Another (Different?) Power Steering Thread

[SoCalHornetPilot88]

Hate to make another thread about this issue but I've yet to see someone else with a similar issue in terms of the parameters I'm seeing with my power steering.

Like many others, my power steering will go out intermittently, however it will remain off and happens in all temperatures, speeds and doesn't matter if I'm driving straight or pulling out of a parking spot. The only common denominator I have found is that over the past few days I've taken note of whether or not the air conditioning has been on or off. From what I have noted, every single time I've lost power steering, my air conditioner has been on, regardless of its power setting. I've driven an equal amount of time with no A/C on as a test and each time I have not lost power steering.

I took the Jeep to the dealer earlier this week and they did all the power steering repair bulletins and recalls on it so at this point the only thing I can see now is the air conditioning being the causing it.

Question here would be how could the A/C be causing the power steering motor to turn off? Also, it will occasionally kick me out of cruise control when it does it.

I look forward to your guys' thoughts!

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[Headbarcode]

My first thought is a battery power issue. I'd start by having both 12v batteries (assuming you don't have etorque) disconnected from the Jeep and each other and then individually load tested. If either of them are anything less than excellent, replace both, as a strong battery will not last long after being used as a crutch.

I'm thinking battery power issue, because the electric power steering is only cutting out when the air conditioning (another larger electrical consumer) is in play.

 

[AnnDee4444]

I see you have a 2018... Have you pushed down your fuses?

 

[geem03]

I just went through a month long episode of losing my power steering, all gauges in the dash, wipers going berserk and being unable to shut off the vehicle…. It started as an occasional issue that became a constant which made the vehicle un-drivable.

I won’t get into it but it appears that in the end it was the power steering pump failure/ short that was causing all the issues. It appears that most everything is wired in series so everything that comes after the short circuit, could be affected.

I replaced my power steering pump and have been symptom free since.

 

[SoCalHornetPilot88]

Alright it's been about 6 months and I can confirm the cause of my steering issue.

For some context again, my original post was about a week prior to me moving from south Carolina to Arizona, great time to be dealing with car issues!

I went ahead with my 3 week cross country camping/road trip in which I had power steering for maybe 60% of the time, I stopped at 2 dealers to pull codes in Denver about a week in after a particularly bad day and a half in which I was getting all manner of dash warnings (check engine, passenger air bag, ABS, etc) along with no steering. With no fix in hand I continued on the trip, albeit it with very tired arms. At the end of the trip upon arriving at my final destination handed the Jeep over to the local dealer for about a total of a month and a half (between two visits).

All the dealers pulled PAGES of codes indicating all sorts of nonsense, with the most prevalent codes being some form of "missed communication" between one module and another.

Had every single type of steering recall/bulletin/update/software flash done to the Jeep possible to include a new pump and replacing all of the 2018 steering box components with the newer beefier ones (love how the steering feels now btw).

After all of that, still would lose power steering seemingly out of nowhere randomly. I kept DETAILED logs on my phone during the weeks leading up to, during and after my road trip. Did my best data analysis I could to find a trend. Nothing. AC on/off...didn't matter. Cruise control (really thought I had it there for a few days)...nope, try again. Android auto maybe? Nope.

I tried everything.

Eventually the tech at the local dealer at my new home in Yuma was about out of ideas after a month and a half and figured since he had seen a repeat code about the sway bar disconnect module he'd try and disconnect the module itself and see what happens.

He drove it for a few days going back and forth with having the sway bar module connected and unconnected and was able to consistently get the steering to lock up with it connected, but never with it unconnected.

I picked the Jeep up, he briefed me on it and I said I'd drive it for the next few weeks to see if I agreed with him. Well about 3 months later, a 1,500 mile road trip through Southern Utah with plenty of off-roading, every type of temperature swing you can think of, AC on/off all the time, cruise control on and Android auto being as finicky as it always is, I have not lost steering once.

So if for whatever reason you're like me and are lost in power steering land, check out the sway bar disconnect module......

Unfortunately though, you can't just replace the module, apparently it's the entire assembly for a cool $2,000. So for the time being my Jeep thinks the sway bar is disconnected and the feature is unavailable (not a huge issue for anyone not doing rock crawling).

This saga, for all intents and purposes is at an end. Hope this helps!!

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