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Technical  Powersteering - another question

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Technical  Powersteering - another question

Thanks for your replies!
Due to the freezing cold and snow, I couldn't open the car last weekend; all the doors were frozen shut. As a result, I couldn't scan the car. I'll check the contacts this week. The battery is about six months old, and the connections on top of the battery have been cleaned after replacing the battery. I haven't checked the other two yet.

Keep you updated and kind regards,

Aad
 
Well, it took some time and still need to check that earth or ground points, but yesterday 2 trips of around 40 miles, the first one the power-steering light popped up a few hundred yards before reaching the destination and kept on after a few restarts on the parking place.

The trip back this warning light immediately showed up when starting and kept on the whole trip, apart from a few miles in the beginning. The power-steering kept working, only it felt slightly lighter than normal. The City setting did not change anything, steering kept feeling the same when on or off. I just tried it when the warning light is off and then it is working properly.

There are no error-codes found, also when that light is on. No flickering of headlights, other dashboard lights, no electrical malfunctions and apart from that plopping sound in the speakers when starting everything is functioning properly. This puzzles me by the way.

The battery is around 12.8 Volt in rest, almost 14 Volt when the engine is running, but drops very very shortly to around 8 to 8.5 when starting. I did not see it myself but that car readout device showed that this is the lowest Voltage measured during starting.

When it stops raining and work will allow me, I will check those earth / ground.

Kind regards,
 
Last edited:
Aad Doix said:
The battery is around 12.8 Volt in rest, almost 14 Volt when the engine is running, but drops very very shortly to around 8 to 8.5 when starting.
Click to expand...
How old is the battery? Battery can show good voltage (it was 12.8 V after the engine was running that day, not measured first thing in the day, was it?) but not be in good shape.
If the battery is ok, that points to high resistance somewhere. And that together with EPS light popping up points to ground cable high resistance. Both starter motor and EPS draw high current and bad ground cable do cause them trouble. So yes, you do need to check the ground points and cable, maybe do the load voltage drop test.
 
Ehhh, I just connected it to the OBD port under the dashboard. Where do I find that powersteering module?
And the battery is 6 months old, replaced it due to this power steering issue which was gone until last week.
The one time plopping sound in the speakers when starting the engine is there for a month or 3 and the very slight burning of the empty fuel tank light, the battery light and the oil can light when the engine is running were there from the beginning, but those are the only signs I could possibly relate to this power steering issue, next to that earth / ground thing?
 
I have an iCarsoft CR PLUS.

And I replaced the battery because the old one was already at least (!) 6 years old and to be honest, never thought of checking the earth cable when replacing, to me this was a given something that in my experience could not wear off .... I am not very experienced in automotive maintenance ;)
 
Aad Doix said:
I have an iCarsoft CR PLUS.

And I replaced the battery because the old one was already at least (!) 6 years old and to be honest, never thought of checking the earth cable when replacing, to me this was a given something that in my experience could not wear off .... I am not very experienced in automotive maintenance ;)
Click to expand...
Do you have a battery charger or access to another car
 
Good news is the iCarsoft CR PLUS connects to the power steering

Bad news I don't know how I never used one
Should be in your manual, may or may not need an adaptor

Pointless anyhow as the error codes from the EPS are fairly meanless

A fault power code will be a faulty power code, but a faulty torque sensor could be a faulty torque sensor or the power going to it was too low and it gave erratic readings, find the internal fiat memo I already posted somewhere on this forum

Of a bit more use is graphing the data while turning the steering wheel 90 left 90 degrees right 180 degrees and so on
 
What is MES exactly? I live in Zaandam, nearby Amsterdam, not that far away from Alkmaar.
I myself do not have a battery charger, but my neighbor has.
And trying to find that part in the scan-tool to check fault codes regarding power steering, but I could not find it. In the meanwhile I saw today that the battery in rest is around 12.44 Volt and 13.98 when charging. As we speak I am updating the scan-tool with more recent data and software, but that takes quite some time :rolleyes:

And okay, you got that right, @koalar, about those fault codes, but for me I want to know whether there are fault codes anyway or not. It could be anything, like that earth (which I will check oncoming weekend) but it could be the state of the battery, a loose fuse maybe or anything else and maybe the existence of one or more fault codes could add to more checks and or solutions.
 
Aad Doix said:
What is MES exactly? I live in Zaandam, nearby Amsterdam, not that far away from Alkmaar.
I myself do not have a battery charger, but my neighbor has.
Click to expand...

That's great, one option is to borrow it and put the battery on charge overnight

When you put the battery back in raise the revs to around 2.5-3K rpm and move the steering quickly from lock to lock a couple of time, obviously away from the curb

Take it for a drive and see if it has improved, if it's the battery the majority of the time a charge will temporarily improve things
Aad Doix said:
And trying to find that part in the scan-tool to check fault codes regarding power steering, but I could not find it. In the meanwhile I saw today that the battery in rest is around 12.44 Volt and 13.98 when charging. As we speak I am updating the scan-tool with more recent data and software,
Click to expand...
12.5 and 14 is in the right ball park
Aad Doix said:
but that takes quite some time :rolleyes:

And okay, you got that right, @koalar, about those fault codes, but for me I want to know whether there are fault codes anyway or not. It could be anything, like that earth (which I will check oncoming weekend) but it could be the state of the battery, a loose fuse maybe or anything else and maybe the existence of one or more fault codes could add to more checks and or solutions.
Click to expand...
Correct, electric power steering going off randomly has many causes, rarely serious, 99% will be power wires, ground wires, battery, alternator

The vast majority will be battery, it's not the first time we seen a fail on fit, substitute is by far the best test. Not sure how friendly you are with your neighbour but maybe borrow their battery for a test drive

Odd behaviour from the EPS, randomly tugging will almost always be within the system itself and more serious luckily very rare
 
Sounds like a partially discharged battery. Do you make short drives, less than 10 km? Car is driven daily? If is not the battery at fault, earth connections are the next in line, and should be cleaned. My punto does this with it's 44h 390 A battery, after not driven for 2-3 days at negative temperatures,and my solution was a 55Ah 520A battery. But since it happes more often you need to scan the ecu for errors.
 
The old battery was 12v 44aH 420A and the new one is 12v 52aH 470A. I did not dare to go for more powerful batteries because I do not know what that does to the dynamo.
Once a week I use the car for a 80 mile trip, 40 miles to work and 40 miles back. The remaining time the car is parked and sometimes a short trip (< 6 miles).
 
Aad Doix said:
The old battery was 12v 44aH 420A and the new one is 12v 52aH 470A. I did not dare to go for more powerful batteries because I do not know what that does to the dynamo.
Once a week I use the car for a 80 mile trip, 40 miles to work and 40 miles back. The remaining time the car is parked and sometimes a short trip (< 6 miles).
Click to expand...
The only thing that matters is the cold cranking amps

Anything over 300 CCA is fine

My 330 CCA lasted 14 years

Larger capacity just means it more expensive to

AH are to munfactures own testing

80 miles once a week should be enough to keep the battery in good condition
 
Battery is indeed in good condition, measured 12.6 Volt in rest in a cold afternoon yesterday, dynamo is good, measuring 14 Volts when charging, the earth cables are in good shape, a mate did some voltage drop testing and found nothing. Reading via ODB2 showed me there was an old fault on the airbag due to low voltage, I erased it and check the fusion boxes which were dry and clean. A few fuses were a bit loose which I solved and I still need to check the connection of the aftermarket radio itself, which in my opinion could be the only reason left ..... but so far everything seems to be alright so still no explanation for the warning light of the electronic steering, but tomorrow I have this 2 times 40 mile drive to work again, so then I will know more ;)
 
Aad Doix said:
so far everything seems to be alright so still no explanation for the warning light of the electronic steering
Click to expand...
I told you...
Looks like you're getting there.
Mike1alike said:
Popping up on cold does resemble a lot with faulty torque sensor. It can go like that for years, then becomes more annoying, then stops working completely. New torque sensor is the fix.
Of course, you have lots of cables testing and hoping to do before you will be certain sensor is the issue.
Click to expand...
 
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