You may remember my previous thread in which I started on the intermittent power steering failure in my sisters Grande. Unfortunately my spare time and the weather haven't really lined up so the car has been to a couple of garages. I'm not sure what the first did but they just said that the EPS motor needed replaced and it does not look like they did anything with the ground straps in the engine bay as suggested here on the forum.

To clarify; the issue is that the power steering goes dead when you turn the wheel away from centre however it seems to function normally a few of degree's in either direction and even further if you turn it very slowly.

I sent it to the garage I normally use for a second opinion and specifically asked them to clean up the ground straps and the EPS torque sensor connector. I spoke to them today and they said that the EPS motor had a vibration while turning the wheel. They also mentioned that there was a ring behind the steering wheel that was slack which they have tightened up but I'm not sure what that is.

With this new information about the vibration from the motor, and keeping in mind that it works slightly off centre and when being turned slowly, would the original garages diagnoses of a failed motor be correct?

Is there any other quick fixes I should try before sourcing a EPS motor?

How big a job is it to change the motor?

SKGrande said:

You may remember my previous thread in which I started on the intermittent power steering failure in my sisters Grande. Unfortunately my spare time and the weather haven't really lined up so the car has been to a couple of garages. I'm not sure what the first did but they just said that the EPS motor needed replaced and it does not look like they did anything with the ground straps in the engine bay as suggested here on the forum.



Is there any other quick fixes I should try before sourcing a EPS motor?

How big a job is it to change the motor?

Click to expand...

what error codes are stores with this PAS fault,
might highlight motor of torque sensor..,

where are you based, as "western power steering" are the Forum recommended trader for PAS rebuilds
look on ePER for the details of the "ring",
SEARCH should find all the GUIDES on the job,

Charlie - Oxford

varesecrazy said:

what error codes are stores with this PAS fault,
might highlight motor of torque sensor..,

where are you based, as "western power steering" are the Forum recommended trader for PAS rebuilds
look on ePER for the details of the "ring",
SEARCH should find all the GUIDES on the job,

Charlie - Oxford

Click to expand...

I'll check for fault codes when I get to the car again, assuming a regular code reader will read EPS faults. I'm a long, long way from their office but I'm sure they'll do mail order. If it comes to it I'll be sure to give them a call if they are the go to company.

I was more curious about the size of the job from a garage bill point of view, didn't know there was any guides. I'll have a look now.

I just wimped-out and replaced the lot on my daughter's car recently. Looking at the threads on here, there is a variety of things that go wrong with them, so I couldn't be bothered doing the job twice. I used these guys:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/55701323-...824714?hash=item2318cb304a:g:iEUAAOSwl9BWL1Kj

About £220.

They offer a lifetime guarantee for as long as you keep the vehicle. There's a "how-to" in the guides section. I did it the way the original guide suggested and gettign the steering wheel boss off was the hardest part. Later on in the guide, someone posted a method of doing it without disturbing that lot.

varesecrazy said:

what error codes are stores with this PAS fault,
might highlight motor of torque sensor..,

where are you based, as "western power steering" are the Forum recommended trader for PAS rebuilds
look on ePER for the details of the "ring",
SEARCH should find all the GUIDES on the job,

Charlie - Oxford

Click to expand...

Just checked with the code reader in my Scanguage 2 and it found nothing. Do I need any special hardware or software to read EPS faults?

SKGrande said:

Just checked with the code reader in my Scanguage 2 and it found nothing. Do I need any special hardware or software to read EPS faults?

Click to expand...

You will need multiecuscan with the yellow adapter cable to read the Steering Control Module. There is a free version, but still requires the yellow cable.

To be honest, I think in your case the problem is a little far gone for a quick fix and you'll have to change the motor/control module as a complete unit as already suggested. £220 is a great price with a lifetime warranty.

SKGrande said:

I'll check for fault codes when I get to the car again, assuming a regular code reader will read EPS faults. I'm a long, long way from their office but I'm sure they'll do mail order. If it comes to it I'll be sure to give them a call if they are the go to company.

I was more curious about the size of the job from a garage bill point of view, didn't know there was any guides. I'll have a look now.

Click to expand...

the Light coming on should store a specific fault code..,
MES is ideal,
where are you / the car based..??,
Charlie - Oxford

varesecrazy said:

the Light coming on should store a specific fault code..,
MES is ideal,
where are you / the car based..??,
Charlie - Oxford

Click to expand...

South West Scotland, near Dumfries.

Not sure whos got MEDin your area. The fella in the Barchetta section maybe?

AFAIK as long as you change the complete steering column..you dont need to recalibrate..

Charlie

varesecrazy said:

Not sure whos got MEDin your area. The fella in the Barchetta section maybe?

AFAIK as long as you change the complete steering column..you dont need to recalibrate..

Charlie

Click to expand...

That's right, the one previously mentioned comes with lifetime warranty and the torque and position sensors are pre-calibrated so pretty much a plug and play job

My dad has told me to order a used EPS motor unit as it's half the price, how much more work would this involve and what would be required?

Exactly the same amount of work as a new one! The only difference is that you take a bit of a gamble that the second hand unit:
(a) is working correctly (most breakers will do you a refund if it doesn't work, but you pay the return postage and, of course, strip the whole lot out again!) and
(b) that it will continue to work for a decent amount of time.

I did consider a second hand one but we're hoping to hang on to the car for a few years. When you order one, there are several versions and you need to get the right part number (easily done by poking your phone under the dash and taking a photo upwards of the steering column). For the part number I needed, most of the second hand ones would be coming out of vehicles about the same age (and presumably mileage) as ours anyway. Given the number of threads on here about steering motor faults, I decided I couldn't be bothered with the potential hassle, but you might get lucky.

I wouldn't use a second hand one. You cannot guarantee it works and you may have to have access to diagnostics equipment to recalibrate the sensors.

A new unit pre-calibrated with a lifetime warranty is a no brainer for me. Ask yourself this... what if it goes wrong again in the future? That lifetime warranty sounds much better now, doesn't it?

How important is it that the part numbers etc match? When the first garage examined it they gave us the following information:

DWG FIAT: 55701323
Supplier: 99947
S/N: 51743
Date: 18/09/2006
005570132309947517432
6106

The one that my dad wants to buy is DWG FIAT 55704064.

Yes I know the warranted part is the one to go for but my dad doesn't want to spend the extra money.

You'd be better off getting a like for like replacement, 55701323.

There are a few motors out there with different part numbers that look the same but they have slight variations. Some have more wires for example. I'm not really clued up on the differences but I'd stick to a like for like replacement to make the job as trouble free as possible.

So uhm, apparently the car has fixed itself

That's good news! I imagine it will un-fix itself again in a while though. The daughter's one was intermittent for a while. We could have put up with it but she was due to take her driving test and I was worried that it might have one of its "funny turns" during the test and put her off, so I changed it.

Definitely worth matching the part number. I think yours is the same as mine and very common. Don't know what happen sif you get one of the others, but probably wouldn't risk it myself.

As far as I'm aware, as long as you swap a complete assembly, you don't need to worry about re-calibrating, or fault codes or anything to do with computers. That's only if you replace individual parts of it (like the torque sensor).