POWERED STEERING INTERMITTENTLY NOT WORKING & NOW NOT AT ALL

[Mikesalem]

Hi all, I wonder if anyone has any suggestions as to why my powered steering has stopped working. It has done this twice before but was okay the next day but this time it is not.

The powered steering simply is not working and the wheel is almost impossible to move.

Now I did replace the star washer thing in the steering column as it had disintegrated about 4 months ago and all has been fine since then until now. I am not sure if it will need a new electrical power steering motor to go on the steering column which is my next step unless anyone has any suggestions?

I have checked fuses and all seem to be okay.

2010 Diesel Pro Ceed

[Dooheid]

Believe it or not, electric power steering has a built in use by date. They are generally programmed to self destruct after, say, 1,000,000 turns lock to lock. They apparently have a chip that burns out as if on a timer. Same with drill batteries and such. It's like a commodity.

I got this through the trade and wasn't surprised if I'm honest

But there are places who can refurbish your motor if you are confident you can remove/replace it.

I found this with a click looking for a motor...
https://www.ecutesting.com/categories/power-steeri...

[Mikesalem]

Ah now that would make sense, thank you so much, will investigate further, thanks again :-)

[trevalvole]

Is the battery in ok condition?

[Mikesalem]

yes not all that old as far as I recall. Can I check without a volt meter? Sorry electrics not my strong point

[trevalvole]

Mikesalem said:

yes not all that old as far as I recall. Can I check without a volt meter? Sorry electrics not my strong point

Yes, https://haynes.com/en-gb/tips-tutorials/how-test-c...

[Chris32345]

Dooheid said:

Believe it or not, electric power steering has a built in use by date. They are generally programmed to self destruct after, say, 1,000,000 turns lock to lock. They apparently have a chip that burns out as if on a timer. Same with drill batteries and such. It's like a commodity.

I got this through the trade and wasn't surprised if I'm honest

But there are places who can refurbish your motor if you are confident you can remove/replace it.

I found this with a click looking for a motor...
https://www.ecutesting.com/categories/power-steeri...

What a load of utter codswallop

[GreenV8S]

Dooheid said:

They are generally programmed to self destruct after, say, 1,000,000 turns lock to lock.

That's obviously total rubbish.

[keeling54]

I had similar on my old Passat, the electric rack packed up, cost me about £400 to replace from memory.

I bought the rack and my local garage to fit it.

[E-bmw]

Chris32345 said:

Dooheid said:

Believe it or not, electric power steering has a built in use by date. They are generally programmed to self destruct after, say, 1,000,000 turns lock to lock.

I got this through the trade and wasn't surprised if I'm honest

What a load of utter codswallop

By "the trade" I assume you mean from a kwik fit chimp.

About the right level of intellect.

[finlo]

Chris32345 said:

Dooheid said:

Believe it or not, electric power steering has a built in use by date. They are generally programmed to self destruct after, say, 1,000,000 turns lock to lock. They apparently have a chip that burns out as if on a timer. Same with drill batteries and such. It's like a commodity.

I got this through the trade and wasn't surprised if I'm honest

But there are places who can refurbish your motor if you are confident you can remove/replace it.

I found this with a click looking for a motor...
https://www.ecutesting.com/categories/power-steeri...

What a load of utter codswallop

With regards to the drill batteries if we're taking Makita its absolutely not codswallop!

[E-bmw]

Batteries need to be used properly to last well, you should always fully flatten them before charging, every time you charge them before they are flat you take a little out of their life.

Not what he is trying to preach as gospel.

Also, it is not so long ago that Makita still used NiCd batteries, which are the worst.

[finlo]

E-bmw said:

Batteries need to be used properly to last well, you should always fully flatten them before charging, every time you charge them before they are flat you take a little out of their life.

Not what he is trying to preach as gospel.

Also, it is not so long ago that Makita still used NiCd batteries, which are the worst.

There's a lawsuit running against them at the moment because of such shenanigans.

[gazza285]

E-bmw said:

Batteries need to be used properly to last well, you should always fully flatten them before charging, every time you charge them before they are flat you take a little out of their life.

Not what he is trying to preach as gospel.

Also, it is not so long ago that Makita still used NiCd batteries, which are the worst.

Lithium ion batteries do not suffer from memory effect. They should also not be too deeply discharged.

[donkmeister]

The only genuine example of an engineered lifespan of a car component that I've come across is the Bosch SBC pump, used in the braking system of high-end Mercedes from the 2000's. The brake-by-wire system was new technology and (presumably) the engineers erred on the side of caution by programming the pumps to announce they were at the end of their life after a particular amount of usage.
What is important to note is that this is a firmware-imposed life that is far short of the point at which mechanical failure was likely. That's not to say there were no mechanical failures in the programmed life, there were a few of course, the M in MTBF is there for a reason.

Engineering goes through peer review, so even if one engineer says "hehe, I've designed this car control-related part to disintegrate after 1,000,000 cycles just for lolz", then at least one of the more senior engineers reviewing will say "no, ps off back to your CAD and stop being a knob". Especially on a system that could conceivably reduce the level of control a driver has (litigation, corporate manslaughter?)... Imagine the headlines.

[Mikesalem]

keeling54 said:

I had similar on my old Passat, the electric rack packed up, cost me about £400 to replace from memory.

I bought the rack and my local garage to fit it.

yes i have replaced a column before but not a motor. Hopefully avoid a garage

[Mikesalem]

thank you for everyones advice, I think I will have to replace the motor!