fellow members

it is time we start actually compiling our experiences regarding the G6 Steering Wheel Lock issue in order to possibly understand it better and pass this information on to GM for comment.

Please list after this thread the following info in this order;

1) year & model of G6 (such as 2005 V6 or GT, GTP, etc...) also inc, if its an automatic or 6sp manual transmission
2) last 8 digits of your vin (only if you feel comfortable with that, if not then just the '11th' digit) note: the 10th digit designates year (5 would be 2005) and the 11th digit designates at which plant the vehicle was assembled
3) approximate number of miles on your car when you first experienced this issue
4) approximate outside weather temperature
5) approximate speed you were traveling at the time of your experience
6) approximate number of times you have experienced this issue
7) any advance notice before this situation occurs, such as dash lights, Driver Info Center messages, chimes, etc?

with answers to these questions, maybe we can find a 'common thread' and figure out what the actual problem is.

thanks for you help

kevin

fellow members

it is time we start actually compiling our experiences regarding the G6 Steering Wheel Lock issue in order to possibly understand it better and pass this information on to GM for comment.

Please list after this thread the following info in this order;

1) year & model of G6 (such as 2005 V6 or GT, GTP, etc...) also inc, if its an automatic or 6sp manual transmission
2) last 8 digits of your vin (only if you feel comfortable with that, if not then just the '11th' digit)
3) approximate number of miles on your car when you first experienced this issue
4) approximate outside weather temperature
5) approximate speed you were traveling at the time of your experience
6) approximate number of times you have experienced this issue

with answers to these questions, maybe we can find a 'common thread' and figure out what the actual problem is.

thanks for you help

kevin


1) 2005 GT automatic transmission
2) 54114425
3) 14,000 mi
4) 50-55 degrees F
5) stopped in traffic
6) one
7) NO

I would recommend you also include if you noticed any warning in vehicle that there was an issue with steering system such as a indicator in instrument cluster or a message in the Driver Info Center.

I would recommend you also include if you noticed any warning in vehicle that there was an issue with steering system such as a indicator in instrument cluster or a message in the Driver Info Center.

this would be good too, IF YOU HAD TIME TO NOTICE. for instance, i purposely ran my fuel low to see what happens. when it got so low, a chime went off and i noticed that the 'low fuel indicator light' on the gas gage was on. my girlfriend said, "Low fuel warning", huh? she then told me that the Driver Info Center displayed a message to that affect, however it only staying on there for a second or two and by the time i looked, it was gone. i'll add it to the list just in case....thanks

BUT if ALL messages only show for a second or two, whats the purpose of showing them at all? in my case, nothing showed on my dash, nothing 'chimed' and to the best of my knowledge, nothing was displayed on the Driver Info Center.

it HAS to be mechanical......if it was a simple case of the electric assist failing for only a second or two, i would still have MANUAL steering. at least thats what my common sense is telling me. its got to be a ball joint, steering gear or steering shaft/column. the more i think about this, my guess is the Rack & Pinion unit. this would definitely be different than on the GTP (hence no problems with the Hydraulic ones), while it would only make sense that the column, steering shaft and ball joints would all be the SAME. maybe, i don't know.

i'll see what 'shaking' at my local dealer tomorrow.

1) year & model of G6 (such as 2005 V6 or GT, GTP, etc...) also inc, if its an automatic or 6sp manual transmission
2) last 8 digits of your vin (only if you feel comfortable with that, if not then just the '11th' digit) note: the 10th digit designates year (5 would be 2005) and the 11th digit designates at which plant the vehicle was assembled
3) approximate number of miles on your car when you first experienced this issue
4) approximate outside weather temperature
5) approximate speed you were traveling at the time of your experience
6) approximate number of times you have experienced this issue
7) any advance notice before this situation occurs, such as dash lights, Driver Info Center messages, chimes, etc?

1) 2005 G6 V6: Automatic
2) 54115434
3) 200miles
4) -10 ~ 25 degrees F
5) 5~10mph... various other occasions I have not been moving.
6) 5 off the top of my head.
7) No.

S8ER99.....thanks for helping.

i have seen a number of people on this site complaining, but when i comes time to actually give information to pass on to GM.....well, where IS everybody???

we need MORE INPUT FROM OWNERS!!!!!!!

I would have posted sooner but I was in Cedar Rapids all weekend. :)

S8ER99.....thanks for helping.

i have seen a number of people on this site complaining, but when i comes time to actually give information to pass on to GM.....well, where IS everybody???

we need MORE INPUT FROM OWNERS!!!!!!!

I have to check my vin number first. Then I'll post, yesterday I had to get ready for trick or treaters, hopefully I'll have time to get it this afternoon. :)

Not that I don't belive those of you that have the steering lock issue but... with the number of members on this board I don't think the number who have experienced this issue is very high.

Maybe this was a bad production run or just isolated problems to those specific G6's. This does NOT mean GM should not be addressing this issue and lookign into the problem, however this may explain why not so many people are replying to this thread?

2005 g6 base V6
54156689
5300 miles
55-70 degrees
steering locked when car was started.all gages were oscillating and a power steering message was displayed in the radio with a error message in the odometer display.this has happened twice,so far they have replaced the body control module No Help, and the steering colum was replaced 10/28/05.So far no problem with the new colum.But now the traction control light comes on intermittently.

Maybe we have some sort of eletrical issue. We did have a problem with water entering somewhere and shorting out the door locks with the early 2005s

...went something like this;

today, 7am, dropped my car of and explained to the service advisor of the situation. they offered me a rental for the day or a ride to work. i took the ride to work.

noon, received a v.m. saying that so far they could not duplicate the problem (which i knew would be the case), that they had contacted tech assistance and opened a 'case' on my vehicle. they also informed me that i was in need of an alignment and the tires needed rotated and balanced. called the advisor back, left him a v.m. to the effect that i just had my tires 'rotated and balanced' there less than 2k miles ago and didn't think i needed it again so soon. i also told them that i would like to wait and see what tech assistance had to say before i committed myself to paying for an alignment.

3pm, got a call from my s.a. saying they were finished with my car, could not duplicate the problem. again, not a surprise.

5:30pm, picked up my car. the s.a. informed me that my car is of the latest technology and that it incorporates 'fly-by-wire' and does not have a steering shaft connecting the column to the gear as other cars do. i was going to dispute his claim, but decided not to. BUT, on the way home, my pride got the best of me and i turned around. the service manager came and asked if it "did it again?" no, i replied. i just want to ask you something. i popped the hood and shined my flashlight into the engine compartment. "What is THIS? this 'rusty' coupling here, is this not a steering shaft? he replied; "yes, of course it is, why?" i told him my s.a. told me i had "fly-by-wire" and i didn't HAVE a steering shaft!!!

well, anyway going back was the best thing i could have done. in talking directly to the manager he told me of another similiar complaint he had a while back. he went to pull up the file and found that this vehicle had the steering column replaced and has had NO COMPLAINTS since. he asked if me if i wanted him to do that with mine as well. i said not at this time. i'd like to know for sure this is the problem before doing that.

i see NOW that a new member, bernice232, had a similar complaint and had HER column replaced. seemed to do the trick for her, so i may call them back and ask them to order one for me.

so how was YOUR day??????

Might possibly be a defective column aye? Hmmm.... (gears are turning)

I have only had the car back for three days since they replaced the colum.I currently have a fault analyzer in the car which they are going to remove in two weeks to see if it has logged any more steering fault codes.The dealership does not seem too sure if they actually fixed the problem.

Might possibly be a defective column aye? Hmmm.... (gears are turning)

or NOT turning!!!! which seems to be the case......ha ha

lol

1)2006 GT
2) will get back to you, traded car in a few days ago. Too scared of death.
3) 2000
4) Various ... 14 celcius to 40 celcius (Toronto, Canada)
5) High speed once, over 100km / hour (60 m / h)
6) Countless, started to be able to make it happen. HAVE IT ON VIDEO!!! :)

1) 2005 G6 GT Auto
2) Not sure, the car is in the shop! Go figure!
3) 3000
4) 65-70 Degrees
5) 55mph slowing down at a curve and also once as I was going to make a left hand turn about 20mph I would say I could be off on that
6) 8-9 times
7) no clue that its about to happen

At the moment mine is having the lower control arm replaced. We'll see how it is when I get it back....I cant wait!

trevor..can you post the vid???

20degree temp...steering lock! Just happened as I was leaving work. Dealership tomorrow.

20degree temp...steering lock! Just happened as I was leaving work. Dealership tomorrow.

just curious, how fast were you going and were you turning left or right?

how far did the wheel move (1/4 turn, 1/8 turn?) before it locked?

just comparing notes for similarities....

kevin

1 or 2 mph (pulling out straight and then turning left out of my parking spot)...the wheel turn about an 1/8th before it locked up solid. I was kind of expecting it since its normally about this cold when I have had the problem.

interesting......the only two times it happened to me were under similar circumstances. the first time when i was when i was sitting still behind a van in traffic and decided to change lanes. i turned the wheel to the right about an 1/8th of a turn (earlier i said 1/4, but since realized i didn't turn it that sharp) and WHAM!!! locked-up, in both directions. again, only lasted for 2-3 seconds and back to normal again. the second time was the next day when i was pulling out of my driveway and again turned the wheel 1/8th of a turn to the right....and again going very slow.

as i have said before, and if my calculations are correct, if someone was traveling at 70mph and their steering 'locked-up' for 2-3 seconds, they would have traveled 200 to 300 feet before the steering reverted back to normal. for someone going around a graduated curve on an interstate with wheel turned 1/8th of the way and it locked, you could be over 200 feet off the road before you could steer again. its no wonder that one persons G6 went off the road and flipped. once off the road, anything can happen, depending on the surface. i have been emailing her about her accident and shes been providing me some details so i can pass them on to GM. i'm sure they are aware of her case, but i want to add that to the info we have gathered here on this site to submit to GM.

i also got a call from a Customer Service Manager this week asking me to call him back about my car. he called me in reply to the nasty email i sent him. he stated 'I have not heard of this problem..." and so i promptly tore into him, saying that all he had to do was read our website, GM Inside News, etc...and theres all sorts of complaints out there. he did tell me in the V.M. he left that he meant 'him personally' and not GM and that he has since read those complaints and wants to speak with me. i have not called yet as i am wanting to get a couple more things together before i do. i plan on doing this tomorrow. if you want to throw a name at your dealer, tell him i have been in contact with Josh Elms, Customer Service Manager for General Motors. (actually some college grad still wet behind the ears, as we all were once, and is just trying to be helpful, but thats what we need right now.....HELP!!!)

thanks for the info. keep in touch and i will do the same.

kevin

2005 g6 base V6
54156689
5300 miles
55-70 degrees
steering locked when car was started.all gages were oscillating and a power steering message was displayed in the radio with a error message in the odometer display.this has happened twice,so far they have replaced the body control module No Help, and the steering colum was replaced 10/28/05.So far no problem with the new colum.But now the traction control light comes on intermittently.

somebody correct me if i'm wrong, but the 'Traction Control' light comes on when the system is in use. it does not indicate a failure of the system.

somebody correct me if i'm wrong, but the 'Traction Control' light comes on when the system is in use. it does not indicate a failure of the system.

Correct, it comes on when in use. :agree2:

But there is a Traction Off indicator as well - that one can indicate either a failure or that you have selected to turn the system off.

.....on my contact with GM.

this week i passed on to Pontiac Consumer Relations the list of VIN's posted on this thread regarding our concern with the steering wheel lock-up issue.

anyone interested in speaking to them directly, may call Josh Elms, Customer Relations Manager, at 866-932-4368, ext 39037. tell him that you are a member of the G6 Owners Club and you would like to voice your opinion on this subject.

maybe if we get enough people to call, we can start getting some answers.

if you DO call, please let us know what they have to say.......

It was the traction control OFF light that would illuminate intermittently.The dealership believes it was due to the fault analyzer that was installed at that time and should not be a problem.So far so good with the steering lock problem.