My 2007 HHR suddenly had the Power Steering message light up on the dash last week & it was extremely hard to steer. I called my mechanic & he Googled & discovered GM Bulletin 14119, the warranty extension for the EPS motor. So I called GM corporate & they set it up with a local dealership to fix it. I took it yesterday. The guy working in the service office was incredibly rude, discourteous & sullen with the personality of a puff adder. He made a couple of snarky comments about me being there for my "free" work. Still, I needed the car fixed & left it there. A couple of hours later they called & said it was ready. When I got there to pick it up they told me it wasn't fixed.


They said they replaced the motor but that the new motor didn't fix the problem. I was told by their service manager when I first spoke with them to set up an exact time & day for the repair that the car would be scanned at no expense to me. But they said they didn't scan it. I asked did they check the fuse & they said no but they would. I waited while they did that & then said nope, not the fuse either. At that point I asked if they knew what was wrong with it & they said the power steering module, which I later learned from them is the power steering column module. I cannot even find anything like that at a parts house or online. They told me it was $300 for the part alone. I elected to drive the car back home & try to find the part myself & let my mechanic of 30 years install it for me. Provided we can find one that is.


So a little while ago, I decided to look under the hood at the fuses & the red wire that some people said needed tightening & would often solve the power steering problem. As soon as I raised the hood I heard this loud noise like something fell but it didn't fall all the way through to the carport floor. I looked inside as best I could & didn't see it. No idea what it was. The next thing I noticed was this very big pair of plier looking things lying on top of the fuse cover. I moved them & removed the fuse cover & saw that the plastic cover to the yellow power steering fuse is missing. Maybe I'm being too picky but I have very little confidence left in the people who worked on my car yesterday. Also, when I picked it up, all of my dash lights were going off & on & my clock & radio were flashing weird stuff that looked like symbols or a foreign language or something. I called the dealership & they said they didn't do anything that would have caused that. But it had never done it before. It did quit before I got home but I'm nervous about it coming back.


Any advice appreciated, such as where to buy the part they say I need or just whatever. Thanks in advance.

 

The power steering motor is an extended warranty part, take it to a different GM dealership for a no charge replacement.

 

Thanks. You mean take it to a different dealership & don't tell them the first one already replaced it? Won't there be records?

 

Here is my post when I had the POWER STEERING problem
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/prob...g-60970/page2/

Red thread #11, all dealerships are not the same!

Also check that the red wire is not loose at the top left of the fuse box. Check the top left yellow fuse, it will be difficult to remove, just wiggly it and be patient


.

 

I had to buy the entire steering column from a junkyard for about $80 just to get the lower shaft with the box attached. Here is a pic of the shaft, you just need the gear box with module mounted to the side of it, the gear box is held onto the shaft by three bolts

 

Now with all the dash lights flashing I would assume that the dealership had troubling removing the yellow fuse as well and in the process may have pulled the fuse box halves apart. This fuse box split is a semi common thing, I have luckily never encountered it but there is a tutorial here somewhere describing how to separate and re attach it. This thing becoming loose cause havoc and people have to separate and reattach to clear up those issues from loose connections within the fuse box.

 

Unfortunately you are correct, I too dont trust others working on my car either. I just assume do it myself and KNOW that it is done right. Hence why I love this forum so much!!

 

ELECTRIC POWER STEERING PUMP (technically it is not a pump, it is a gearbox)
Here is what might be what you need? You will need to make certain that you are getting the entire gearbox assembly like in the picture and not just the black motor that is attached (on the right side).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-Steer...kAAOSwFwNduFOl
$44

 

Are you 100% positive they actually replaced it though... Guys sound like total tools.

 

Thanks much for all your replies. I'll work through them & also share with my regular mechanic. Driving without power steering is hard. One thing I don't understand is that the power steering light came off & on before they supposedly replaced the EPS motor & when I picked it up yesterday it was off & hasn't come back on. But the car is worse than it was before. Until they replaced that EPS motor I could cut the engine then start it right back & the power steering would work at least long enough for me to park or make a tight turn. But that doesn't work anymore. I asked them why & never got an answer. Clear as mud to me.