This morning I went to back my truck out of the garage. No power steering no brakes. Power steering felt a little funny the other day when the engine was at idle but no other issues until this morning. Did I lose my power steering pump?

One other question. With today being Sunday (service department closed) and me not remembering what is covered under warranty, if someone can tell me if this is covered under warranty I would appreciate it. If it's not covered and the pump is the problem I will start taking the old one off. I can get a replacement one today from NAPA.

Truck is a 2006 Duramax, 52,000 miles, 4x4, crew cab, long bed. No extended warranty.

I had an '06 and it did the same thing. I took it in a few time and could never get it to repeat. Finally, I took it in for warranty work on something else and the tech bringing the truck into the shop almost ran into the side of the building because he lost steering. They replaced my pump and a few other parts on the steering, under warranty, however the truck was still within the factory warranty period. Brakes were never really resolved and I traded the truck in before it happened again.

Just had a simular problem with my 86 K20 but my problem was a slipped belt..... no belt = no pump for either the steering or brakes. Is the tension on your belt ok? Have you checked the pulley to see if it is still connected (meaning not broken) to the pump shaft? Fluid in the pump at the proper level? As you guessed, it could also be the pump itself that is malfunctioning. Just a few ideas on where to check while waiting for the shop to open on Monday morning.

Pulley is good, fluid is good, belt is there and tight.

common problem with hydraboost I had it happen a couple times , do a search in suspension section would not worry much it always happens at idle, too much to do with too little pressure. But.... check all the normal things. belt/fluid/hoses maybe flush the system.

Carhauler, initially it happened at idle but just for a second. Now I don't have any power steering or brakes at all.

Carhauler, initially it happened at idle but just for a second. Now I don't have any power steering or brakes at all.

So your saying even after start up and coming off idle now it has not come back at all? Most of the complaints are only a momentary failure and then back to normal, sounds like something failed in the pump if all is gone, the pump supplies pressure to the hydra boost and the steering so to me it sure seems like pump or a stuck valve relative to the pump.

So your saying even after start up and coming off idle now it has not come back at all? Most of the complaints are only a momentary failure and then back to normal, sounds like something failed in the pump if all is gone, the pump supplies pressure to the hydra boost and the steering so to me it sure seems like pump or a stuck valve relative to the pump.


I tried one more thing my hope was a stuck valve somewhere. Ran the truck up to 1000 rpm's, nothing. Went a little higher, everything started to work. Went back to idle, shut it off, started it back up, everything is still fine. For now I will just watch it unless someone else has a recommendation. My hope is it won't fail while driving in traffic if it's going to fail again.

Your p/s pump is a pump which flows fluid anytime it spins, it needs a relief valve to keep pressures within reason and to dump any excess, the valve gets stuck open and at idle the pump doesnt create any pressure to assist with any power steering or brakes. Revving the engine forces more oil through the orifice where the valve is and if its enough will move the valve and probably return normal operation.. The valve is located internally in the pump.. We've seen a lot where it happens once and after revving the engine it may not return for many months, and everytime we have heard of it from our customers is at startup, never down the road.

X2 its a cold weather issue. Also the fluid will foam some much that it will come out the cap after a bit of idling. I switched to a syn fluid that should stop it, but its so intermediate its hard to say.

The same thing happened to me here in California in June, so it must not be a cold weather issue The truck was sitting for a few days. The dealer replaced the pump, they thought it had a bad pressure relief valve. No problems since.

The cap was under pressure and the fluid was foaming. Since the engine was cold the foam was not from heat and syn. fluid would not have helped.

I think it is a design flaw.

The dealer told me that my truck was the first they had seen with this issue having stock tires, they say that the trucks with large tires cause the pump to work harder causing the problem. I am not sure how much fact there is in that statment but that is what they said......

No its a common cold weather issue. Thats not to say the valve can't fail and cause it in warm weather.

I had this happen to my 2006 duramax. It happen about 3 times. The last time I almost drove thru a fence. Took the dealer 2 trys to get it fixed. It was a bad modualating valve. They will stick for some reason. No steering and Brakes is pretty scary.