2017 CHEVROLET BOLT EV Steering Problems

The steering no longer returns to center after a turn, and manual correcting force is needed. This creates a safety risk in the event the driver is unable to correct the steering wheel. This problem was confirmed by a dealer, but the cause was not diagnosed. Multiple Bolt drivers have reported failed steering gear with the same symptoms, which is likely the cause. No warning lights appear when experiencing this issue.

Steering does not return to center on its own after a turn. Have to apply a lot of force to steering wheel to bring it back to center.

Steering doesn't want to return the center. This is a safety issue. Had steering rack replaced at 24k miles and now at 49k miles it's having the same issue. These parts are defective.

steering wheel bind when returning to center. This vehicle has less than 40,000 miles and just out of warranty. This could cause an accident if someone is taken by surprise when turning and the steering wheel is hard to turn back or stays in the turning position.

Within an hour of taking delivery of this used car, I noticed the steering system had an issue. When making a turn, the steering wheel would not return to center. It felt very unsafe to drive, having to force the steering back to center when turning. If I had not reacted fast enough I could have very easily ran into another car, or over the curb and into a pedestrian. I called and texted the Mazda dealership that sold the car to me, and they told me to bring it back to be repaired. They had the car taken to a Chevrolet dealership who confirmed that the steering gear / steering rack needs replaced. They are currently waiting on the parts to make the repairs. The service department of the Chevrolet dealership inspected the car and confirmed it needs repaired. There were no warning lamps or messages of the problem....

During turns the steering rack will sometimes fail to return to center like normal and the power steering assist will fail to provide assistance mid turn. When this occurs the first symptom is the steering will pull into the direction of the turn at the beginning of the turn. This feels like an oversteer condition, but it happens at any speed and is a result of the steering moving into the turn on its own. After the turn is complete the steering wheel will not return to the center position on its own at all. This requires the driver to correct the steering wheel's position. Since this occurs seemingly unpredictably it feels like a safety risk since it requires me to be alert and ready to make quick manual corrections at any point while driving. I am reluctant to allow others to drive the vehicle since they are not away...

1. Steering, the steering gear does not return wheels to straight position when exiting a turn, I need to forcefully move steering wheel from a turn back to a straight position. 2. Brakes, after hitting brake a knocking sound is heard. Also does this when car is off and opening and closing doors, was told this is a brake actuator problem.

The steering has begun binding and after turning, the steering wheel does not smoothly return to center like it used to. Steering randomly sticks. I worry the steering rack will fail completely, potentially causing loss of control of the vehicle.

When I turn at slower speeds the steering does not return to center when I release pressure on the steering wheel. It will maintain the turn or increase the turn. This is when I turn the wheel 1/4 to 1/2 revolution or more. The car could remain in a turn when that is not desired. I have not taken it to the dealer. It has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police or others. There are no indications of failure on the panel. This is a new car to me. It is used with 93,000 miles.

My steering was difficult to turn and would not automatically return to center. It was difficult to keep the vehicle pointed in the right direction without a lot of effort. I brought the vehicle to the dealer and they first reprogrammed the power steering module, but that did not resolve the problem. They then did diagnosis with GM and found that the steering rack (steering gear) was binding and required replacement. There were no warning lamps or codes that appeared to be raised as part of the failure.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated that while turning the vehicle to the left or right the steering wheel failed to return to center as expected. The contact had to use excessive force to maneuver the steering wheel back to the center while driving. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact researched the failure and linked the failure to the steering rack. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 35,000.

Popping noise during turning at low speed and steering wheel does not return to center coming out of a turn.

When making a turn, if I release the steering wheel, the steering of the car does not return to center. In addition, if I the steering is all the way to the left (such as when parking), it seized in that position and I had to add significant input to the steering wheel in order to make it turn back from full deflection. Once I got past the point where it was locked, it went back to moving with normal effort.

I am having problems with the steering rack. While driving straight, the front wheels shake. While turning, the steering wheel does not return to center and it feels like it sticks in place . This makes for some dangerous turning situations. The steering rack is still in the car and available for inspection. I took the car to the dealer and an independent shop when the problem was intermittent. Now it is constant. There are no warning lights illuminate or messages on the car regarding the steering. The problem first appeared around 2-3 years ago.

About five weeks ago my car started not wanting to auto correct after a turn or curve. The steering seemed to be resistive to turning the steering wheel in either direction except for a small part in the center. The not correcting is worse when turning right. It does occur to a lesser extent turning left. On right turns I sometimes have to really push the steering wheel to get the car to go straight. I have taken it to the Chevy dealer twice regarding this issue but they seem to not know how to correct it. This issue occurs at most any speed. Sometimes the steering seems to stick, i.e. I drove two thirds the way around a clover leaf with no hands on the steering wheel.

My car has been showing signs of faulty steering wheel for some time, particularly at sweeping corners while on low speed. The wheel will not return to its center any more. It turns out that this could be caused by a faulty gear. Is there any recall about that problem, please? NB: The color of the car is red, and not blue as it appears in the report.

The steering wheel will intermittently fail to return to center. It's entirely possible to take a sweeping corner at speeds of 50mph and the vehicle will require no additional steering input beyond the initial turn in. This makes it hard to judge the behavior of the vehicle especially when trying to judge road feel when there is no feedback through the wheel that is stuck.

Out 2017 Bolt Premiere since purchase has had steering that does not return to center on it's own and requires more steering effort than expected for a modern power steering car. Research indicates this is a common problem with the Steering Gear failing, but many drivers likely don't realize how serious it is. In our case we didn't fully appreciate it until we bought a second 2017 Bolt EV that did not exhibit this problem and we could directly compare their steering behavior. This raises a concern that there may be more failing steering units but without a "good" car to compare against, it may go unnoticed by drivers until there is a catastrophic failure, potentially causing an accident and/or injury. Issue has been present since used purchase, date of incident is approximate purchase date.

The steering wheel doesn’t return to center and makes clunking noises. It is a safety hazard while driving. Scares the crap out of me. The problem has been reproduced and diagnosed as a faulty steering rack assembly. There are no warning lights . My car is parked in my driveway available for inspection by anyone.

When traveling at moderate speeds the steering wheel does not return to straight when steering input is not provided. The car will maintain the steering direction, requiring additional input to return to straight. This is not how a car is supposed to behave. It is not an alignment issue.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH and making either a left or right turn, the steering wheel failed to return to the center position. The contact stated that he manually steered the steering wheel to the center position. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where the failure could not be duplicated. The contact consulted with an independent mechanic who had previously repaired a vehicle of the same year, make and model. The mechanic informed the contact that the steering rack was likely failing and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

Steering would not return to the center position after turning.

Steering failing to return to center - Steering gear (rack and pinion) operating at greatly increased effort. Self- inspection performed, results are consistent with other drivers on a specialty internet forum reporting similar problems with replacement of the steering gear being the remedy. Inspection of failed part shows likely chemical degradation and failure of the factory installed lubricant.

Steering wheel fails to return to center and gets stuck in a curve position requiring manual effort to return the wheels straight causing the potential for an accident. It is periodically becoming harder to straighten.

The steering does not return to center after turning left or right. The steering sticks and you have to apply force to bring it back to center. This is very dangerous.

The steering wheel started feeling gritty and not returning to its central position. I was told this was an internal steering gear failure.

My steering wheel does not return to center after turning the wheel . It has almost caused several accidents. This is a safety issue and should be recalled . I can’t afford to replace the steering system. This should never happen on such a new car with 50k miles on it.

Steering wheel no longer returns to center. When I make a turn the steering wheel feels like it is binding and does not return to center without the drivers correction.

The steering binds after making a turn. It will not return the wheel to center without deliberate effort on my part. I had the alignment checked and it is all within spec. It appears to be an issue with the steering rack itself. This is an ongoing issue.

2017 Chevy Bolt steering wheel not returning to center issue and remaining in position. While driving on I35, steering wheel remained in position and had a difficult time to manually return to center. Local dealer (certified EV tech) checked but they were clueless, claimed to have escalated to GM engineering. However, never heard back. As Bolt EV owner , there is a Facebook group ( Chevy Bolt EV and EUV Owners), we noticed that multiple owners reported this issue and turn out is the steering gear/rack has problem. And many owners experienced difficulty to return steering back to center while driving. Some of them claimed as stiffness. I described as tightening. Mine happened when it reached 50,000 miles. This issue is definitely put myself and other people’s lives in risk. I hope US Department of Transportation will investigate this issue.

When moving thru curved roads or turns the steering has begun to stick in position AND not return to center upon completing the turn. This is NOT normal and has caused risk of a crash. NO warning from the cars information center on any malfunction or service light illuminated. Car has had alignment from Chevrolet dealer after tire replacement at 40k miles. No issues were reported. Condition has continued and has not been taken for inspection or repair. Owner has now gotten used to it and just compensates. Suspected steering rack binding as others have reported.

While turning the steering wheel, it is stiff and feels like something is grinding when I try to turn it!!! Someone please fix this It is making me uneasy I can send video but this form doesn’t have that option

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the steering wheel would not properly return to center. Additionally, the steering wheel was difficult to turn in either direction. The was taken to the local dealer who indicated that the steering failure was caused by faulty gears within the steering rack. The contact was informed that the steering rack needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 50,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevy Bolt. The contact stated that the vehicle's steering wheel fails to automatically straighten itself out when he releases his grip. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who diagnosed that the steering rack assembly failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 49,000

Steering wheel would not return to center after turning left or right. Dealer confirmed problem: "rack and pinion assembly binding internally." Dealer replaced failing parts: one Gear $335.23, and two Rods $91.24, plus labor $2073.00. Problem happened at all speeds. Problem manifested gradually over several weeks. There are no warning lamps for this problem. Mileage on car approximately 100,000.

The steering wheel in my car no longer returns to center after making a turn. I have to force it back to steering straight. This seems unsafe to me because it's not the expected behavior of the steering system. Every car I've ever had automatically centers the wheel when it's released if you're moving, so it's surprising when it doesn't happen and could lead to a crash. I've not had it inspected yet, but I see online that many people are having the same problem, and it's traced to a defective steering gear that is binding. There were no warnings from the car related to this issue.

The steering gets stiffer and stiffer and won't return to center after a turn. This should be fixed by GM. The car has had the issue for a long time and slowly gets worse,\.

The Steering Gear failed after 55,000 miles. This caused the steering wheel to lose the ability to return to center after a turn, requiring the driver to manually center it. This was confirmed and replaced by the dealer (McCluskey Chevrolet). The steering losing it's expected travel is a safety concern as it could cause drivers to change direction in ways they don't expect. No warning messages occurred before or after the failure.

Faulty steering rack. Steering wheel does not return to center while in turn, intersection, etc. requires manual turns of wheel. Multiple steering engineering design flaws including U-joints vertical position of connectors with sway to harness, as well as column angle. Bad design.

"POOR RETURN OF STEERING WHEEL" or “After completing a turn, extra steering input is required for the steering wheel to return to center." I almost got into an accident because the steering wheel is very stiff and it is difficult to make left and right turns. It is only getting worse especially during cold seasons. My safety has been put at risk and can not comfortably drive my vehicle. I shouldn’t have to wait till I get into an accident for something to be taking seriously. I am nervous to drive my own car because I simply can not steer it. “This is a safety issue because it's not how a car is supposed to steer and because the rack is binding up and might eventually fail, causing it to lock up. It is especially dangerous in wet or snowy conditions”

The steering wheel tracks the direction of turn it is not returning to center. This problem was reported and reproduced by dealer. The steering felt always different but we thought that on an electric car it should be that way until out son told us that this is wrong.

Vehicle and steering wheel will violently share for no apparent reason. Started after battery was replaced as part of recall. Tires balanced, and aligned. Only seem to happens when reach about 50% of battery capacity. Please help

The steering is very tight compared to other like models I have driven. I have, on several occasions almost had low speed collisions when turning. When turning at speeds below 45 MPH, the steering wheel will not return to center without applying what I would consider to be excessive force by the driver. The problem is worse when turning to the left. I feel that this is a safety issue as the wheel should return to center when released when in a turn at below highway speed. I purchased the car in 2020 when it had 27000 miles on it, and it exhibited the problem of tight steering at that time, although it seems to have gotten worse over the past two years. I recently posted on the Chevrolet Bolt Facebook forum asking if anyone had experience the same issue and if so, were they able to get it fixed....

The steering on my 2017 Chevrolet bolt has a weird issue when driving highway speeds the steering feels loose and the steering wheel feels like it shaking back and fourth rapidly and making shuttering noises and the steering constantly veers while driving with any irregularity of a road surface. I have take my car to a repair shop and have good wheels and tires and had a wheel alignment service and they checked all suspension and steering component and the issue still persist. The shop told me the issue seems to be coming from the steering rack and the electric steering assist.

For some time now the steering wheel doesn’t return to center by itself. Sharp left or right turns , the wheels stay that angle when I let go of the steering wheel . I thought it would work itself out , but over the months it’s getting very noticeable. I feel for my safety .

Steering has to be manually turned back to center on any turns. New tires did not help. New alignment did not help. Reprogramming steering module did not help. This is dangerous as we are taught to let the steering bring itself back to center.

Since purchased 4/21/2022, the steering doesn’t return to center after turning. Feels like steering wheel is so tight that I have to turn wheel back after turning to be able to then go straight again.

My vehicle for months failed to correct back to straight from right turns. Later on the vehicle started making creaking noises when turning, especially tight turns. The car started to frequently turn itself tighter in right turns, where I would have to force the wheel back to straight or even compensate left to maintain a consistent turn. My local trusted mechanic diagnosed that the steering rack/gear is failing and told me I would lose all steering control should the part fail and that it was unsafe for me to continue to drive my vehicle. I had the vehicle brought to a dealership to do the work. Through discussions with other Bolt owners, this is a common problem for Bolts and particularly the 2017s.

Steering won't return to center; bad steering gear; steering sticking in one direction

The steering wheel/vehicle will not return to the center position after a turn. It requires manual effort to turn the steering wheel/vehicle back to the center position. If not, the vehicle will continue turning, thus creating an unsafe environment.