1997 GMC K1500 User Comment / Complaint

I experienced circumstances where as driving down the road, sometimes going around curves, my steering would give the feel of just going loose. on a couple of occasions when the steering would "grab" hold again i almost lost control of my truck. i first experience this problem about a month after i purchased the vehicle. when i inquired with dealers in maine and florida they couldn't identify a fix without experiencing the problem. recently a dealer in colorado disclosed to me that gm had identified the culprit of this anomaly to be the egr valve in the power steering. i sent a letter to gm stating my conern for customer safety and received a polite but poor answer basically citing compliance with safety standards or gm's determination that a product didn't meet safety standards. i don't believe that there is a set standard that applies to sudden changes to steerability of a vehicle due to such a defect. i've discussed this with an owner of a 97 chevrolet that has the same problem and he also expressed disbelief that this wasn't a safety concern. when i pointed out to my local dealership that in my opinion this should be a safety concern for gmc he could only sympathetcally agree and point out that a voluntary recall on would have to be a company decision. they did point out though, this problem is not uncommon in the 1997 series trucks and that when the dealership brought it to gms attention, which was apparently only about a year ago, they were just discovering the cause themselves. i am gravely concerned at how many people may have been turned away from repair shops prior to this defect being identified and thus still driving around with this dangerous potential for tragedy still lingering. thank you. dt