the straight-ahead position after driving long distances on a straight highway. The steering wheel can be turned but it may require increased effort."

The proposed fix is a software update instead of a safety recall. Owners can receive the free update until their vehicle is 10 years old or with more than 150,000 miles.

"Based on a very low rate of occurrence -- ranging from less than one half to less than two incidents per thousand vehicles -- and the fact that the condition is remedied when the wheel is turned, G.M. determined this was not a safety issue," GM spokesman Alan Adler said in a statement to The New York Times.

[giant_mtb]

Software update?  Are these vehicles ones with electric power steering?

[MX793]

I'll bet this is an issue with the electric power steering rather than any kind of mechanical or friction issue with the racks.  I had a Cobalt rental car a couple of years ago and the EPS was poorly calibrated and inconsistent in terms of steering effort.

[Rich]

who needs steering?

[shp4man]

Modern cars systems are almost all electronic. I update air bags, HVAC, steering, lighting, engine, transmission, instrument  clusters...all with separate programmable modules, all networked together.  Some wacky shit can happen when they won't talk.

[Secret Chimp]

Sounds like they're relying on assist to bolster straight-ahead stability instead of just caster? It wouldn't be that hard to turn the wheel off-center if there was no assist at highway speeds.

[MX793]

Sounds like they're relying on assist to bolster straight-ahead stability instead of just caster? It wouldn't be that hard to turn the wheel off-center if there was no assist at highway speeds.

It's very possible they've programmed the EPS to supplement straight-ahead stability.  Or it's a response thing (the system isn't responding quickly enough to inputs at the wheel).  That's what it felt like on the Cobalt I drove.  Sometimes I'd take a corner and there would be plenty of assist, other times the initial turn in would require more effort before I got assist.  Very inconsistent.  Almost "lumpy" in terms of when it gave assist.

Also, having had my power steering go out at speed, while it's not that hard to turn, it is much harder than with power steering.  Also factor that a lot of people drive with one hand on the wheel placed where they won't necessarily have good leverage (like down at 7-o'clock), and I could see this being problematic.  Driver applies light pressure that is normally enough to move the wheel, nothing happens, so they apply a bunch more pressure at the same time that the EPS recognizes that the wheel is being turned and it needs some assist.

[Galaxy]

That's what it felt like on the Cobalt I drove.  Sometimes I'd take a corner and there would be plenty of assist, other times the initial turn in would require more effort before I got assist.  Very inconsistent. 

The worst offender in this regard from personal experience was the first generation of BMW's variable steering. One literally did not know how much input was going to be needed to get a desired output.

[MX793]

The worst offender in this regard from personal experience was the first generation of BMW's variable steering. One literally did not know how much input was going to be needed to get a desired output.

Yes, at least the Cobalt had a single ratio rack so I knew X-degrees of steering wheel input would result in Y-degrees of turn at the wheels.  It was just the resistance/weight of the steering that was a crap-shoot.  Variable rack would drive me nuts.

[hotrodalex]

Sounds like they're relying on assist to bolster straight-ahead stability instead of just caster? It wouldn't be that hard to turn the wheel off-center if there was no assist at highway speeds.

I think Ford does this as well. My brother's Focus has a crazy amount return-to-center when you let go of the wheel, even at 5 mph. My car didn't do that even when I had 10 degrees of caster.