Power steering - please help

control module and pump are two in one...

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/2197801

it is between the battery and the hedlight, you should be able to see the cap there.

it's not that. that is the sensor G250, used on non ESP cars, and when that has a problem the power steering still works but stiffer, that's why I asked if it is as when the engine is not running.

the control module is inside the pump

http://workshop-manuals.com/volkswa...unit/removing_and_installing_motor/pump_unit/

I would do a test to the battery, the one I posted on the other topic first though...

Before you remove and replace bits, check the wiring.

I had the same issue 3 years ago on my 2011 and it turned out the engine vibrated through the wiring loom, causing a short in the can bus. It happened in the loom under the battery tray and at the ecu connector.

Not enough of a tolerance in the design it seems.

Is this problem you mentioned above connected with the large bolt that is long enough to pierce some cables over time?

RUM4MO said:

Is this problem you mentioned above connected with the large bolt that is long enough to pierce some cables over time?

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Yes, that caused one of the issues

propane94 said:

Before you remove and replace bits, check the wiring.

I had the same issue 3 years ago on my 2011 and it turned out the engine vibrated through the wiring loom, causing a short in the can bus. It happened in the loom under the battery tray and at the ecu connector.

Not enough of a tolerance in the design it seems.

Click to expand...

So what was the solution (in terms of fix)?
Did it blow fuse?

I'm dealing with this stuff right now. Yellow steering wheel symbol popped up on my dashboard, and lost the EPS while driving, luckily on a straight line with no traffic around.

So I went to check all the suggestions that's available on the forum:
1. fuses - all good
2. battery - replaced with a friend's battery, still no EPS
3. checked the sensors, and wiring - all seems to be okay
4. ground connections - checked and cleaned
5. hydraulic fluid - it's been under the minimum when cold, but it was ideal when hot after some driving. I would ignore this as some of you just said, it shouldn't bring the yellow warning light anyway

No fault codes has been checked yet.

The car is a 2009 6J 1.6 16V BTS, I own it since 2013 and 30k km, current milage 127k km. Never had any problems with the EPS. It went bye bye, from one second to another...

So I'm hoping it's not the pump.
If it turns out it is, is it enough to just change the pump alone, or do I need to change the entire power steering rack ?

Thanks guys, this forum is gold

arran said:

I'd love to be able to help but mine just works again. So it has to be a loose connection or some dirty contact somewhere. But I'll never know until it happens again. If it keeps coming back on like mine did then I doubt it's the pump. Everyone I asked said it was the pump and they were wrong in my case. If it's not an intermittent problem then maybe it is the pump. My PS light has never come on during driving like yours though, it's either on or off from startup

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No worries, I'll try to sort it out.

Today I've dissassembled the area of the pump to read the number on it, in case I would need to order one. So I was able to check the wirings around that area, but couldn't really inspect the plugs of the pump. Next step I gonna get a voltmeter and start measuring the wires.

As a sidenote: After I put everything back in place and went for a ride I noticed the car charges me up with electricity way more than it usually does. Does anybody have some clue what that could be on a 6J?

Also run an OBD scan with my cheap chinese OBD cable, and it read no fault codes whatsoever yet the yellow steering wheel warning light on my dash was still there in the meantime. I guess an original VCDS is required for this.

trent1000 said:

So what was the solution (in terms of fix)?
Did it blow fuse?

Click to expand...

Strangely no. The solution was replaced some rusty fuse connectors on the engine bay, repair the wiring loom under the battery tray and about the ECU connector, then reset and clear the codes.

Hasn't come back since.

trent1000 said:

Snip, snip -- After I put everything back in place and went for a ride I noticed the car charges me up with electricity way more than it usually does. Does anybody have some clue what that could be on a 6J?

Also run an OBD scan with my cheap chinese OBD cable, and it read no fault codes whatsoever yet the yellow steering wheel warning light on my dash was still there in the meantime. I guess an original VCDS is required for this.

Click to expand...

Build up of static electricity is normally due to low levels of humidity and/or wearing nylon clothes like "shell suits" - ha ha!

Any/most if not all cheap Chinese OBD scan tools will only reveal engine emissions fault codes - that was all OBD was initially all about.

Update: I took the car to a local car electrician, as it turned out the problem was a blown fuse on top of the battery. Which I checked initially but I couldn't notice anything as I thought, if there were a blown fuse I would notice it. I should've checked under the small plastic cover at each fuse to find it. The fuse probably got blown cause something got wet in the system according to the guy, and I think it's a valid idea because I remember when I lost PS I washed the car quite properly 1-2 hours earlier. Now I'm thinking to tweak the engine bay or at least main wires to be more water proof.

trent1000 said:

Update: I took the car to a local car electrician, as it turned out the problem was a blown fuse on top of the battery. Which I checked initially but I couldn't notice anything as I thought, if there were a blown fuse I would notice it. I should've checked under the small plastic cover at each fuse to find it. The fuse probably got blown cause something got wet in the system according to the guy, and I think it's a valid idea because I remember when I lost PS I washed the car quite properly 1-2 hours earlier. Now I'm thinking to tweak the engine bay or at least main wires to be more water proof.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately that 50amp fuse on the battery keeps blowing. So the issue is not water related. After changing the fuse to a new fuse, the power steering is available for random period of time. Sometimes it has no problem whatsoever, even driving 100+ miles, and sometimes I loose it even after a few miles. But in all cases I've noticed, 5-10 seconds before I loose it all the instruments (radio, ac control, buttons, sound, etc...) are flashes, or with other words goes away for a milisecond. When that happens I know I will loose the power steering within a matter of seconds with no exceptions. So when the power steering warning light appears on my dash I turn the key off, and then restart, and usually I can save the fuse, and no warning light, but I have to be quick.

I share this in so much detail because there might be someone on the forum who could have some clue what would this be.
My amateur guess would be, it's not related to the pump due to the flashing of the instruments. I've checked all the ground connections, they seems to be fine, I was checking the wiring as much as I could but I couldn't notice any damage. I really hope I won't need to rewire the whole car, that would be a financial disaster.

If anybody have some ideas please don't hesitate to share, thanks.

Disconnect the pump/cu j500 and see if the fuse still blows. If it does then you have a dead short in wiring to pump. If it only blows when pump connected then j500 is the issue. Internal short maybe? But Where they sit is prone for water ingress through the multiplugs at top. Especially the large 2 pin connector In the middle. This has 1 earth and 1 live. If you short those together with water you got a blown 50 amp fuse no doubt.

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I recommend take the front bumper off to check. T25 screws in both arches and t30 screws on top. It takes 5 mins to remove. That will give you perfect access to J500 and connectors.

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inbetweener said:

Disconnect the pump/cu j500 and see if the fuse still blows. If it does then you have a dead short in wiring to pump. If it only blows when pump connected then j500 is the issue. Internal short maybe? But Where they sit is prone for water ingress through the multiplugs at top. Especially the large 2 pin connector In the middle. This has 1 earth and 1 live. If you short those together with water you got a blown 50 amp fuse no doubt.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

inbetweener said:

I recommend take the front bumper off to check. T25 screws in both arches and t30 screws on top. It takes 5 mins to remove. That will give you perfect access to J500 and connectors.

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Click to expand...

Thanks, will try to do it.