EPS Unit - gone???

[GECKO]

My 95 with 75,000 km's has been totally reliable without any problems in the 10 yrs I've owned it. Took it to the dealer for the OBS2 recall and since it's been back have had a few issues. Drove home and parked it for an hour - went out in it and the check engine light and TCS light as well. Parked it in the garage over night and then when I went to take it to the shop the power door locks would not open so used the key and tried to start it but the batteries were totally dead. Charged it over night and it was all okay and took it to the shop again, but Murphy's Law appeared and the check engine/TSC lights went out. Did the diagnosis and nothing showed up. Next morning exactly the same thing happened and again, back to the shop. They looked it over and could not find anything.

Worked fine for about 2 weeks (drove it very little) and then again the door lock would not open so I knew something was up. This time the EPS light came on took it to the shop and they reset it. Within two hours the EPS light came on again - each time you then have no power steering.

Took it back and left it almost a week and today was told that the EPS unit needed to be replaced. OUCH, very expensive.

I have a difficult time believing that a car with only 75,000 km's would have the entire EPS unit malfunction. One of the techs said they've never changed one or heard of anyone having issues.

QUESTION..........what do you guys think? Could something have happened when they did the recall or is it just a BIG co-incidence that after 10 yrs of flawless driving (about 5,000 miles per year max) that the same time the recall is done everything else goes on the fritz??

Any input would be appreciated and if you know anyone who might have a used EPS Unit - I'd be interested in it.

Thanks,

Shawna

 

[NCC-1701D]

My 95 with 75,000 km's has been totally reliable without any problems in the 10 yrs I've owned it. Took it to the dealer for the OBS2 recall and since it's been back have had a few issues. Drove home and parked it for an hour - went out in it and the check engine light and TCS light as well. Parked it in the garage over night and then when I went to take it to the shop the power door locks would not open so used the key and tried to start it but the batteries were totally dead. Charged it over night and it was all okay and took it to the shop again, but Murphy's Law appeared and the check engine/TSC lights went out. Did the diagnosis and nothing showed up. Next morning exactly the same thing happened and again, back to the shop. They looked it over and could not find anything.

Worked fine for about 2 weeks (drove it very little) and then again the door lock would not open so I knew something was up. This time the EPS light came on took it to the shop and they reset it. Within two hours the EPS light came on again - each time you then have no power steering.

Took it back and left it almost a week and today was told that the EPS unit needed to be replaced. OUCH, very expensive.

I have a difficult time believing that a car with only 75,000 km's would have the entire EPS unit malfunction. One of the techs said they've never changed one or heard of anyone having issues.

QUESTION..........what do you guys think? Could something have happened when they did the recall or is it just a BIG co-incidence that after 10 yrs of flawless driving (about 5,000 miles per year max) that the same time the recall is done everything else goes on the fritz??

Any input would be appreciated and if you know anyone who might have a used EPS Unit - I'd be interested in it.

Thanks,

Shawna

PM BrianK on the forums..

He knows climate controls and EPS units

 

[GECKO]

Thanks....PM sent to Brian.

 

[irving washington]

I too have a 95T with 80k kms and had the EPS act up. Since I have a lot of tools, the manual and a lot of years wrenching I decided to figure it out myself. Brian of ECU and EPS repairs fame also helped.

The EPS story is essentially this....it is designed to be VERY paraniod on purpose when it comes to shutting itself off when it thinks there could be a problem. It has many sensing circuits that detect different types of failures. When it sees voltages or currents that are out of spec - it will shut down with an error code 22. True - there are other failure modes - but I am talking about the common one that I fixed. In reading over the web postings on this problem - it seems like there are two common sources - bad connections at the battery terminal (ground or +12) and bad power connections to the EPS (or inside the EPS). Because you have so many symptoms AND the car was at dealer for OBDII work - I would first give the battery terminals a workover - even replace the clamps if you can't get them tight.

If that fails - get the dealer to tell you the EPS error code. It only takes 2 minutes to do this....so they should do it for free IMHO. IF you have a code 22 for the EPS.....the most likely cause is the early failure of one or two parts inside. They are cheap - but require real skill to remove and replace. Brian can do it for you for $250 total.

Best price I have found for a new EPS is $1200 from Delray Acura....could be $2000 easy in Canada. I would get the EPS fixed vs replaced. You can drive the car as long as you want with the EPS removed from the car.....it is safe - just hard to park. If you want more info - PM me.

 

[factorynsxtech]

Excellent call Irvine.