Power Steering Failure

[smithn05]

Hi All

This morning when I came to get my other halves Auris 1.6 T-SPirit out of the driveway I found no power steering assist and the P/S lamp on with Check Power Steering annunicated. Looking through the forums it looks like a fairly common fault.

The vehicle is now a year out of warranty, so Im unlikely to get very far with Mr T and equally Im not aversed to getting stuck in with electronics fault diagnosis (Im an avionics engineer by trade so dabble regularly!!)

Does anyone have any schematics / wiring diagrams / fault diagnosis trees of the EPS system they can post? When I get home tonight Im going to fire up the fault code reader, but I dont have a workshop manual so even knowing where the various components are will be guesswork!!

Any help much appreciated.

Regards

Nigel

[smithn05]

Ok so now I'm home with a diagnostic reader and no fault codes !!!

Will check things like fuses etc. But any ideas / schematics please???

Regards

N

[Phil_1985]

try here: http://www.toyota-tech.eu/

You'll need to access the paid area though..

[forevered]

if it was my auris and only 4 years old, with a full main dealer service history ? i would contacting toyota with a request for some sort of good will gesture. theres no way the power steering should fail so soon

[Mooly]

If you suspect it's electronics related then I would disconnect the Battery for a while do "reset". Sounds a bit strange to fail while parked up so to speak.

As it is electrically operated there must be some large fuses lurking somewhere... the user manual usually lists them.

[mad midge]

I had this problem with my '07' auris. Parked it up then when I come back on there was no steering. It went to Toyota and they had to replace the steering ecu. Just glad it's still under warranty.

[forevered]

if you go onto a website called, roadtestreports.co.uk (dont know how to put a link on here) under toyota auris theres a guy in cyprus who comments on somebody else reviewing the auris who needed 2 new power steering ecu's.

quote, never leave the car with the engine running and the steering turned more than halfway for any length of time.always turn your wheels straight and only turn your wheel when you are about to move.this is because the motor of the eps unit heats up and shortens its life.

is this good advice, and does anybody think this could be the reason for the auris steering failure ?

[acetip]

if you go onto a website called, roadtestreports.co.uk (dont know how to put a link on here) under toyota auris theres a guy in cyprus who comments on somebody else reviewing the auris who needed 2 new power steering ecu's.

quote, never leave the car with the engine running and the steering turned more than halfway for any length of time.always turn your wheels straight and only turn your wheel when you are about to move.this is because the motor of the eps unit heats up and shortens its life.

is this good advice, and does anybody think this could be the reason for the auris steering failure ?

It would do no harm to follow the advice even if it makes no difference.i can see the logic in it.

[smithn05]

Well I thought I would give you all an update, and thank you for all your comments.

This morning after leaving the Battery disconnected all night to no avail - still no Power Steering!! I got onto toyota_tech.eu (thanks to Phil_1985 for the link, as it happens I did have an account already with them, but hadnt used it for so long Id forgotten about it!!!) and paid my €s to get the info on ripping the dash out to see what I could find. As a chap on eBay has an ECU up for £150 at the mo, I thought worse case was that!

Anyway, got to the ECU tested all the wiring etc and the resistances between the various pins it tells you about on toyota_tech and everything looked good. Plugged everything back in and hey presto all working now!!

So my advice to anyone with an out of warranty Power Steering fault, pull the dash out and have a fiddle, its quite possibly just a dirty / loose connection and whilst Mr T may well fix it with a new ECU, it MAY not be needed.

I was amazed at how quickly the upper dash comes apart as well!!, although for anyone attempting it, the few Euros to toyota_tech really speeds up the process and saves any broken clips etc.

All in all Dash out, fiddle with ECU and Dash back in, including subsequent road test 2hrs 30 mins!!

Well chuffed

N

Thanks again for your replies and advice.

Now all Ive got to worry about is if my Avensis T180 head gaskets about to go anytime soon heheheh

[Mooly]

Thanks for the update...

Modern electronics (the components) are so reliable that I am not surprised at all that it works after you doing as you describe.

Athough I have no connection with the motor trade I am an electronics tech and this kind of issue crops up all the time. The very act of replacing a component or assembly appears to correct a problem but often there is more going on. Golden rule... whatever the problem it will not be the big chip...

Maybe there was still some residual charge somewhere and the act of unplugging and plugging in again did reset things. I doubt there is an intermitent connection tbh. Sometimes (and don't try this at home ;)) I often press a whole sheet of aluminium foil over a PCB as that can be the only way to quickly remove residual charge. As I say though, don't try that as there are other issues you need to be aware of.

[Krait]

Well done smithno5.

I have often thought of getting my data from the tech area, but avoided it as I thought it would be expensive. I will have to test it out as I am a DIY fanatic and always believe i having a go first before surrendering to other "experts."

I know that there are Russian versions of the Auris manual on line, but Google does not translate it all.

You have given me faith in techeu.

Cheers.

[Jon65]

Hi all

recently had problem with power steering on Auris 1.6 TR  2007. Took dash off.  Removed ECU and replaced with another one bought on eBay and reconnected and now the engine will not turn over and on dash saying power steering failure as well   Help !!

[furtula]

Button start, or key start? I did the same thing maybe 2 years ago, but had no issue. Maybe the unit you installed was faulty.

What actually helps when you try to start the engine, key, or button? 

A lot of people reported that the initial unit is usually ok, but you need to disconnect it for 10 minutes, then reconnect it, and worked fine.

Do you remember what was the error code you got on the original unit? If it was relay failure, you can take the unit apart, and test them quite easily with 9V Battery, if it clicks it's fine (might need to scrub the protective layer to get good contact on the relay).

 

Here's a link to my topic, where i put some troubleshooting info, and PDF on whole removal process, check it out, maybe you missed to reconnect something.