Electric Steering Loss

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4WD

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Like many, I have more vehicles with electric steering than say 5-10 years ago - for me, gives rise to this question:

Should one loose power assistance regardless of newer electronic kit vs old pump style ... will the resultant loss be any different to control than in the past?
All I have run across on the subject sounds like a plaintiff view instead of engineer speak.
 
Just saw a paper on how the OEM's are looking to make "fault-tolerant" systems, in particular with regards to electric steering. I'm not sure how the electric assist works, other than it likely would fail just like hydraulic: with a big required effort on the user.

I do know the sensors going into the unit have redundancy. That should mean a failure there lights up a light and not an outright failure.
 
You still have a mechanical connection, so the comparison is the same.
Even the Infiniti that uses the only drive by wire steering on a vehicle as of yet has a back up mechanical system. The Infiniti uses a clutch in the steering column if things go south.

My car has electric power steering. Being that it is a stick, I have shut the car off at 25 MPH, turned the key back on without starting the engine and it has power steering with the engine not running down to about 1 MPH.

My wife had a Mazda3 with electric steering and a stick. Unlike my VW, I could shut the key off on that car without the steering wheel locking. It required the same effort with no power steering as shutting the engine on a hydraulic power steering would.
 
^That's because Mazda's system is only "sort of electric." It still uses PS fluid and hydraulic assist. The only difference is that the pump is electric rather than belt driven.

It also allows for more precise control over hydraulic pressure and can virtually shut itself down when not needed. Contrast that to a belt driven pump which always runs and shunts pressure via valves when not needed.
 
It just feels like driving a car without power steering. Ford has the motor and module as part of the rack, when it goes you can normally drive a car no issue. If it went out on my Mustang I would need Popeye arms to drive it hard. One cool thing about the electric steering is my Mustang has different assist modes. I can go from 1 finger Lincoln steering to minimal assist.
 
Not b/c it's electric but newer cars seem to have fewer turns lock-to-lock so there's less mechanical advantage.

My wife's HHR weighs 3000 lbs but with its bigger tires and sporty quick ratio it's near impossible for me to crank the wheel when it's holding still. Rolling down the road would go a lot better though.

Kids these days don't have clunkers that stall so they don't practice for "the thrill" of manhandling a wheel. Hence the Cobalt/HHR ignition key recall fiasco.
 
So let me answer this.

The Caprice, all 4000lbs of it has electric steering...There was a recall for a connector to the steering which would cause intermittent loss of power steering.
Happened to me a few times before I brought it in.
It was just like losing power steering on a hydraulic equipped car...Was a bit hard to turn the wheels say in a parking lot or spot, but going done the road? Was not an issue. Car has 235/50 18s.

I have to tell you there was a warning light, the DIC would flash a huge message and you get a chime when it happened...At least in the Caprice you are going to know you lost it.
 
Good information - can follow this lead on some vehicle specific forums ...
 
As far as I know all EPS equipped cars are going to light up the dash any time there's a fault with the EPS. All are driveable w/out EPS as far as I know.
 
I had a VW rental a few weeks ago - it had a steering wheel icon lit up ... I only drove it 80 miles and dumped at airport ...
Was that perhaps steering vs airbag issue ?
 
Originally Posted By: 4WD
I had a VW rental a few weeks ago - it had a steering wheel icon lit up ... I only drove it 80 miles and dumped at airport ...
Was that perhaps steering vs airbag issue ?


If it was a Jetta, it's just a software bug. Needs a voluntary "recall" software update.
 
Originally Posted By: 4WD
I had a VW rental a few weeks ago - it had a steering wheel icon lit up ... I only drove it 80 miles and dumped at airport ...
Was that perhaps steering vs airbag issue ?


The steering wheel icon is usually E-steering related.
 
It was - car drove nice - but I did not think of e-steering at the time (thunder storm had my attention) ...
It had 23k IIRC ...
 
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