electronic steering tightness

[rjmorr68]

I have a 2014 ram 1500 4x4 with an electronic rack n pinion. My steering is tight when turning in either direction and then will be easy. I took it to a dealership and they said the intermittent shaft going from the steering column to the rack is bad? I don't really think that is the problem. They never done a voltage test coming from the steering column or computer going into the rack or coming out of the rack. Anyone know how to do a voltage test? I've been working on cars and trucks for over 35 years. Not certified or anything but I know enough that most of the time the intermittent shaft usually don't go bad on a truck that's only 8 years old. Can someone tell me how to check the voltage and where to check it at and what the voltages are suppose to be? I think the rack is bad but at $1025 for a reman I don't want to just guess and I don't the dealership my gf took it to, to screw me over either. If someone could help me out I would appreciate it.

 

[crash68]

Actually there have been a couple people who've had a similar tightness in the steering and corrected the problem by lubing the universal joints in the steering shaft.

 

[PoMansRam]

If there was a voltage drop to the EPS system, it will set codes and light the EPS light on the dash.

If power completely drops out to the system, it would take a lot of effort to move the steering wheel. I'm talking two handed white knuckle effort.

Worst part is, you won't find a replacement EPS rack. They're out of stock everywhere. The only option I've seen recently is the return for repair option through rock auto or the likes.

 

[Daw14]

The u-joint needing lubed is a known problem ,pretty easy to douse with pb blast . Might save you a lot of money and time . Things change over time , so do common issues with vehicles.

 

[PoMansRam]

@rjmorr68 I wish I had some troubleshooting tips for ya.

I'd have to poke around on mine or find a wiring diagram, but I want to say the main power feed to the rack runs right to the positive battery terminal.

Like you say, there's control and feedback wires that run to it too from the computer. You can always unplug it from the rack to check for corrosion or whatnot.

There's been a few posts recently on EPS issues and they all seem to be internal to the unit and no one has any info on the inner workings on these yet unfortunately.

I'd love to have a donor unit to open up and try to figure out, but these things are too valuable at the moment. For what ever reason they've got plenty of EPS systems to build new 4th gen Ram 1500s, but not a single one to offer for replacement parts.