[USAFA83]

Anyone having problem with their Electronic Power Steering (EPS)? My new 2011 Sonata SE's EPS failed numerous times at ~500 miles. Failures all occurred shortly after starting the car when it had been sitting for a couple of hours. The EPS and ESC fail lights came on and I lost my power steering when I tried to make my first turn. The problem always cleared when I shut the car off and restarted. My dealer service department reset the computer in the steering column and noted that this is the first time they've had to work this sort of problem. Hopefully that fixed it for good...two days so far with no problems. Maybe a software glitch?

 

[USAFA83]

QUOTE (w9nwrwi @ May 27 2010, 03:41 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=326993

Sorry to hear of your trouble USAFA83 and lets hope the shop fixed it.

I was wondering, when you lost your EPS how much control did you have of the steering? Were you able to manhandle it to the side of the road as with the old hydraulic type?

Barely. All seven failures occurred in a two day period, all at low speeds under 5MPH--bascially immediate turns from a dead stop in parking lots or intersections. Unfortunately at speeds that slow, you need the EPS because I could barely turn the wheel at in once case I ended up in the middle of an intersection of a divided road. Fortunately that those speeds it was easy to stop the car, put it in park, and quickly restart. Fair to assume that at higher speeds it would have been easier to manuever the car without the ESP. Pleased to report that it's been four days since the dealer reset the computer and I haven't had any problems.

 

[USAFA83]

QUOTE (Proprioceptive @ May 27 2010, 05:37 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=327047

Yes, I'm sure most of us would love to know about this. Please keep us updated. Anything safety related should be main priority here.

Promised to provide an update on my Electronic Power Steering (EPS) problems. Resetting the computer in the steering column fixed the problem for about one week, before my EPS started failing again. My 2011 Sonata SE is now back at the dealer waiting for parts--new steering column with EPS motor and computer. Dealer was told at least a one-week backlog for the parts I need. Pleased to report that my dealer support has been excellent and they were quick to put me in the rental car while I wait. As for non-EPS handling, out of my ~15 failures only one has occurred above 5 MPH. The one failure I had at highway speeds was managable. The car handles okay once you've got some speed, just like the old non-power steering days. But as I cautioned in my previous post, at parking lot speeds you almost can't turn the car without the EPS. If it fails at low speed, just brake the car to a stop and put the car in park. Turn the car off and back on and the EPS failure clears, but in my case the EPS fails often normally after my first turn after restarting the car. Also expect to see an Electronic Stability Control failure light at the same time if your EPS failure light comes on.