The Symptoms
Greetings! We had an issue with the electric power steering in my Malibu. This was a new one for me and I felt a bit nervous taking it on. The Symptoms,were that we got a “Power Steering” error on the dashboard radio and the steering wheel would erratically vibrate. After a moment or two, the power steering finally would stop working. We could steer, but it was difficult.
The Parts
Once we figured out that this was an electric power steering system we had to go about finding the parts. This was a bit of a challenge. After spending some time researching the symptoms, I came to the conclusion that there were 3 parts involved and all 3 could be the culprit. I found a few videos for the process, but they were not complete or specific to my make and model. Combining my efforts to find the training video with my search for the parts, I stumbled across a vendor who was selling the whole assembly. With all 3 parts in the same jumble, I now had the assurance I wanted for the full repair.
The Process
We ordered the assembly and now it was down to the business of executing the process. The weather took a turn for the worse and got too cold. We waited it out for a couple weeks until the sun decided to show up and make it so the process was less tortuous. Our new mechanic is the perfect size to complete the task of swapping this Electric Power Steering assembly. We spent the first few steps looking over the electrical connections and assuring we would disconnect them and reconnect them as needed. We then moved on to removing the steering wheel itself and assuring the shaft stayed aligned. I forgot to mention that if the steering wheel got turned, we would then face the need for a code scanner capable of calibrating the new electric sensor. All in all, we had great success.