urgent help power steering failure warning

[mrmetallica]

been getting this when turning on the ignition,it goes of straight away .the steering is fine no problems at all.

need it sorting to get mot retest.any ideas what it could be or where to start first

its a focus facelift 09

[Tdci-Peter]

11 minutes ago, mrmetallica said:

ideas what it could be or where to start first

Need to find the DTC(s) causing the light!

[mrmetallica]

i was checking and it had no dtcs

ive been having a few wiring problems .ive sorted them but maybe it could be something like that .

is there any wiring in the passenger foot well to do with steering do you know ?

 

[Tdci-Peter]

52 minutes ago, mrmetallica said:

checking and it had no dtcs

any wiring in the passenger foot well to do with steering

Steering DTCs won't show on a generic OBD2 scanner. You need Ford IDS or Forscan or similar.

No steering wiring there as such, but the main CAN bus goes through one of the connectors down there, on its way from the engine bay to the Diagnostic connector & IC (Instrument Cluster).

CAN bus errors can cause steering warning light. IDS or Forscan would confirm this.

 

[mrmetallica]

10 hours ago, Tdci-Peter said:

Steering DTCs won't show on a generic OBD2 scanner. You need Ford IDS or Forscan or similar.

No steering wiring there as such, but the main CAN bus goes through one of the connectors down there, on its way from the engine bay to the Diagnostic connector & IC (Instrument Cluster).

CAN bus errors can cause steering warning light. IDS or Forscan would confirm this.

 

 

can you remind me what canbus is and or where it is please

[Tdci-Peter]

1 hour ago, mrmetallica said:

remind me what canbus is and or where it is please

A CAN bus is one pair of wires (usually twisted), that goes from one main module to another main module, with various stubs (tee joints) to other modules along the way. These modules are the major electronic units in the car.

All bus systems (electronic, electric power or Double Decker!), are transport systems with terminii and multiple stopping points along the way. The CAN bus transports information between all the modules it is connected to.

It means all the information in one module is available to all other modules on the bus. For instance the wheel sensors in the ABS can be used by the IC & PCM to find out the vehicle speed.

Most Foci (& many other Fords) have two (or more) CAN buses:

The HS-CAN (high speed), that goes from the pcm to the IC (Instrument Cluster), via most of the underbonnet modules like ABS, Steering (EHPAS), etc.

The MS-CAN (medium speed), that goes from the IC to the BCM (Body Control Module, aka GEM), via the internal modules like Doors, radio, park aid.

The IC is rather critical in that it is the gateway between all internal modules, and the engine & underbonnet modules.

The diagnostic connector has both CAN buses, and the scanner (OBD2 or other) connects to the HS-CAN bus to read the DTCs and other information, directly from the relevant modules. A "Modified ELM" can connect to the MS-CAN bus, also.

All this inter-connection means that CAN bus problems can have a huge range of possibly confusing symptoms. A good diagnostic aid like Forscan is a help, it interrogates all modules, and reports which module the DTC is in. So a Steering related DTC in the PCM or IC indicates a communications error, as that information comes from the EHPAS over the HS-CAN bus.

The terminus modules have 120ohm terminating resistors in them, the other modules are just "bus stops" along the route. This can be used for a simple test: an un-powered CAN bus should read 60 ohms from line to line, on a multimeter.

[mrmetallica]

now that is deep.

im getting no dtcs steering feel ok drives ok ,been told because the light comes on its a failure .

does mine have part electronic power steering ?

just havnt a clue what to look for now and need mot by saturday 

[TomsFocus]

I thought the petrols had a full hyrdo PAS pump, but if it's showing a steering fault must be the electro-hydraulic one?  Do you have the option to change steering weight on the trip computer?

[mrmetallica]

1 minute ago, TomsFocus said:

I thought the petrols had a full hyrdo PAS pump, but if it's showing a steering fault must be the electro-hydraulic one?  Do you have the option to change steering weight on the trip computer?

i dont no

just thinking could it be something ive set u wrong in elm ?

as i think i set up adaptive steering and realised i dont hve it but its not ticked .maybe something else

[TomsFocus]

Lol, are you near the car atm?  Go into the trip computer menu and scroll through the options.  If there's one called 'steering mode' which lets you change between comfort/normal/sport settings then you have the semi electric pump.

Or look at the drivers side of the engine and see if you can see a belt driven PAS pump.  Or remove the drivers side headlight and see if there's an electric pump under there with a green reservoir on top.

[mrmetallica]

1 minute ago, TomsFocus said:

Lol, are you near the car atm?  Go into the trip computer menu and scroll through the options.  If there's one called 'steering mode' which lets you change between comfort/normal/sport settings then you have the semi electric pump.

Or look at the drivers side of the engine and see if you can see a belt driven PAS pump.  Or remove the drivers side headlight and see if there's an electric pump under there with a green reservoir on top.

i dont have steering mode .as far as i can see their is a pump with a belt going to it

if its not electric why would it come up with fail

[TomsFocus]

Should be two pumps, one for air con and one for power steering, then obviously the alternator as well.

If it's not the electric one but the car thinks it has an electric one (one of your alterations in ELMC) then that will cause a fault code.

@iantt Must know which pump the 1.6 petrols use

 

[Tdci-Peter]

19 minutes ago, mrmetallica said:

does mine have part electronic power steering

Have you checked the fluid level in the reservoir? If it is simple hydraulic, as Tom suggests, a low level sensor could trigger a warning light. You need to remove the offside headlamp for access. When looking, you can see what sort of electrical connections go to the unit, which will indicate whether hydraulic or EHPAS. The EHPAS has three connectors.

 

 

 

[TomsFocus]

The full hydraulic ones have a reservoir right by the engine...that's probably an easy check I should've though of earlier lol.  They don't have a level sensor though, just a pressure sensor which could potentially be faulty.

[mrmetallica]

topped up the fluids but still the same .

could it be the switch on top of the pump ? yellow arrow pointing at it

second pick is of behind the light

[iantt]

What engine is it?

[iantt]

Purely hydralic on 1.6 petrol if that is what it is.

[iantt]

Tom has it sussed then , if you have been doing alterations in config using elm

[mrmetallica]

i want to thank every body for the help it kept me sain .

ive sorted it out i think it was a setting in elm that id set up that was wrong .its all ok now

so getting it checked tomorrow so should get mot .

                                                          Thanks every one

[mrmetallica]

isnt it typical .went for retest ,was watching the from window and could see thm under the back of the car.

wasnt sure if they were admiring my twin fogs or twin reverse lights .so i go over and ask whats happening and the bloke say your fog lights not working .

so i have to get under car and take the passenger one out and put in drivers one all ok

how does a cree fog bulb blow if its never been used ?

 

 

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