Prius (2001-03) :: Power Steering Slowly Deteriorating - Failure
Jun 3, 2010
The power steering on my 2003 Toyota Prius has been slowly deteriorating (very difficult to get out of parallel parking spaces, for example) until in suddenly cut out all together as I was turning in a parking lot two days ago. I put the car in reverse to try to straighten out, and the problem was immediately solved. The car was fine for the next 12 hours (and ten miles) until the same thing happened again... and fixed itself again.
I realize the 2001 was recalled because of power steering issues... but this does not seem to apply to the 2003.
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We own not 1, but 2 2007 Passats. My wife's is a 2.0, mine is the 3.6. Both were purchased at the same time (4/07). Both have about 6000 miles on them. And both are going in for their first service at the end of this week.
I feel like what I'm experiencing with ride quality having deteriorated since the cars were new is happening in both cars. I don't know... maybe it's my imagination... but I don't think so.
I remember when the cars were new thinking that the ride was pretty sweet - very smooth, not jarring even over fairly rough road surfaces. I had just come out of an '05 Touareg V8 that I turned in early for the Passat (sold the boat; didn't need a tow vehicle any more and wanted better mileage - but loved the Touareg). Anyway I never really felt like the Touareg's ride degraded that much over the 30,000 miles I drove it.
But the way these Passats are riding right now is bothering me. My wife's car (the 2.0) is a bit worse than mine, I think. But I feel pretty sure what I'm talking about has happened (or worse yet, is perhaps still happening?) to both cars.
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The 2007 my wife drives has no power assisted steering as of yesterday. This afternoon I drove it around the neighborhood and yup, its like driving a 42 DeSoto.
The red triangle is on the dashboard
NO CEL
NO MFD message - everything is normal
Plugged in my ScanGauge II and there are no DTC codes. Am I correct that this is a failed steering ECU?
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Faulty combination meters on the Toyota Prius. Loss of braking and power steering on the vehicle? This has happened to me 4 of the 100+ times my dash lights were not working. On those 4 occasions I was driving without the dash lights and all of the warning lights came on and the car lost power steering and the ABS braking and I had to use the emergency brake to stop. Fortunately when this has happened I have not been on the highway and there was no snow or it could have been very dangerous.
This issue has only happened when there is a malfunction with the combination meter. I understand this can create many issues within the vehicle including braking difficulties. The response of the Manager at my local Toyota shop said "well, at least you have brakes, you just won't have them in an emergency stop." Wow! I've read accounts of people going 65 mph and losing brakes when this has happened which could be very deadly.
I'm surprised at Toyota's response with this possibly deadly issue. I'm also surprised that the Combination Meter Failure has not be recalled because based off what I have read about 3% of Prius owners have experienced issues with this and the braking system. At what point does a "warranty" become a "recall"? Please note that this issue is separate from the "accelerator recall".
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2010, 5.4L... Noticed a small oil spot under the truck this morning. Took it into the shop after work, we lifted it up, and ran it for 15 min to see where the leak was coming from, and the truck did not leak a drop... until we turned it off. The oil would slowly leak near the power steering pump pulley. But only when the engine was not running ...
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I have read the many blogs..streams..and complaints about the same "power steering" failure I experience every time I drive my junk ION. I have also read there is repair compensation via GM for models less than 10 years old and less than 100,000 miles. My question is, is there any cost relief if it has over 100,000 miles? Mine had close to it when I bought it and it didn't start until after it had gone over 100,000. Between the ignition passlock problem when it's cold and the power steering failure when it's hot... I will NEVER EVER buy anything Saturn or GM again.
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RE: 2007 Volvo XC90 90k miles
Pulled into my driveway last night with the power steering working intermittently for last 5 minute leg of my trip. Woke up this morning with no power steering and sqealing noise coming from engine.
No fluid leak on driveway. Drove to dealer with no power steering. Very hard to turn wheel - even while moving.
Dealer checked and said it was not a fluid issue and that they thought a screw might have fallen out and needed to take apart the rear of the engine (a 5-6 hour job) just to diagnose the problem.
A screw from the steering column in the rear engine?
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2004 VW Toureg Power Steering failure. Searched the threads and came up with nothing. Power steering just quitting? It is as if the pump is not building any pressure. PS fluid was a little low, added fluid to top it of (2 months ago), everything fine. Last week suddenly no power steering. By the way this problem makes it real hard to park.
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I think I blew a power steering hose. I lost all my fluid and lost power steering. I'm at work. Is it safe to drive 3 miles home with no fluid?
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97 VW Touareg V10 SUV ... Just after my warranty expired, my power steering and A/C failed. Any Touareg owners had this to happen?
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The power steering fails. Turning the engine off and restarting reactivates the power steering.....
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On a long trip from home, my 2002 Prius, 130K miles, threw up an error code, followed by a message that said "error corrected". It did this a few more times, every 5 to 15 miles, until the error stuck. The error message indicated a PS error, which I am guessing means Power Steering, as the power steering went out. Turning the car off and restarting fixed it. I did this a few times.
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I purchased a 2010 Tiguan about a month ago. It has about 74,000 miles. Tuesday my wife called me and said the steering locked up. I was out of town so I told her to have it towed home. I drove it today and it was fine until about 5 miles in, the red steering wheel light illuminated on the dash and it started beeping, the steering got VERY heavy. So I headed back home and noticed the engine had a misfire. I pulled it into the garage and put it in park and the engine bucked a few times and finally stalled.
I read a few places where it said a weak battery could cause the power steering failure, so I checked the battery and it showed 12.3 volts. I installed a good battery out of my other car and drove it again. It steered and ran fine for about 10 miles this time. Same thing though, as soon as the red steering wheel light came on, it started misfiring again. Next I cleaned all of the grounds near the battery and drove it again. 10 miles later same thing, red light and misfire.
I have this code for Steering assist:
1 Fault Found:
00003 - Control Module
008 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00101000
[Code] .....
There are no engine codes.
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Twice in the past two months, the power steering in my 1999 Toyota Camry has temporarily stopped working. The first time, I was making a turn out of a parking lot, and the wheel froze up (or at least became very difficult to turn). The problem completely disappeared after about 30 seconds. Two months later, the problem happened again while making a turn onto a busy street. This time, it lasted only about 10 seconds before recovering. Both times, the wheel seemed to lock after I had already turned it some amount - i.e., halfway through the turn. And both times, it was raining. I did not hear any unusual noises - e.g., belts slipping.
I have taken the car to two different mechanics (one of them the local Toyota dealer), and neither could find anything wrong with the power steering. From their visual inspection, the power steering fluid looks good, there are no obvious leaks in the system, and the power steering belt looks fine. And they were unable to replicate the problem, since it occurs so infrequently.
The mechanics have said that there are two most likely culprits - a faulty rack and pinion ($1800), or a bad power steering pump ($800). I am hesitant to spend this kind of money without believing that the problem would be fixed, but I'm also very uncomfortable driving the car when the steering could give out at any time.
What the problem might be, or how I should proceed? The car has about 100,000 miles on it and is otherwise in great shape, so I'd like to keep driving it for years to come...
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2010 Manual GTI (still barely under warranty)
I swapped to my winter wheels on Sunday, then the car sat garaged for two and half days. Went to start it this morning and just got a fast clicking, then the power steering light came on and went from yellow to red. Tried a couple of times and then it seems like the car lost power; clock reset, trip odometer reset, etc.
I'm going to check the fuses, but what the problem might be? I'd like to go to work today and in the weather we're having there's no way VW is sending a tow truck today.
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The EPS on my 07 Elantra has failed, the steering is very stiff and the EPS light is on. On occasion in the past, the EPS light has come on but started working again after restarting the vehicle. Now the light comes on as soon as I turn the key.
How should I proceed? I don't mind spending a few hundred on a fix that may not work. Is it likely to be a torque sensor / input sensor problem similar to the EPS recall on 2008-2010 Elantras? Are there other electrical issues that could cause this?
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My wife was driving our 2003 Honda Civic hybrid (125,000 miles) and the electronic power steering went out. She managed to get it parked, called me, and when I arrived everything seemed to work fine. (She said the yellow EPS light came on, but she didn't know what that meant.) I drove it for a while and had no problems. A few days later my daughter was driving and the entire car shut down. I jump started it and everything worked OK, but I took it to the dealer for a diagnosis. They could find nothing wrong (no codes). However, the next day the car once again would not start I replaced the 'starter' battery (the lithium-ion man battery pack had actually been replaced at around 79,000 miles--right before the expiration of the warranty!).
Now it seems fine, but my wife and daughter refuse to drive it, and I'm not sure if the problem is fixed. Here are my questions:1. Since this is a hybrid, once the car is running a failure of the 'starter' batter should have no effect on the EPS, or anything else, right? It all runs off the main lithium-ion battery pack. However, replacing the 'starter' battery seems to have solved the problem--or at least a dead 'starter' batter is temporally (if not causally?) connected with the other failures. This might be just a coincidence, since seems odd to have the 'starter' battery part of the larger electrical set-up. The dealership had no clue and I can't figure it out.2.
The first time just the EPS went out, but the second time the entire car shut down. This doesn't make much sense--especially since the dealer couldn't pull any codes. The car's auto-stop shuts the engine off all the time at speeds below 10 mph (this is a semi-hybrid), so why the total shut down?3. Why didn't the dealership tell me the 'starter' battery needed replacement? I've checked my records, and it seems to be the one that came with the car in 2003 (actually fall 2002). Should I give up?
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Electric power steering failing when starting the car and driving right away without warming it up?
My 2009 ISF has recently started doing this occasionally. It was when I started the car for the first time of the day, and pulled away within 10 seconds or so. When I let it "warm up" for a minute I have not had it happen.
But the thing is, I've had the car for a few months and have never had this happen until now. My mechanic plugged it in to the computer and there are no codes up, or in the history.
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Wife driving R with around 1,800 miles. Car build date 10/12; engine build date 10/19/12.
Car shuts off at highway speed; red steering wheel indicator is illuminated (not flashing) indicating power steering failure. No gauges, radio, other electrics work. I know about the "electromechanical" power steering set up, but is this the cause or the result of a possible water pump failure?
Car was just towed to dealer; dealer said they will diagnose in the morning.
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I have a 2001 Prius with almost 224,000 miles. It has never had any power steering problems during the 7.5 years that I have owned it. About 10 days ago during a heavy rain, I parked it nose down on a driveway that was steeply inclined. The next morning when I started it there was no power steering. I find that the un-powered steering is not all that bad to drive. About like a 1939 Ford. Correction requires replacing the entire steering system, including the rack. Can I use the steering system from a 2003 to avoid recurrence of the problem? If so, does the replacement process differ from using a 2001 system?
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It feels like its catching, or its off and then comes back on ?? No codes, none.
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