Hi,

 

I have a weird power steering failure, my car is Octavia 2006:

Address 44: Steering Assist        Labels: 1Kx-909-144-G2V2.clb
   Part No: 1K1 909 144 K
   Component: EPS_ZFLS Kl.5   D06 1701  
   Shop #: WSC 00000 000 00000
   VCID: 3365A9CC523560D75C-8066

1 Fault Found:
00569 - Steering Motor Current 
            011 - Open Circuit
             Freeze Frame:
                    Mileage: 1280 km
                    Temperature: 14.0°C

 

 

I'm saying weird because I used to have it before and then I cleaned the contacts of the 80 AMP blade fuse attached to the fuse box under the hood, beside the battery, and it used to work. Currently it won't work even after cleaning these contacts, and the fuse is working fine (not burnt). Tomorrow morning the error disappeared by itself then after a while reappeared, I suspect it's because of bad wiring somewhere, however I can't identify the steering harness to check its connections, I suspect it's beneath the air filter box behind the left headlight but I don't know which one. I also find that when this problem is present the Relay Voltage is 8.x v but when the problem is not happening, the voltage is 12.x or 13.x.

I also checked the battery which seems to be fine, 12.x v, which should be enough to start the steering assist system. I understand from something I read that the control module (J500) finds that the voltage is not enough so it won't start the steering motor, so even if the error is cleared still it won't work, when the engine is turned off after clearing the error then the key is turned on the red steering wheel reappears and the three beeps starts.

 

I wonder what is this relay that its readings appear in the measuring blocks and where to find it, if someone can help it would be great.

 

 

 I get the following reading from the measuring blocks:

 

This is the blade fuse I meant, second one from the left with 80 printed on it:

I'll guess that the relay is internal to the J500 power steering control unit and the contacts are getting worn out and higher resistance than they should be.  This may mean that its ability to carry the high currents needed by the motor is sometimes good enough, sometimes not.

 

This is just a guess, I have no experience of these modules.

Edited 17 February, 20206 yr by Wino

Thanks for your reply Wino, I’ll try to have someone check the cabling and connections of the rack as it’s behind the under cover metal plate and I don’t currently have the tools for the job.

Meanwhile if anyone knows the place of the harness connections under the air filer box, then please let me know.

How many miles or kilometers has the car covered in its lifetime so far?

The wire coming off the bottom of that 80A fuse goes directly to the module, to pin 2 of a two-way connector.  Did you clean that wire crimp on the end of the cable just below the fuse, also?

Have you tried charging the battery to see if that improves the situation?  Pin 1 of the two-way connector at J500 is an earth (brown wire), probably to nearby bodywork. Cleaning that connection is probably a good idea too.

 

21 hours ago, Wino said:

How many miles or kilometers has the car covered in its lifetime so far?

About 235,000 KM

21 hours ago, Wino said:

The wire coming off the bottom of that 80A fuse goes directly to the module, to pin 2 of a two-way connector.  Did you clean that wire crimp on the end of the cable just below the fuse, also?

Have you tried charging the battery to see if that improves the situation?  Pin 1 of the two-way connector at J500 is an earth (brown wire), probably to nearby bodywork. Cleaning that connection is probably a good idea too.

 

No I didn't clean the crimp below the fuse.

I also didn't charge the battery as its reading is always fine, also the alternator's reading is fine.

I remember seeing a two wire connector but I didn't have the chance to disconnect, clear and reconnect. Due to lack of time I had the car sent to an electrician to check all of the wiring to isolate the problem, I'll update the post once I have anything new.

The electrician checked and cleaned all the connections of the steering wiring and all seems fine. The only thing I'm thinking of now is that the relay you mentioned inside the control module J500 might be malfunctioning, hence there is no error regarding the module itself. Unfortunately there is no one here in Cairo that can check this point and so I'll try to replace the steering rack altogether.

I've replaced the steering rack with a pre-owned one, got the old rack to dismantle and check whether the connections between the J500 module and the moment sender sensor are broken or not, when I can spare sometime, just to learn more about the problem.

On 24/02/2020 at 16:37, AhmadZ said:

I've replaced the steering rack with a pre-owned one, got the old rack to dismantle and check whether the connections between the J500 module and the moment sender sensor are broken or not, when I can spare sometime, just to learn more about the problem.

 

Hello, I'm new to this forum.

Did you learnt if it was the old rack or just the wires? I have same problem, I'm searching for an old rack for a reasonable price...

 

Thank you!

 

8 minutes ago, gbtest85 said:

 

Hello, I'm new to this forum.

Did you learnt if it was the old rack or just the wires? I have same problem, I'm searching for an old rack for a reasonable price...

 

Thank you!

 

Unfortunately I didn’t have time to check the old rack, so I guess I’ll never know!

 

If you have both time and skill to dismantle your current rack and check each component then go for it, else just wait till you find one with reasonable price.

 

Best regards..