steering woes 2

[domsz4]

so it turns out that the cause of my steering problems was the power plug on the motor that is on the column.

the plugh in question has a thick brown and red wire going into it. it was not hanging down and did not look disconnected at all.

its in a pretty awkward place. you have to remove the cowl around the pedals (3 screws at the front). then look right up behind the dash. its almost under the cupholder/vents.

the plug doesnt seem to clip in place with a clunk so mine had wiggled loose. but not much. i would say it was only just not connected. i was chasing the wire with my hand and felt the plug move by the tiniest amout.

so if anyone has the problem of no pwer steering, sport button off and everything else is working take a look at this.


while im at it. i had sourced another column from a scrap guy. very reasonably priced. he has a se thats had front right damage. the interior is fine and it has heated electric seats (not sport) the sub woofer sound system and lots of other bits. if anyone is looking then it might be worth a punt

 

[ranski]

result but how did you locate this as the problem?

 

[domsz4]

for the breakers call mizzy on 07849726157

ranski,

first thing i did was to figure out what else was broken. so i sat in the car and checked every electroninc thing i could (in the dark). be methodical and logical. just cos the button lights doesnt mean it works so things like seats; feel them warming. roof goes up/down, radio controls work, lights come on.

for traction/abs etc just forced the car to activate them by braking hard, trying to spin the wheels etc on a quiet road, easy to find in the middle of the nigh where i was.

checked all fuses in a sensible order.

this lead me to find the sport button not working.

when i had decided that it was deffo somethingt o do with the steering, EPS, i concentrated on learning as much as i could about the steering, how it works, problems. things like looking at diagrams on realoem, reading what others had done to fix/diagnose problems. it was then that i linked the sprt button to the EPS system and the ECU there.

then i started at the bottom and worked up. looking at connectors joints etc. give them a wiggle/push/shove to see if they move, make sure they are seated correct. got under the car looked at the rack the loower column.

remove connectors and make sure they are clean, in good condition, not miss alligned, the pins not bent, the female parts tight (ooerr)

my aim was to check everything that i could before i took it for a diagnostics today which i luckilly didnt need.

i read something about someone discconecting this motor totally as the "liked the feeling" of non servo... fucking muppet if you ask me as the car is very difficult to steer. i

i just peiced all the stuff together and realised there is very little to this system in terms of parts and checked them methodically. looking for stuff like this.

one thing for certain i leanr something. includin why my wheel makes a clicking. which is an accoustic thing from the torque sensor.