Power steering

[Mocefous]

My p/s went out on 2012 5.7, 1500.
Electric rack & pinion. Seems I saw a post on a recall s19 but the dealer says my Vin isn't included in that re-call.
Any thoughts?

 

[crash68]

The S19 recall was for certain 2015 and 2016 model year trucks. I know it didn't include all of them as my '15 wasn't recalled.

 

[hunterdan]

Are you sure it's electronic? Pretty sure the electronic power steering didn't start until 2013.

 

[kayjo]

I think there were 22 safety recalls for the 19 year. But my vin says non affects my truck amazingly enough.

 

[Lyle Longboat]

My 2011 has a pump, would think the 12’s do too. Did you check hoses/lines for any leaks or the belt/tensioner for play? Check fluid? Check your steering linkage too.

 

[indept]

Are you sure it's electronic? Pretty sure the electronic power steering didn't start until 2013.

The OP said his 2012 lost power steering but his year listed in his stats says 2015 so either he has 2 trucks or typo'd the year.

 

[Jeepwalker]

I too was under the impression 2013 was the first yr of electric steering ..unless some snuck through in 2012. Or maybe it was built in late 2012 as a M/Y '13 Tk. Or like you say.. the year was fat-fingered while typing..

 

[DM1204]

I have a 2015 Ram 1500 w/ EPS.
Had no power steering when I went to start the truck yesterday morning. Fast forward to this morning I tried again and had steering again. Turned off the truck and restarted it... NO STEERING! Called my local dealership Anderson Motors and they want me to bring it in to replace the rack and pinion. An almost $3000 piece... on A 6 YEAR OLD TRUCK?! Absolutely ridiculous this is happening. I told them if I bring the truck in they can keep it.
Where is the TSB's? Recalls?
I suspect more and more will be popping up.

 

[crash68]

Called my local dealership Anderson Motors and they want me to bring it in to replace the rack and pinion. An almost $3000 piece... on A 6 YEAR OLD TRUCK?! Absolutely ridiculous this is happening. I told them if I bring the truck in they can keep it.
Where is the TSB's? Recalls?
I suspect more and more will be popping up.

Actually the power steering has not had many failures, there were some specific model year/build windows recalls but those are already out there. Google is your friend to find the recalls. If you can't fix it yourself, then shop around for a better price if not than either deal with no power steering or pay the dealership. The steering rack is not a simple bolt in repair, it also needs to be calibrated so the ABS, ESC, and powertrain will function correctly.

 

[DM1204]

Actually the power steering has not had many failures, there were some specific model year/build windows recalls but those are already out there. Google is your friend to find the recalls. If you can't fix it yourself, then shop around for a better price if not than either deal with no power steering or pay the dealership. The steering rack is not a simple bolt in repair, it also needs to be calibrated so the ABS, ESC, and powertrain will function correctly.

I've looked up the recalls. The part number of my unit is not on the list of recalled ones. A recent search of the forum brings up a lot of posts from 2021-2022 relating to a loss of power steering.
The cost of the item and the work involved shouldn't matter. It is a 6 year old vehicle that is driven 5 miles to work and back every day.
BOTH shops I called have had trucks in recently (just yesterday) that needed the piece replaced. Plus the part is on back order (likely from being replaced so much).

 

[crash68]

The cost of the item and the work involved shouldn't matter. It is a 6 year old vehicle that is driven 5 miles to work and back every day.
BOTH shops I called have had trucks in recently (just yesterday) that needed the piece replaced. Plus the part is on back order (likely from being replaced so much).

So you just assume that they're all POS because yours went bad and couple of repair shops had ones that were bad?(broken vehicles at a repair shop what a novel idea) The 20-21 truck racks are different, the vehicle electrical architecture changed. My buddy was a Dodge/Ram mechanic at a dealership didn't see an overwhelming number of bad steering racks. Of all the trucks reported with over 150K miles going all the way up to over 800K miles, none of them have had steering rack issues, so I'm going to take an educated guess you drew the short straw for a bad steering rack.
Has anyone even bothered to diagnose your racks problem, it could be a bad connection(s) or even a bad battery.

 

[DM1204]

So you just assume that they're all POS because yours went bad and couple of repair shops had ones that were bad?(broken vehicles at a repair shop what a novel idea) The 20-21 truck racks are different, the vehicle electrical architecture changed. My buddy was a Dodge/Ram mechanic at a dealership didn't see an overwhelming number of bad steering racks. Of all the trucks reported with over 150K miles going all the way up to over 800K miles, none of them have had steering rack issues, so I'm going to take an educated guess you drew the short straw for a bad steering rack.
Has anyone even bothered to diagnose your racks problem, it could be a bad

So you just assume that they're all POS because yours went bad and couple of repair shops had ones that were bad?(broken vehicles at a repair shop what a novel idea) The 20-21 truck racks are different, the vehicle electrical architecture changed. My buddy was a Dodge/Ram mechanic at a dealership didn't see an overwhelming number of bad steering racks. Of all the trucks reported with over 150K miles going all the way up to over 800K miles, none of them have had steering rack issues, so I'm going to take an educated guess you drew the short straw for a bad steering rack.
Has anyone even bothered to diagnose your racks problem, it could be a bad connection(s) or even a bad battery.

Battery tests fine. Glad everyone can just say "just take it to the dealer" instead of contributing to finding out the root cause.

 

[Jeepwalker]

I've replied on earlier EPS threads. I don't know why people haven't tried my suggestions. You might be able to repair your steering rack at zero cost. This is a long post, so try to stick with me:

Essentially if it were me I would remove the circuit board from the steering rack and have a good close look at it. Or take it to someone you know who is good with electronics. I'm going to say I strongly believe the problem lies in a cold solder joint that occurs after ~12,000-15,000 heat/cool cycles of the circuit board, or just from age in general (6yrsx365x6starts/day=12,000). Probably at a connector or some internal component. The vast majority of the time cold solder joints can be seen by eye. Or it's possible an internal part like a capacitor fails. Resoldering a possible failed joint may restore it to working order. (or replace a capacitor if that's the problem)

The reason I say this is because there have been a couple owners who have tried the heat-gun-trick where they applied heat to the area where the circuit board is, and the P/S worked every time. Think about it: Circuit board gets cold, components and joints shrink -> bad connection, PS doesn't work. Then ...Circuit board heats back up during use, components and solder joints expand ...and joints make contact -> PS works. Eventually weak connections will fail. That's how it often goes with electronics.

A lot of times it works the other way around. Home TV acts flaky at rm temperature or when TV warms up ...spray some freeze spray around the circuit board, cool the joints/components down, and solder joints or bad capacitors make contact ...TV starts working ..bingo! There's yer problem where you applied the freeze spray. It's an old-timer's electronics repair trick to quickly find a problem, bc the vast majority of electronic failures are weak or 'cold' solder joints, or failed/weak electrolytic capacitors. Doesn't always work, but it's a method. Age, heat and constant expansion/contraction raise heck. Hit the capacitors with an ESR meter to test ..replace any low-reading caps. I've repaired a number of car (and audio/TV, etc) circuit boards that have been flaky. Not that difficult. There are a ton of youtube videos.

Other possibilities could be: corrosion on the circuit board, leaks causing shorting, electric motor/pump at fault, valving issues. But none of those would resolve themselves by applying heat to the board area, which is why I would target the circuit board first. Removing and looking at it doesn't cost that much.

So try the heat-gun trick, ...and either remove the circuit board, or go find yourself an ace guru mechanic with electronics chops ..up for a challenge and I bet he can make a determination in 30 minutes. Unfortunately the vast majority of mechanics nowadays are parts-replacers. And a shop makes a lot more dough on a $3k part. Another idea is reaching out to the manager of one of the online outfits that re-conditions BCM's, electronic instrument clusters, crash modules, etc and ask if they'd be interested in looking at your board ...in order to possibly expand that service to their offering. It looks like this is shaking up to be a cottage industry, they'd probably do it for free just to learn how to do it.

So there you go ...now you have some real-world (possible) suggestions.

 

[PoMansRam]

There really haven't been a lot of EPS issues reported here and lawd knows lots of people just join up to complain if and only if they have a problem.

That said, now that this system has been around for ~10yrs, now may be the time we start seeing more reports of Ram 1500 EPS issues.

The part not currently being available is not unusual today. Very few non-standard wear item parts are available instantly.

FWIW, I just searched RockAuto and they have Cardone "rebuild and return" to you EPS service available for around $600. Kind of a weird option, but it is an option.

 

[Jeepwalker]

F78 is a 10A fuse for the EPS that's worth checking (and re-seating/tracing) too. Also possibly F82/F87 are worth a check. I'm not sure how the Steering Column Control Module affects the EPS.

 

[hunterdan]

I've replied on earlier EPS threads. I don't know why people haven't tried my suggestions. You might be able to repair your steering rack at zero cost. This is a long post, so try to stick with me:

Essentially if it were me I would remove the circuit board from the steering rack and have a good close look at it. Or take it to someone you know who is good with electronics. I'm going to say I strongly believe the problem lies in a cold solder joint that occurs after ~12,000-15,000 heat/cool cycles of the circuit board, or just from age in general (6yrsx365x6starts/day=12,000). Probably at a connector or some internal component. The vast majority of the time cold solder joints can be seen by eye. Or it's possible an internal part like a capacitor fails. Resoldering a possible failed joint may restore it to working order. (or replace a capacitor if that's the problem)

The reason I say this is because there have been a couple owners who have tried the heat-gun-trick where they applied heat to the area where the circuit board is, and the P/S worked every time. Think about it: Circuit board gets cold, components and joints shrink -> bad connection, PS doesn't work. Then ...Circuit board heats back up during use, components and solder joints expand ...and joints make contact -> PS works. Eventually weak connections will fail. That's how it often goes with electronics.

A lot of times it works the other way around. Home TV acts flaky at rm temperature or when TV warms up ...spray some freeze spray around the circuit board, cool the joints/components down, and solder joints or bad capacitors make contact ...TV starts working ..bingo! There's yer problem where you applied the freeze spray. It's an old-timer's electronics repair trick to quickly find a problem, bc the vast majority of electronic failures are weak or 'cold' solder joints, or failed/weak electrolytic capacitors. Doesn't always work, but it's a method. Age, heat and constant expansion/contraction raise heck. Hit the capacitors with an ESR meter to test ..replace any low-reading caps. I've repaired a number of car (and audio/TV, etc) circuit boards that have been flaky. Not that difficult. There are a ton of youtube videos.

Other possibilities could be: corrosion on the circuit board, leaks causing shorting, electric motor/pump at fault, valving issues. But none of those would resolve themselves by applying heat to the board area, which is why I would target the circuit board first. Removing and looking at it doesn't cost that much.

So try the heat-gun trick, ...and either remove the circuit board, or go find yourself an ace guru mechanic with electronics chops ..up for a challenge and I bet he can make a determination in 30 minutes. Unfortunately the vast majority of mechanics nowadays are parts-replacers. And a shop makes a lot more dough on a $3k part. Another idea is reaching out to the manager of one of the online outfits that re-conditions BCM's, electronic instrument clusters, crash modules, etc and ask if they'd be interested in looking at your board ...in order to possibly expand that service to their offering. It looks like this is shaking up to be a cottage industry, they'd probably do it for free just to learn how to do it.

So there you go ...now you have some real-world (possible) suggestions.

I tried taking the cover off the module, but none of my security torx bits fit. Seems it was an odd size that I didn't have.

 

[Octane]

My inner tierod went bad and after going over a speedhump the steering wheel got way off centered.I recalibrated it and replaced the tie rod and is only problem my 13 Ram steering has ever had in 181k miles.(EPS)2013 up is EPS

 

[huntergreen]

Battery tests fine. Glad everyone can just say "just take it to the dealer" instead of contributing to finding out the root cause.

yup it sucks, but there are things, listed above, that could be the issue other than rack itself. First thing to check are the conections. Some batteries can check out fine, but still be not working properly, but I doubt that’s the issue. The fact that it goes out and then comes back leads me to believe it’s not the rack itself. I’m not a mechanic though. Hope you get this sorted out and start enjoying your ride .

 

[hunterdan]

yup it sucks, but there are things, listed above, that could be the issue other than rack itself. First thing to check are the conections. Some batteries can check out fine, but still be not working properly, but I doubt that’s the issue. The fact that it goes out and then comes back leads me to believe it’s not the rack itself. I’m not a mechanic though. Hope you get this sorted out and start enjoying your ride .

It could be the connections on the board. They'll make contact and work until you hit a bump or they heat up and you lose power steering again. Mine went out after a hard impact with a pothole. It randomly worked a few days later for about 2 turns of the steering wheel, then never came back. Intermittent on/off sounds like a bad connection on the control module solder joints.

 

[huntergreen]

It could be the connections on the board. They'll make contact and work until you hit a bump or they heat up and you lose power steering again. Mine went out after a hard impact with a pothole. It randomly worked a few days later for about 2 turns of the steering wheel, then never came back. Intermittent on/off sounds like a bad connection on the control module solder joints.

Could be, but not the only possibility.