Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Power Steering falling apart

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Now I’m even more concerned about what I’ve noticed with mine. Three or four times, on surface streets, when I’ve been in a left handed curve with constant pressure on the wheel (wheel set to sport mode) the steering wheel will suddenly, without warning, go slack and my hand dips about ten degrees to the left. When I turn the wheel to its original position, the stiffness in the wheel comes back. Is this the kind of sensation you experienced?

When we were recently heading across a bridge at highway speed, on Autopilot, the AP suddenly made an abrupt movement to the left like it was trying to avoid something. I immediately took over and righted it back to the center of the lane. it was enough of a movement that my kids from the back seat asked what happened and one of them reminded me that I even addressed the car saying, “whoa Lola! What are you doing?” My SVC is looking into the logs on this and a ton Of other problems I’m having. I’m wondering, since it was in the same direction as the slack wheel feelings, if it’s not related. Could have been an anomaly.

Ours was noticeable backing out of the driveway, and very persistent. My husband drove the car around the block to see if it was just a startup issue, but it didn’t go away. Tow truck driver noticed it too. I can’t remeber if the ”stiff” was abnormal feeling or the loose, honestly, but yes, as you turned the wheel the resistance changed dramatically.

It was a stripped gear of some sort, so it’s possible yours is just starting to go.
 
Ours was noticeable backing out of the driveway, and very persistent. My husband drove the car around the block to see if it was just a startup issue, but it didn’t go away. Tow truck driver noticed it too. I can’t remeber if the ”stiff” was abnormal feeling or the loose, honestly, but yes, as you turned the wheel the resistance changed dramatically.

It was a stripped gear of some sort, so it’s possible yours is just starting to go.

Great! Pardon me while I start spouting four letter words. My car has been in the shop so much and I’m so sick of it. I really hope this isn’t what it is. I may have missed it. How many miles did y’all say you had on it when it went?
 
On mine, I was turning out of my driveway and when I hit the slight bump, the power steering was gone and I had to muscle it to go straight. Then the PS came back and was fine. I drove around the corner and got a few hundred feet down the road and the PS quit again. Muscled it up to the next intersection and did a 5-point u-turn ( I couldn’t turn the wheel well enough to make either a 1-point or a 3-point) and drove home. As I put it into reverse to get into its stall, the PS came back.

It was towed to the the service center and they replaced “the rack” and some “wiring harnesses” and I get it back tomorrow morning.

I had Just shy of 50K on mine. But it was a CPO so I don’t have any idea where the first 43K occurred.
 
On mine, I was turning out of my driveway and when I hit the slight bump, the power steering was gone and I had to muscle it to go straight. Then the PS came back and was fine. I drove around the corner and got a few hundred feet down the road and the PS quit again. Muscled it up to the next intersection and did a 5-point u-turn ( I couldn’t turn the wheel well enough to make either a 1-point or a 3-point) and drove home. As I put it into reverse to get into its stall, the PS came back.

It was towed to the the service center and they replaced “the rack” and some “wiring harnesses” and I get it back tomorrow morning.

I had Just shy of 50K on mine. But it was a CPO so I don’t have any idea where the first 43K occurred.
Any weird things you noticed before that? Mine is CPO but it was local and the previous owner traded it in on a Model X. Apparently he had zero problems with it. Now this weird slack steering thing is just one of several big things going on.
 
Now I’m even more concerned about what I’ve noticed with mine. Three or four times, on surface streets, when I’ve been in a left handed curve with constant pressure on the wheel (wheel set to sport mode) the steering wheel will suddenly, without warning, go slack and my hand dips about ten degrees to the left. When I turn the wheel to its original position, the stiffness in the wheel comes back. Is this the kind of sensation you experienced?

When we were recently heading across a bridge at highway speed, on Autopilot, the AP suddenly made an abrupt movement to the left like it was trying to avoid something. I immediately took over and righted it back to the center of the lane. it was enough of a movement that my kids from the back seat asked what happened and one of them reminded me that I even addressed the car saying, “whoa Lola! What are you doing?” My SVC is looking into the logs on this and a ton Of other problems I’m having. I’m wondering, since it was in the same direction as the slack wheel feelings, if it’s not related. Could have been an anomaly.

That sounds more like a position feedback sensor issue. A loose motor/stripped belt should cause an increase in steering force, possibly followed by a quick movement in the steering direction once the belt catches (depending on the control loop).

To test, slowly steer full left to full right and back while not moving . Steering effort should be consistent (with allowance for the reversal point). If you do it with windows down by a wall, you'll be able to hear any atypical noises also.
 
Any weird things you noticed before that? Mine is CPO but it was local and the previous owner traded it in on a Model X. Apparently he had zero problems with it. Now this weird slack steering thing is just one of several big things going on.

No. Pulling out of the driveway and losing steering was the first symptom for me. I think the “bump” of going out of the driveway was “the last straw” and the bolts gave way.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: mrElbe
I just st got my car back.


Technician removed and replaced steering rack. Technician removed and replaced left body harness. Technician confirmed power steering alert is no longer present.
Parts Replaced or Added
Part Quantity
STEERING EPS GEAR LHD (6006972-00-A) 1 CABLE,ASSY,MDLS,EPAS (1011301-00-M) 1
 
I haven't checked the forums in a couple of days nice to see people are actually changing out the bolts and providing pictures please everyone post the pictures of your broken bolts and drilled out and removed pieces of bolts so Transport Canada can see that there is more then a few of us that had to repaired our steering racks pictures are worth way more then 1000 words right now thanks everyone
 
I went to the Nut'n'Bolt supply house and asked about selecting bolts for this job... After hearing about the application, environment, corrosion concerns, etc... he recommended stainless steel. He did say SS are not the strongest bolt and grade 8.8 are tougher, but when I told him the OE bolts are aluminum, then "no problem". When asked about threading into dissimilar metals (into aluminum) and use of threading compound, didn't recommend using any.

You see a lot of steel bolts into aluminum on motorcycles where the engine is a loaded member of the frame. Anti-seize usually isn't specified, but threadlocker sure is. I'm surprised they didn't use at least blue threadlocker here. I would strongly suggest it.

I might even use the red stuff in this application - probably quite a bit of vibration. It'd make pulling a corroded/sheared bolt a lot harder but heat fixes that in a jiffy.
 
So Kalud and I decided to check on my EPAS motor today to see what the bolts look like and to pro-actively replace them with SS bolts from the local hardware store.

The bolts came off quite easily in one piece and only had any serious "corrosion" to talk about but they seemed pretty solid once removed. My car is 5 years old in a month, and has 111,000kms on it.

Here are some pics of the operation:

upload_2018-2-14_16-1-34.png

Old bolts next to the new one. Only the middle one looked in bad shape, but structurally it was ok.

upload_2018-2-14_16-2-27.png

Removed one bolt at a time and replaced it with the SS counterpart.

upload_2018-2-14_16-2-56.png

All done, nice and snug.

I'll check on the bolts every 6 months or so to make sure they are ok, but I have a feeling this will be a long-term fix -- unless Tesla decides to do a recall on the whole system. But from what I understand, they change it for exactly the same thing, so I might still put SS bolts on a replacement rack.

Anyway, just wanted to give a little update here. To be honest, still hoping Tesla does a recall. Not everyone with cars with this problem will be willing to do this, that's for sure!

- Rob
 
The original bolts do not have a washer and split washer on them so I'm wondering if they're really required on the SS replacements. I got all the washers with my SS kit of parts to put in .. but my bolts are only 65mm long so I'm wondering if I've got enough thread length remaining to bore into the holes and am considering just putting in the naked bolts for max threaded depth.

@zax123 what length of bolt did you buy there at the hardware store?
 
The original bolts do not have a washer and split washer on them so I'm wondering if they're really required on the SS replacements. I got all the washers with my SS kit of parts to put in .. but my bolts are only 65mm long so I'm wondering if I've got enough thread length remaining to bore into the holes and am considering just putting in the naked bolts for max threaded depth.

@zax123 what length of bolt did you buy there at the hardware store?

I got 70mm and with one washer and one lock washer, the length is perfect and I feel better having a lock washer.

The original bolts are so flimsy, they weigh nothing. I'm not surprised they crack to be honest...
 
Our steering shaft was just replaced under warranty after power steering issues as described in this thread (except no noise; our issue was silent). Here's what they did...now I wonder if they used aluminum or SS bolts....

Tested and confirmed that the steering feels stiff like it is locking as the wheel is turned.
Found that the steering intermediate shaft is binding at the universal joint and that the
steering shaft will need to be replaced. Removed and replaced the steering shaft. Noted
also during inspection that the front body grounds are corroded. Repaired both front body
grounds during service visit to insure proper driving operation.

2015 S85D, driven almost exclusively in MN where we definitely have a long "salt" season. 36K miles.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: lunitiks
@Tamar, the repair you describe is not the same. That would be a shaft somewhere between the steering wheel and the rack. The grounds they replaced are electrical connections, which could cause a lot of issues if they get too corroded.

@ShawnA, I'm hoping someone else helps you since yours is a dual motor. It may be a little bit different.