Power Steering Failure!

[_TopGear]

My power steering randomly stopped working about a week ago. I turned into a gas station and all of a sudden my steering wheel felt like it was 300lbs and took all of my strength to get it off the road. there was a message on the dash to service power steering. I turned off the ignition, re-started it, and it was all gone. fine.

Today, I drove it several miles and had no issues, out on a run to grocery store, it stopped again and gave me the same message while turning at a stoplight....almost killed me.

tried re-starting the truck a few times and nothing changed, got home and it set about 15:00 before I re-started it and it works again! But not going to trust it anymore.

I don't know what to do. I have good mechanical knowledge but it being an electric power steering what can I do other than take it to a dealer and get fudged for 2000$+.

There are so many mixed opinions and threads on other forums about fuses, control modules, or it being impossible to figure out, etc.

Truck is a 2013 1500 5.7L Laramie Longhorn. 79,000 miles

any help or advice appreciated, thanks!

 

[El Huapo]

If it was around here, I'd say inspect your wiring closely, the rats and mice like to get under the hood and make nests in tight places and will chew the wiring. Sometimes they completely separate the conductors, sometimes just partially causing some funny effects. We leave our hoods up when we park out here in the woods (even in the garage) because it exposes everything and the rodents aren't so brave anymore, plus the various neighborhood cats do patrols over the engine bays, gotta love that even though I don't much love cats.

 

[Brandon-w]

First thing I'd do if it's not throwing any codes is pull the plug on the rack and check for corrosion on the contacts. Dielectric grease the plug ans stick it back in. Check for wire chafing on the rack lines from computer and battery. Check battery connection make sure the fuse it's self doesn't have any corrosion on the contacts that could cause issues.

From there if it persists I'd maybe check with a diagnostic scanner if your steering angle sensor has a dead spot. It should give you a code but who knows.. It may have a stored code already.

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[_TopGear]

First thing I'd do if it's not throwing any codes is pull the plug on the rack and check for corrosion on the contacts. Dielectric grease the plug ans stick it back in. Check for wire chafing on the rack lines from computer and battery. Check battery connection make sure the fuse it's self doesn't have any corrosion on the contacts that could cause issues.

From there if it persists I'd maybe check with a diagnostic scanner if your steering angle sensor has a dead spot. It should give you a code but who knows.. It may have a stored code already.

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Did check with my scanner and it shows nothing wrong. I am confused about the fuse thats on the battery, it looks nothing like the one people have posted pictures of. That's a good idea about the connectors, I'm not sure about the dielectric grease though. Iv'e seen that stuff before, make more of a mess than help.

I also read somewhere that a dealer refused to fix someones power steering because it looked like they tampered with the connectors...or maybe that was honoring thier warranty? Guess I have no warranty being a 2013



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[Tim Garceau]

2013 had a common issue with the u-joint in the shaft seizing, especially if it is intermittent. That's the first place I'd look when acting up.

The EPS has been robust since inception.

 

[RamCares]

My power steering randomly stopped working about a week ago. I turned into a gas station and all of a sudden my steering wheel felt like it was 300lbs and took all of my strength to get it off the road. there was a message on the dash to service power steering. I turned off the ignition, re-started it, and it was all gone. fine.

Today, I drove it several miles and had no issues, out on a run to grocery store, it stopped again and gave me the same message while turning at a stoplight....almost killed me.

tried re-starting the truck a few times and nothing changed, got home and it set about 15:00 before I re-started it and it works again! But not going to trust it anymore.

I don't know what to do. I have good mechanical knowledge but it being an electric power steering what can I do other than take it to a dealer and get fudged for 2000$+.

There are so many mixed opinions and threads on other forums about fuses, control modules, or it being impossible to figure out, etc.

Truck is a 2013 1500 5.7L Laramie Longhorn. 79,000 miles

any help or advice appreciated, thanks!

I sincerely apologize that you are experiencing this, @_TopGear. If you do have to work with your dealer, our team is always a private message away to provide an additional layer of support for that process.

Mark
RamCares

 

[_TopGear]

It started working again after I got home and truck cooled down about 30 min.

So last night I disconnected the batteries and left it loose for 30 min. Got in today and drove it at least 10 miles. Took all kinds of turns to try and get the issue to come back and I cant get it to happen again. Still not trusting it though.

Now im really unsure about what steps to take

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[Brandon-w]

I'm. Somewhat leaned to the steering angle sensor myself. If it doesn't "sense" imput from the wheel how's it going to know to turn. That's just me tho.

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[_TopGear]

I'm. Somewhat leaned to the steering angle sensor myself. If it doesn't "sense" imput from the wheel how's it going to know to turn. That's just me tho.

So there is a sensor at the wheel?

Update: So at my last post, it had been working for a few days. I drove it all around town and made all kinds of turns trying to re-create the problem.
Last night we were having really bad rain / wind storm and I went to move it out from under the tree in our drive way. It instantly stopped working again, and today it doesn't work either.

Now it's a little more peculiar that it rained and it didn't work, wondering now if its a connector issue like someone said before, I never tried un-plugging the connectors yet

 

[Brandon-w]

Yeah there's one at the steering colum inside but if rain did it it wouldn't be that as that is inside right by your feet.

 

[_TopGear]

So I got under the truck and un-did the connectors at the steering rack and broke the locking tab on the smaller one in the process. Luckily the LAPS nearest to me sells replacement connectors but I had to order it. so I will be re-pinning that one smaller connector....that thing is a ***** because you cant see the clip and its also super stuck on there.

Otherwise i didn't see any corrosion or debris inside the connectors where they mate together. there was a lot of dirt stuff in between the plastic, like the outer part of the plastic of connector

should I clean the connections with MAF sensor cleaner or some type of computer cleaning spray?

 

[Brandon-w]

So I got under the truck and un-did the connectors at the steering rack and broke the locking tab on the smaller one in the process. Luckily the LAPS nearest to me sells replacement connectors but I had to order it. so I will be re-pinning that one smaller connector....that thing is a ***** because you cant see the clip and its also super stuck on there.

Otherwise i didn't see any corrosion or debris inside the connectors where they mate together. there was a lot of dirt stuff in between the plastic, like the outer part of the plastic of connector

should I clean the connections with MAF sensor cleaner or some type of computer cleaning spray?

As long as it doesn't have a sealant in it you could clean them yeah, definateky can't hurt.

 

[Octane]

Have the battery checked at the auto parts.Especially with other accessories running it may drop the system down enough to be a problem.Even if it cranks over good all those computers can be wonky

 

[_TopGear]

As long as it doesn't have a sealant in it you could clean them yeah, definateky can't hurt.

That's true. yea someone mentioned before using the di-electric grease and I've seen that make a huge mess on cars before, years later it turns into a solid wax and will make you have to replace the entire harness or pigtails. although this doesn't have any of that on it, and I refuse to use that stuff

Have the battery checked at the auto parts.Especially with other accessories running it may drop the system down enough to be a problem.Even if it cranks over good all those computers can be wonky

good idea, will go check, thanks.

Hey I did notice that things act weird when I'm turning the steering wheel....way back....like the A/C blowing at max would have a noticeable drop, like you could hear it, only when turning the steering wheel.

This was a thing on a car I had on the past, it would even lower the revs of the engine when turning the wheel, you could hear and see it, but this car had a traditional power steering pump

 

[_TopGear]

Have the battery checked at the auto parts.Especially with other accessories running it may drop the system down enough to be a problem.Even if it cranks over good all those computers can be wonky

Guys a LAPS checked the battery, he said it tested just fine, actually showing 860CCA and it's only rated for 790....its an O'riley's battery, 2.5 years old

Kind of bummed that it wasnt the problem, makes perfect sense that the battery could cause the issues, being that the power cable to the steering rack is fused right off the positive terminal.

So that being said, the fuse at the terminal looks fine, but should I replace it anyway? it's like 35$ and I think I'd have to get it a dealership

 

[Octane]

Take it back for repair to the idiots who designed it.lol

 

[Brandon-w]

Yeah replacing it won't make a difference. Wonder where it grounds out. Could be a bad ground.

A good code reader should be able to do a test on most of your modules and see if there are any diagnostic codes. I know my matco one does a full check when I hook it up.

 

[crash68]

Hey I did notice that things act weird when I'm turning the steering wheel....way back....like the A/C blowing at max would have a noticeable drop, like you could hear it, only when turning the steering wheel.

The Integrated Battery Sensor is used determine how the vehicle is going to charge the battery. The IBS is attached to the negative battery terminal. I'm not sure how to test it but if you having problems with the vehicle going into Battery Saver Mode, this sensor is usually the culprit.

So that being said, the fuse at the terminal looks fine, but should I replace it anyway? it's like 35$ and I think I'd have to get it a dealership

Those maybe fuses maybe $35 at the dealer but you can buy them here a lot cheaper:
https://theelectricaldepot.com/fuses-and-related-products/littelfuse-zcase-single-mega-starter-fuses
The current rating is printed on the side, the one for the power steering should be 125 amp. I don't think I've seen these at auto part stores, I actually keep a spare of each in my glovebox.

 

[_TopGear]

The Integrated Battery Sensor is used determine how the vehicle is going to charge the battery. The IBS is attached to the negative battery terminal. I'm not sure how to test it but if you having problems with the vehicle going into Battery Saver Mode, this sensor is usually the culprit.


Those maybe fuses maybe $35 at the dealer but you can buy them here a lot cheaper:
https://theelectricaldepot.com/fuses-and-related-products/littelfuse-zcase-single-mega-starter-fuses
The current rating is printed on the side, the one for the power steering should be 125 amp. I don't think I've seen these at auto part stores, I actually keep a spare of each in my glovebox.

That is interesting, wonder if I should replace that?
None of those look like my fuses?
The fuses I see at the link don't look like this. Picture 1 is on the + terminal, second is on the - terminal. (Flipped images to be able to read the numbers)

 

[crash68]

Those are different fuses, it's an all in one assembly. If the fuse is good, don't worry about changing it.

Part of that IBS does look discolored. Just loosen the bolt that holds the IBS on the battery terminal, it will break if you try to completely removed it.