Technical Power Steering ....

[isthisagoodidea]

OK here's a thing ...coming out of the car park yesterday at the hospital in Iraklion 2 and a half hours from home .. I was on hard lock and the power steering stopped working ..the dashboard red light came on with a steering fail message ....So I got a local guy I know to plug in a lap top and it said motor ..no code he says "no part's available here speak to fiat" ...clearly not interested in helping ....so I drove home. It was OK on the main road but hard work on the twisty bit up our mountain .... It seems I can get a replacement from the UK for around £150 inc delivery and one from Italy that looks like it might be a recon unit for £250 ish ...they have the same part numbers ..I have not yet had a look at mine to compare ....for some reason the ePER link I downloaded is not working and I just get error message 666 when I try to have a look at what the power steering components look like and whether the left hand drive unit is the same as the right hand drive unit on the Idea. So ...has anyone swapped a EPS unit on a 2004 Idea, and do I need any special tools , and are the units handed ...any advice...?

 

[isthisagoodidea]

Well I bit the bullet and bought another EPS unit on Ebay ...it's coming from Italy and has the same part number as the one on the car ...not to bad price 140 quid delivered ...I still can't get any joy on ePER ..I get the image of the car but when I select Steering on the left hand list ..I just get weird message about pirates and flogging cabin boys and 666 error ... what on earth is that about ?... I just want to get a look at how the EPS unit is fitted before I get the tools out ...Jeff..

 

[varesecrazy]

Well I bit the bullet and bought another EPS unit on Ebay ...it's coming from Italy and has the same part number as the one on the car ...not to bad price 140 quid delivered ...I still can't get any joy on ePER ..I get the image of the car but when I select Steering on the left hand list ..I just get weird message about pirates and flogging cabin boys and 666 error ... what on earth is that about ?... I just want to get a look at how the EPS unit is fitted before I get the tools out ...Jeff..

The forums version is old..

And too many people requesting a file leads to that error.

Howevèr there are some other online versions around

I like the shop at Fiatdalys version

Current too

 

[isthisagoodidea]

Thanks for that varesecrazy..I just looked at the Fiatdaly site ..a new EPS unit is listed at over 3 thousand euros ....! thats more than I paid for the car, and the part numbers don't match ? ......You can get a recon unit with a lifetime warranty for 250 quid from Italy or the UK .... I'm very confused about this ....jeff

 

[varesecrazy]

All the 'original fiat' parts do seem crazy

I recall an early car : mk1panda ( shouldve kept it.. )

Kept cutting out.. failed mechanical fuel pump.

In 1991: pattern pump £17 , genuine fiat £18

The car cost £49.. so the pattern part won

 

[Zeewulf]

isthisagoodidea

For removal procedures etc download the eLearn for the Idea:

https://www.fiatforum.com/downloads.php?do=download&downloadid=357

Download all parts then burn to a CD/DVD. Think the install instructions are floating around the site somewhere (can't remember where though)....

 

[isthisagoodidea]

Oh thanks for that ...Zeewulf .... I don't have the bandwidth for that just now ...but I will download it after midnight ...when my bandwidth is uncapped ...so that is the whole taking out the old unit in four parts ? there does not seem to be a title on that link you sent ....

 

[Zeewulf]

isthisagoodidea

it's the complete workshop manual from Fiat for the idea so covers everything. Procedures on how to take things out etc. Fault diagnosis, wiring diagrams, pretty much everything you can take off the car.

 

[isthisagoodidea]

Update on the steering on the Idea ...The part from Italy arrived on Tuesday and I took it to my local mechanic ..he said bring it in on Friday and my son will fit it ...So at 8.30 this morning I turned up I had already stripped out all the trim so I could read the part numbers of the old power steering unit by eleven o,clock the replacement was in and the car was given a test drive ..all OK ..the cost ..142 euros for the replacement unit from Italy and 80 euros to remove the old and fit the replacement re-calibrate and remove the steering failure message from the computer . Total .222 euros ..I think that is OK ...I think I might send the old one in to be re-conditioned keep it just in case ... thanks for all your support ..jeff

 

[varesecrazy]

Good news

Thanks for the update