"Steering Assist Reduced" invoice shock! $3600!

[lens42]

I have a 2017 Model S 75D, 5 months out of warranty with only 30k miles. it has never been driven even close to aggressively. It even has lived its entire life in "CHILL" mode. After 4 years of zero driving problems, after a few days of sitting in my driveway, I get in and see "Steering assist reduced" (alert EPAS_001) and feel no power steering. It takes a ton of force to turn the wheel.

I man handled it to the dealer, and today I'm informed that it will cost $3600 to repair! Most of that is "STEERING GEAR ASSY, LHD Part #: 1459637-00-A" at about $2800. WTF? How does the steering suddenly break while parked in a manner that requires the replacement of the steering assembly?

Maybe not related (or maybe so), I came across this article referencing a recall of similar Model S cars: Tesla issues its largest recall ever voluntarily over faulty Model S steering. My car was purchased in early January 2017, but is suspiciously close to the period noted in the article.

Has this happened to anyone else. I'm at a complete loss (literally)

 

[DerbyDave]

The steering gear assembly is all replaced as one part, so if the self steering, steering position adjustment motors, or anything goes wrong, it costs a fortune. The steering costs, seat control modules, as well as the door handle/lock mechanism failures is a major reason I will get an extended warranty if I keep the car after factory warranty. Seems they have some very expensive repairs on this car.

 

[lens42]

After my rant to Tesla service, they looked a little deeper and found a rodent-chewed wiring harness. $600. No steering replacement. I got the car back today and it is fine. Not a great look for Tesla diagnostics re their first determination, but at least they got it right after some prodding.

 

[y2khd]

After my rant to Tesla service, they looked a little deeper and found a rodent-chewed wiring harness. $600. No steering replacement. I got the car back today and it is fine. Not a great look for Tesla diagnostics re their first determination, but at least they got it right after some prodding.

Unreal...Glad to hear that..

 

[airborne spoon]

I guess you had an actual problem with the rats eating your wiring.

However, i got that error once while driving. I was passing over a split yellow and there was the divots for the reflectors and I apparently hit one in just the right manner and the power steering went out so for 2 hours more drive home i had to drive with no PS. there was noting physically wrong with thee car so i did a brake pedal reboot when i got home with no fix. i then did what i call the super reboot by unplugging the charge cable, disconnecting the 12v neg line, and then the fireman's loop for 10 min and put it back together and it worked flawlessly since and that was like 6+ months ago.

My situation wouldn't work for you since you had actual damage but its something to keep in the back of your mind if something ever cuts out for no logical reason. Glad you got it fixed for a reasonable fee.

 

[kenksx]

I got a message yesterday. Towed my car to Tesla and they presented a $4000 invoice. WOW! They say I am not eligible for extended warranty.

 

[Beasts]

We keep mouse traps set and ready in our garage and shop to avoid problems like this. Learned our lesson when they found their way into our van's air filter and set up a very comfy nest, almost 4 feet off the floor! We're surrounded by woods so the rodent population can get pretty severe.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

I got a message yesterday. Towed my car to Tesla and they presented a $4000 invoice. WOW! They say I am not eligible for extended warranty.

This is the entire steering rack being replaced, which requires removing the HV Battery and the front Subframe. Hence the massive cost.

But in reality, it's likely not the full rack and pinion that failed, but a loose connection or a bad pump like OP suggested. Worth a bit more diagnosing to avoid that whole mess.

 

[subieworx]

I have seen this many times before on BMW's. The control wires hang low and are very easy for rodents to get to. I have fixed 6 or 7 of these in the past by reconnecting broken wires and putting new heat shrink on them for a few dollars in materials.

 

[kenksx]

This is the entire steering rack being replaced, which requires removing the HV Battery and the front Subframe. Hence the massive cost.

But in reality, it's likely not the full rack and pinion that failed, but a loose connection or a bad pump like OP suggested. Worth a bit more diagnosing to avoid that whole mess.

The day before this happened the Tesla technician had come over to replace the HV battery. You think something could have happened then?

 

[kenksx]

I have seen this many times before on BMW's. The control wires hang low and are very easy for rodents to get to. I have fixed 6 or 7 of these in the past by reconnecting broken wires and putting new heat shrink on them for a few dollars in materials.

Possible way to do this for Tesla as well ? I should check with my Tesla technician who is gone independent now.

 

[Tetonhappy]

After my rant to Tesla service, they looked a little deeper and found a rodent-chewed wiring harness. $600. No steering replacement. I got the car back today and it is fine. Not a great look for Tesla diagnostics re their first determination, but at least they got it right after some prodding.

I had the same thing happen, luckily there was a nub of wire still attached to the connector and I could splice in new wiring. McGyver’d it and taped the heck out of it. It’s been good for 1000 miles but have been looking for the part number for a new harness. Any chance you have that part number from your invoice? Also model and year? Thanks much

 

[Creeble]

@Tetonhappy -- I'd like to pick up on this thread if you're still around. Where is that connector??

About two weeks ago, while driving, my 2014 S 85 came up with the same list of messages (no regen, power steering reduced, ABS disabled, traction disabled). I got home and tried it the next day, and it still showed the problems. So I booked an appointment, which was 2 weeks out(!).

During that time, the torrential rains that we've experienced in N. California on and off for the last few months subsided for several days. The car hadn't been driven in almost two weeks, parked in my driveway outside.

The day before the appointment (just a couple of days ago), I started the car -- and everything was fine. I cancelled the appointment and have driven it for a couple days now with no issues (despite some rain).

My suspicion is that it was water intrusion, maybe (hopefully?) into the same connector, which seems to be exposed enough that I think I can see the ground in your shot. Exposed enough for critters in any case!

If you can tell me where that connector is, I can see what it looks like. I would love not to have to bring it in to the incompetent crooks that run my local SC, who would no doubt have diagnosed it with a bad steering rack like @lens42.

 

[z0lt3c]

The errors you are getting sound more like an issue with a shared ground connection, since they are coming from multiple systems, versus an issue with the power steering motor or rack, which is mostly discussed in this thread. Search on here for issues with model s ground nut corrosion.

For example; Ground Stud Nut over torqued

 

[Creeble]

Late reply, sorry.

After drying out for a few days, the cat went back to totally normal operation - no errors, nothing.

I drove it for about a week with no issues. There was intermittent but not torrential rain. After a week, I took it out of the driveway and got about a mile down the road, when all the alerts went off again. I pulled over and tried to put the car in park - and no go. Nothing on the steering column worked at all, turn signals, gear shift nothing. I couldn't get the car out of Drive!

So I immediately drove to the "off grid" SC near me, this place was the former main SC for my county, but had become the "specialist" center that they used only for special cases, like old roadsters with problems and cars they couldn't be driven while waiting for parts.

I parked it, put the front tires into the curb, and had to escape out the passenger door because i couldnt open the driver door whilee the car was still in gear. I left the passenger door open.

When the agent came out to look at the car (and found he couldn't do anything), he unfortunately closed the passenger door. Now he had a car that was in gear, locked, and ccouldn't be entered.

Anyway, the rest of the story (so far) is that they diagnosed it to a wheel module that resides in the rear of the car somewhere that had water ingress, and threw off all systems related to operation of the car. $2,000 quote. I'm waiting for parts.

I will ensue about the design of a car that has a critical module subject to water ingress from below, that can make the car impossible to immobilize and lock you in the car, and that costs $2k to repair at a later time.

For now, I'll just say: beware.

 

[Krash]

Unrelated to the previous problems, but still related to the power steering, I thought I would tell my tale on the chance it helps someone.

My power steering stopped working at 125k miles without any error. I drove it for a half hour without power steering before it occurred to me to soft reboot. After reboot, power steering works again. Several thousand miles later, still perfect power steering and never an error message.