I borrowed a car from work to go on a trip to Albuquerque. They refuse to pay for mileage on my car so I had to take one of theirs. At first I was glad to hear I was getting one of the newer cars in our car pool instead of one of the older vans.
As I was coming down the mountain into town the roads were moist. They were not wet. No puddles, no standing water, just damp roads. Car tires in front of me were picking up a light spray that couldn't even hit my windshield when I was close to them.
I get halfway down the mountain and am nearing town when I get two loud beeps on the radio and the display says "Power Steering". I think 'oh great, the twits didn't check the power steering fluid lately. I'll pop on over to Checker Auto and check it myself and buy some if I have to.' I change lanes and can tell that the power steering is completely gone so I'm a little concerned at this point but think maybe the reservoir is just bone dry perhaps.
Once I'm at Checker Auto I cannot find the power steering reservoir. The two Checker Auto guys can't find it. I've explained my problem to them and they are both baffled. I check the fuse box and there is no power steering fuse in there (not by that name at least). So one guy calls a friend of his and finds out that the power steering is driven by the smooth side of the serpentine belt and if it gets even the slightest bit wet you completely lose power steering until it dries and you turn the vehicle off and on.
At this point I'm furious with Chevy and my employer for having such a craptastic car! Now I'm expected to drive this thing 450+ miles for meetings in a couple days. WTF! I don't feel safe in a vehicle that could lose power steering at any moment. What if I'm making a turn and the power steering suddenly cuts off because an ant pi$$ed on the belt?
Perhaps my employer's auto crew left off the under carriage plastic shield (like the ones we have), but on the other hand there should be no design that relies on a piece of plastic to protect something as critical as power steering.
I'm going to have a few choice words with some people at work and *never* drive another Chevy Malibu again. Next time they can pay me milage to drive my own car which I *KNOW* is safe.
