2014 RAM 1500 EPS rack failure (3rd time)

[v7tech]

Hello Ram Forum,

I created my account sometime in December of 2021 having encountered an EPS rack failure. I believe that some flash floods that I drove through may have been the culprit. At the time due to supply shortages my only option to obtain a replacement was a remanufactured unit by Cardone sold via PartsGeek. The rack got my truck up and running and it only lasted from December 2021 till June 2022.

Living in Cutler Bay Florida we experienced some insane flooding in June and I believe that somehow it compromised my remanufactured rack.

I sourced another rack locally bringing the total rack count to 3.

There was a minor discrepancy with one of the cv boots being torn. Didn't think much of it as the rack appeared to be in overall decent condition in the yard.

Upon getting it prepped to place in my truck the torn boot did have surface rust and dried lubricant that I took care of with a wire brush, and newly applied grease. After that the new boots went on along with the cv clamps and the truck was up and running again.

Sadly that was short lived as of Friday my third replacement rack decided to stop working again. I suspect that the area in which the boot was affected likely allowed water to get into the motor/circuit board based on the rust I found. Perhaps having driven the vehicle around didn't help however, I would not have been the wiser.

Since I have the prior Cardone rack on hand I decided to take it apart to poke around inside and sure enough it confirmed that it was indeed the water that damaged it. Having taken apart the motor cover, and PCB water actually poured out and there was visible rust forming along the seal, droplets of water on the PCB and other cables.

Both racks along the passenger side is where the motor sits, and in the exact center the PCB is located. My replacement rack from the junkyard has a torn passenger side boot and it had rust. Leading me to believe its possible that the unit itself may likely have water inside of it shorting things out.

I'm hoping that I can obtain another rack as this one came with a warranty.

These minor setbacks are quite frustrating and I hope that I can get everything sorted out.

 

[jws123]

Man that sucks personally I refuse to own a ram with electronic steering I see alot of issues with getting it wet ect. I never had a old power steering system fail on me still orig pump/rack on mine with 230k hell on my 1997 jeep orig pump lines ect.

 

[v7tech]

Man that sucks personally I refuse to own a ram with electronic steering I see alot of issues with getting it wet ect. I never had a old power steering system fail on me still orig pump/rack on mine with 230k hell on my 1997 jeep orig pump lines ect.

Indeed it does. I tested the EPS voltages and all seems well. I need to locate the Can bus c+ and c- values to ensure that the wiring isn't the culprit. I will hopefully be receiving a replacement rack tomorrow. Just hope the truck itself isn't what keeps damaging the EPS rack due to shortage. Checked the TIPM for any ground shorts to no avail.

 

[jws123]

I wonder if anyone has tried to swap a PS pump/rack from a older 4th gen onto one of these yet? Whenever my 2011 decides to blow up and I need to replace il be looking into that.

 

[hunterdan]

Hello Ram Forum,

I created my account sometime in December of 2021 having encountered an EPS rack failure. I believe that some flash floods that I drove through may have been the culprit. At the time due to supply shortages my only option to obtain a replacement was a remanufactured unit by Cardone sold via PartsGeek. The rack got my truck up and running and it only lasted from December 2021 till June 2022.

Living in Cutler Bay Florida we experienced some insane flooding in June and I believe that somehow it compromised my remanufactured rack.

I sourced another rack locally bringing the total rack count to 3.

There was a minor discrepancy with one of the cv boots being torn. Didn't think much of it as the rack appeared to be in overall decent condition in the yard.

Upon getting it prepped to place in my truck the torn boot did have surface rust and dried lubricant that I took care of with a wire brush, and newly applied grease. After that the new boots went on along with the cv clamps and the truck was up and running again.

Sadly that was short lived as of Friday my third replacement rack decided to stop working again. I suspect that the area in which the boot was affected likely allowed water to get into the motor/circuit board based on the rust I found. Perhaps having driven the vehicle around didn't help however, I would not have been the wiser.

Since I have the prior Cardone rack on hand I decided to take it apart to poke around inside and sure enough it confirmed that it was indeed the water that damaged it. Having taken apart the motor cover, and PCB water actually poured out and there was visible rust forming along the seal, droplets of water on the PCB and other cables.

Both racks along the passenger side is where the motor sits, and in the exact center the PCB is located. My replacement rack from the junkyard has a torn passenger side boot and it had rust. Leading me to believe its possible that the unit itself may likely have water inside of it shorting things out.

I'm hoping that I can obtain another rack as this one came with a warranty.

These minor setbacks are quite frustrating and I hope that I can get everything sorted out.

The warranty was actually one of the reasons I bought the cardone, oem only offered a 1 year/12k mile warranty, while cardone was 5. I'd take advantage of the warranty if you can. What size security bit did you need to get the cover off? I couldn't find one that fit mine.

 

[v7tech]

The warranty was actually one of the reasons I bought the cardone, oem only offered a 1 year/12k mile warranty, while cardone was 5. I'd take advantage of the warranty if you can. What size security bit did you need to get the cover off? I couldn't find one that fit mine.

Believe it was a T25 or T30. Couldn't find my security bit set so I used a drill go remove the center post. Cardone has been good about avoiding to honor their warranty. They just passed the buck to the reseller and it goes nowhere from there. They no longer sell the part only offer to rebuild it via a mail in service directly or via RockAuto.

 

[hunterdan]

Believe it was a T25 or T30. Couldn't find my security bit set so I used a drill go remove the center post. Cardone has been good about avoiding to honor their warranty. They just passed the buck to the reseller and it goes nowhere from there. They no longer sell the part only offer to rebuild it via a mail in service directly or via RockAuto.

They still sell it, but since stock of used ones is so low, they're offering the rebuild service as an alternative. Every now and then rebuilt ones pop up on rockauto.

 

[v7tech]

They still sell it, but since stock of used ones is so low, they're offering the rebuild service as an alternative. Every now and then rebuilt ones pop up on rockauto.

Good to know however after my experience I personally wouldn't recommend them unless a reseller provides proper documentation for warranty purposes. This part was obtained via PartsGeek through their eBay store. Somehow it's disjointed from PartsGeek itself and they seem to operate independent. I'm sure that it was my mistake having gone through eBay to begin with.

 

[hunterdan]

Good to know however after my experience I personally wouldn't recommend them unless a reseller provides proper documentation for warranty purposes. This part was obtained via PartsGeek through their eBay store. Somehow it's disjointed from PartsGeek itself and they seem to operate independent. I'm sure that it was my mistake having gone through eBay to begin with.

Yeah I bought mine through rockauto. So, not sure how that would work.

 

[v7tech]

Yeah I bought mine through rockauto. So, not sure how that would work.

Just received a replacement rack so this will be the forth. I'm really hoping that it works.

 

[Jeepwalker]

.....confirmed that it was indeed the water that damaged it.

That's what I have been theorizing the problems (with these) were all along....

 

[IndyRamMan]

Do you have any more pictures of the inside of that module when you disassembled it? I'm very curious to see what you uncovered.

Do you still have the Cardone rack or did you send that in as a core?

 

[v7tech]

That's what I have been theorizing the problems (with these) were all along....

I can confirm water killed 2 of these. My original rack that came with the truck in December of 2021, and the current Cardone rack that died a few weeks ago. The third one I acquired from a specialty parts retailer/yard. It worked for a few days and stopped working without rhyme or reason. I tried to reset the EPS angle and all that stuff to no avail. Didn't bother opening this unit up and it never really experienced any puddle driving however, it had a torn boot when I received it and I swapped over the boots from my Cardone rack. Aside from the torn boot the side that was torn had surface rust and around the steering linkage meaning that it may have been compromised by rainfall in the yard it came from. Also the grease inside the boot had to be replaced mostly due to the water affecting it through the tear on the side. Perhaps the third replacement was due to water, or maybe the vehicle it came from being a fire damaged unit. I mean even after it being greased it did not feel the same as the one that failed did, or the original rack.

 

[v7tech]

Do you have any more pictures of the inside of that module when you disassembled it? I'm very curious to see what you uncovered.

Do you still have the Cardone rack or did you send that in as a core?

I do have more pictures. I gave it to the truck driver who delivered the replacement from the yard. It's from a place called South Florida Auto Recycling, and honestly it's too large to stow away and not very useful for anything else. The first set of pictures are from the 'black' Cardone rack, the gray rack pics are from my original vehicle. You can clearly see the difference. Mine had water exposure but it was more subtle the Cardone rack is filled with calcium and other nasty stuff from the stagnate water.

 

[v7tech]

Do you have any more pictures of the inside of that module when you disassembled it? I'm very curious to see what you uncovered.

Do you still have the Cardone rack or did you send that in as a core?

If you meant pics of the complete rack I didn't bother to take pics of the exterior. They spray paint the entire thing black even the boots, and it flakes off so easily. The simple installation will scratch off the paint. I guess this is their way of performing inventory control of sorts or to identify rebuilt parts like when they paint the cover of transmissions or rear differentials to indicate its a refurbished part. This is a pic of the rack I returned recently. The yard marked it up and it was dirty so I took a wire brush to it before install, and applied motor degreaser just to attempt to stay as clean as possible working on the truck.

 

[IndyRamMan]

If you meant pics of the complete rack I didn't bother to take pics of the exterior. They spray paint the entire thing black even the boots, and it flakes off so easily. The simple installation will scratch off the paint. I guess this is their way of performing inventory control of sorts or to identify rebuilt parts like when they paint the cover of transmissions or rear differentials to indicate its a refurbished part. This is a pic of the rack I returned recently. The yard marked it up and it was dirty so I took a wire brush to it before install, and applied motor degreaser just to attempt to stay as clean as possible working on the truck.

Oh, no...the module is what I wanted to see. I work for Cardone's competitor. I was very curious to see an early production unit that had failure from the street.

PM me your address, I'll send you a thank you gift.

 

[v7tech]

Good news finally, the replacement rack works. Really hope it lasts another 80k+ miles if not longer. Gotta figure out how to de-pin the Can bus connector the clips broke off and I would like it to be as secure as possible or OEM in appearance.

 

[Jeepwalker]

You know ...for as corroded as the interior compartment is, the circuit board seems to be in really good shape ...except for corrosion on the main (exposed) connectors. That might be where the fault lies. Or there could be a couple bad solder joints, which aren't visible in the picture. Obviously it's spray coated to reduce moisture problems. But that's not always a guarantee against corrosion.

Glad you got things working again. Keep the parts in case you need them for the new rack.

 

[v7tech]

You know ...for as corroded as the interior compartment is, the circuit board seems to be in really good shape ...except for corrosion on the main (exposed) connectors. That might be where the fault lies. Or there could be a couple bad solder joints, which aren't visible in the picture. Obviously it's spray coated to reduce moisture problems. But that's not always a guarantee against corrosion.

Glad you got things working again. Keep the parts in case you need them for the new rack.

I thought the same, and inspected for cold solder joints. My original rack did have cold solder joints and I reflowed them. It worked a day or two like that but it didn't resolve the issue. Figure its possible that there was water inside of the motor housing itself. I'm not sure if I captured it but within the motor housing when I tipped the unit over so much water poured out, and the circuit board behind the motor was really corroded. Some of it wiped off, but it's never good for water droplets to bridge pins in my experience. I was tempted to repair the board then just use conformal coating on all the solder joints and seal it off as best possible if it did work. Weighing in that this is integral to safety and operation I rather not have a unit that has been open/compromised and opted for a replacement.

 

[Jeepwalker]

...I was tempted to repair the board then just use conformal coating on all the solder joints and seal it off

Ha ha ...you know what you're doing! I was going to mention 'conformal' ...but wanted to keep language plain. You're probably right, the water/moisture on the connector pins, or solder joints likely made things go wonky (for lack of a better word). At least part of the time. I figured just be design, there'd be moisture build up in the circuit board cavity if for no other reason than the board would heat the small metal cavity up, and it would cool down, (hundreds or thousands of times). Eventually, if not 'perfectly' sealed (and they all can't be 'perfectly' sealed), condensation would occur inside some trucks' racks ...even if water didn't outright leak in. It's really not a failure of the rack in most cases but a bad design that creates a secondary failure point.

Did you get rid of the rack already? It would be great to see what the motor area looked like.

Thanks for posting the pics. It was really enlighting.