NHTSA Complaint #10502983 — 2004 CHEVROLET MALIBU

DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD WHEN THE RADIO PANEL STARTED BLINKING WITH POWER STEERING. I THEN LOST MY POWER STEERING AND MY CAR BEGAN TO SHAKE THIS FAILURE OCCURS WITHOUT ANY WARNING AND SOMETIMES THE POWER STEERING LIGHT WILL ILLUMINATE AND IT WILL SHOW IN THE RADIO PANEL. AS A WOMAN, DRIVING WITHOUT POWER STEERING WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS HAPPENED TO ME IT HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES AND THANKFULLY I WAS ABLE TO AVOID AN ACCIDENT. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER, AND AFTER RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS, THEY TOLD ME THAT THE 2004 MALIBU'S HAVE ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING, AND THAT THERE IS AN ISSUE WITH THE POWER STEERING MOTOR AND THAT IT OVERHEATS, CAUSING LOSS OF POWER STEERING. THE CAR SEAT BELTS ARE FROZE AND THE HAZARD LIGHT BUTTON FELL INSIDE ITS HOLE AND THE HEADLIGHT COVERS DON'T ALLOW THE LIGHTS TO FULLY ILLUMINATE . THIS CAR SHOULD HAVE BEEN RECALLED BECAUSE IT POSES LIFE THREATENING ISSUES. MY RESEARCH SHOWS A HIGH VOLUME OF COMPLAINTS ON THIS 2004 MODEL BUT THE 2005'S AND ABOVE WERE RECALLED, I ALSO COLLECTED STATEMENTS FROM FACTORY WORKERS WHO LEFT THEIR PERSONAL INFO ON THE INTERNET AND I FOUND THIS : DURING MY EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT WITH DELPHI AUTOMOTIVE (DELPHI SAGINAW STEERING SYSTEM, 3900 E. HOLLAND AVE., SAGINAW, MICHIGAN 48601), I WAS INSTRUCTED TO CONDUCT A SCREW "STRIP-OUT" STUDY ON THE ELECTRIC MOTOR/CONTROLLER ASSEMBLY OF THE ELECTRIC POWER STEERING (EPS) SYSTEM OF THE GENERAL MOTOR'S EPSILON PLATFORM (MY 2003.5 - 2006 MALIBU). THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED IN MAY OF 2004 AT DELPHI'S PLANT 1, ASSEMBLY. THE STUDY INCLUDED TEN PRODUCTION MOTOR AND TEN PRODUCTION CONTROLLER ASSEMBLIES THAT WERE ASSEMBLED ON THE PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT AND PROCESS(ES). THE CONTROLLER IS ATTACHED TO MOTOR BY THREE M 5.0X 0.8 SCREWS. THE RESULT OF THAT STUDY CONCLUDED THAT FOUR OF THE TEN MOTOR/CONTROLLER ASSEMBLIES HAD AT LEAST ONE OF THE SCREWS FULLY STRIP