Technical EPS electric power steering faults

[koalar]

I can not pin point it exactly but it does not happen on highway once. Most of the time early in the morning turning on to the street or so.

More frequently from a cold start

More frequently, sharp turn at idle or low revs

Possibly with indicators and heaters on

Sounds more power related at the moment

I removed old the negative and possitive nuts and bolts and with cleaned it with emory cloth inside out, including the inner area of battery terminals. I sprayed contact cleaner and wiped it off with clean towel.

That's a really good start

If you have a battery charger, leave it on charge over night

And see if the following day if it's less frequent

 

[kavil]

I checked the Fuse and bolt, I also removed the A pillar cover and i could not find a terminal that is shown in the Diagram but i found another ground with DELPHI written on it.

All the bolts and connections looked corrosion free i nevertheless removed them and the bolts, cleaned everything with emery cloth and sprayed contact cleaner, wiped it and retighten the bolts. I will try again tomorrow but i do not think they are the reason. Everyconnection that i check on the car until now is either looks like new or only slightly dirty. I could not see any rust or something. I do not have car battery charger but as i said resting voltage is 12.6v. i think it is fully charged.


What i do not understand it car is taking its electricity from the alternator. When the v belt ripped and exploded last time i also lost the Steeringwheel support even the battery is connected. So Alternator is a must for steering right? or am i missing something?

 

[koalar]

I checked the Fuse and bolt, I also removed the A pillar cover and i could not find a terminal that is shown in the Diagram but i found another ground with DELPHI written on it.

Yep they have changed it slightly, using stud and nuts

All the bolts and connections looked corrosion free i nevertheless removed them and the bolts, cleaned everything with emery cloth and sprayed contact cleaner, wiped it and retighten the bolts. I will try again tomorrow but i do not think they are the reason. Everyconnection that i check on the car until now is either looks like new or only slightly dirty. I could not see any rust or something.

Yep look in really good condition everywhere, I don't see anything obvious

I do not have car battery charger but as i said resting voltage is 12.6v. i think it is fully charged.

It a handy way to check, leave it on charge, put the battery in and see if things improve, it's not foolproof but if the problem goes away temporarily, you know your are definitely chasing a power issue

What i do not understand it car is taking its electricity from the alternator. When the v belt ripped and exploded last time i also lost the Steeringwheel support even the battery is connected. So Alternator is a must for steering right? or am i missing something?

The battery is like a reserve store, buffer

The body computer controls alternator output to just enough power no more, to save fuel

If the load suddenly changes, the alternator can not keep up, and some will be drawn from the battery. Such as the high load of the steering motor with low revs at a junction

If the voltage sags too much momentary, it shuts the steering off

Strange the steering didn't carry on working when the belt broke, driven a couple of cars with faulty alternators not charging, usually get quite a way until the power steering fails, but never tried it with the Panda

 

[kavil]

Today i had another failure. It was afternoon, car was warmed up and it happened during turning into the Autobahn.

Last few failures happened during turning to right i guess. I do not have car battery charger but i will ask a friend for it and try chargering the battery. I am growing desperate. It really sucks the fun of driving this wonderful car. I had few problems as i bought the car and slowly but surely i managed to solve them but this Steering wheel is making it harder and the worst part is i do not know what is causing it. Even with stellar tips and helps of members like Koalar and other i am still really confused what might be wrong.

 

[koalar]

The problem with the Electric power steering is there's dozens of different causes with the same or similar symptoms

 

[kavil]

The problem with the Electric power steering is there's dozens of different causes with the same or similar symptoms

Would trying to scan with MultiECUScan tool bring something to light or is it pointless?

I will receive a car battery charger tomorrow and will try to charge battery that overnight.
What should be next step after that? is there anything i can do/control in the meantime?

 

[koalar]

Would trying to scan with MultiECUScan tool bring something to light or is it pointless?

I will receive a car battery charger tomorrow and will try to charge battery that overnight.
What should be next step after that? is there anything i can do/control in the meantime?

Not total pointless

It can positive confirm a power issue

But if it says it's the power steering, it could be the power steering, but could be the power going to the sensors also

To use an elm327 you will need the green adapter cable 1

 

[kavil]

I charged both the new battery and my old one. They were both 12.6 V to begin with and inside of 1 hour mark both of them are fully charged according to the charger. I will try it tomorrow again, i do not know if the situation got better but i am highly suspicious. I have not got any adapter cables, only ELM327 Wifi ODB adapter and laptop will i will install ECUScan tool and try to make generic scans if possible. Maybe it reveals something more than Torque App on my phone.

 

[koalar]

The steering is on a different none stars pin on the OBD port

If you are handy with a soldering iron you can modify your interface so you don't have to use an adapter

By soldering 1-7-9 together you give you access to the

ABS
Power steering

Modules

Along with the standard engine ECU

But then it's only safe to use on fiat cars

 

[Bubberanga]

Over here, in The Netherlands, the faulty electrical power steering is a common issue. There IS a fix, however... but it does require getting deep in there.

You'll nee to remove the dash-covers around your steering wheel to access the electrical pcb of your power-steering unit.

The red light is mainly caused by a faulty soldering of the power-leads to the steering unit. Hence you'll need to desolder this board carefully. Resolder the power-leads to the board and then solder it back onto the steering unit.

It does require some squirming into the bottom well underneath the steering wheel, and you really need to know how to solder properly, but many fix it this way and drive thousands of miles with this fix applied, without another fault-warning.

Hope this helps y'all out!

 

[koalar]

Over here, in The Netherlands, the faulty electrical power steering is a common issue. There IS a fix, however... but it does require getting deep in there.

You'll nee to remove the dash-covers around your steering wheel to access the electrical pcb of your power-steering unit.

The red light is mainly caused by a faulty soldering of the power-leads to the steering unit. Hence you'll need to desolder this board carefully. Resolder the power-leads to the board and then solder it back onto the steering unit.

It does require some squirming into the bottom well underneath the steering wheel, and you really need to know how to solder properly, but many fix it this way and drive thousands of miles with this fix applied, without another fault-warning.

Hope this helps y'all out!

Are you talking about these joints

 

[Bubberanga]

Are you talking about these jointsView attachment 443526

Don't know yet. Have to figure it out myself still. But from what I see, I would say yes. Those are the ones I'm talking about.

 

[koalar]

Don't know yet. Have to figure it out myself still. But from what I see, I would say yes. Those are the ones I'm talking about.

That was a very common fault on the similar Delphi EPS as used in the likes of the Puntos 188

Here in the UK so far I have never seen or heard of one fail here on the redesign part as fitted to the Panda 169

The few cases which haven been a power issue have all been fixed by a new torque sensor

If you could post some picture of the failed part,would be helpful to others

 

[Bubberanga]

I'm planning on diving underneath the dash this summer, when the weather is nice enough. I'll photo-record every step of the process. (The Torque-sensor might be the issue, as most garages say. However, many fellow panda-enthousiasts discovered it's the bad soldering on the power-leads instead) So, cross your fingers... This summer I'll find my answer! (A new Torque sensor is even on 2nd-hand bargain easily around € 120,- )

 

[A3jeroen]

When I did my torquesensor I took out the complete steering column (U joint and IIRC 2 or 3 M8 bolts under the shrouds) and took it inside. Way too cold and not enough room in the car.

gr J