POWER STEERING OBSERVATIONS

[earthling]

I believe this is a CANbus signal interruption, I would check the harness/connector at the PS head and put a couple twists and reconnect.(larger connector that contains 3 wires, these are CBH & CBL along with key power)
The ECU sends command to module on PS head to initiate power function, suspecting signaling latency is too long causing this miss initialization.
CANbus harnesses are twisted to prevent interference also to ensure the signal is uniform.
Also there is no mechanical relay in this system.
Cheers

Canbus is both robust and relatively immune to noise both at the wiring level (twisted pair) and protocol level, it is designed to be continuously self correcting. For signal propagation, it is, at the highest speed of canbus being limited to 40 meters and the lowest speed good for over a kilometer in practice. If it were a canbus wiring failure I suspect it would fail intermittently while it was running and I would suspect that the system would throw a code. If it were a physical canbus connection problem I would suspect it would be intermittent while riding. It feels more like the system is getting confused by its current view of the world. These systems typically run off of a hall effect sensor (or some other positional sensor) that rely on good reference ground and low noise. Just my 2c. I wouldn't be concerned about the canbus side but who knows what level of noise is on the system at startup.

The EPS is activated once the key is turned on. The engine does not need to be running. If the kill switch is operated it will cut the steering, same as turning the key off. I've never heard a relay activated. If someone has a shop manual there should be an electrical diagram to help understand how it works. My voltage regulator was faulty right from new. Sled ran off the battery until it dropped down to like 10 volts and then quit. Once replaced at the dealership the mechanic was on the computer checking the current draw and said it was huge like 50 amps when the PS was activated. Has worked flawlessly since then, other than my high speed turning as mentioned previously.

If would be interesting to know if one that fails intermittently at start would fail immediately at key-on. That would make the starting procedure to turn the key on, and while you are waiting for the ROV to heat up, try the EPS. The EPS has a 30 amp fuse making it the single biggest current draw on the sled. The shop drawings only show the two connectors, one of which is power and ground and the other is power and canbus hi/lo. The second connector with canbus is powered by and shares the tail light fuse and relay. The first connector which is power/ground is raw power from the battery (and shared bus with the voltage regulator)..

 

[Weslemkoon]

The first and only time my EPS didn't work was the one cold morning (-37c) that I had to boost my sled. After 3 tries, it didn't start and it needed a boost. After warming up, I drove away and noticed the heavy a steering. After riding for about 10 mins, I stopped, powered the sled off and restarted it. All good after that and it never happened again.

 

[KnappAttack]

The first and only time my EPS didn't work was the one cold morning (-37c) that I had to boost my sled. After 3 tries, it didn't start and it needed a boost. After warming up, I drove away and noticed the heavy a steering. After riding for about 10 mins, I stopped, powered the sled off and restarted it. All good after that and it never happened again.

Thanks for that reply. So knowing this and listening to some of the other explanations, it would sure seem like a low voltage thing then that causes this effect of the EPS not coming to life, pointing to a weak battery condition it would seem.

 

[jaydaniels]

I have stock skies,carbides and 6.9 pilots with snow trackers and it did the same. I agree the PS should be disengaged at those speeds. I have checked the rubber boots and sprayed them with silicone to let them slide freely so I don't believe that to be the problem. Done it from day 1, weird. Nobody else experienced this?

I had this on my 2017 SW when new. Almost felt like steering was locking up. Needed to apply a lot of force to turn. Really felt off. One day I lifted my front end and found a lot of resistance in the steering. I greased the bushings on the steering column and issue seemed to go away. Sled was fine after that.

 

[74Nitro]

The 2022 Gt that I witnessed would only do it upon morning startups when it was colder. Shut machine off and restart most times it would work, sometimes took another start/stop.
During the day it was fine. Machine all stock, 700kms.

 

[0degC]

any of you that had intermittent power steering not working at startup ever find a definite problem and solution? My 2023 does this at times since new.

 

[STAIN]

My friend just moves the bars back and forth a few times after start up to "wake it up", he seems to think it helps. Cannot confirm.

 

[KnappAttack]

My friend just moves the bars back and forth a few times after start up to "wake it up", he seems to think it helps. Cannot confirm.

That will do absolutely nothing. The voltage from the battery needs to be there when turning the key on to kick the EPS on. There is either enough voltage in the battery or there is not. If there is not enough voltage to operate the EPS, you can run the sled for a while then restart and it will work.

I run that damn Shorai lightweight battery and if its cold out, I cant get the EPS fired up, the closed loop module or the flasher & wi-fi to come to life for live data. It takes multiple runs and restarts to warm the battery enough. I installed a warming blanket around the battery at the end of the season but got only one ride with it on. It appears it may work, I just dont want it to overheat the battery when running so need to approach that carefully. I wished I had never gone to the thing now but thats for another discussion.

Someone mentioned something about a can-bus system and I'm no electrical guy that is certain, but I think all these systems run on that and the low voltage absolutely affects them and their systems from firing up properly. A good fully charged battery is required to make these systems fire up, and from the looks of things even AGM batteries can fail to meet the requirements to fire these systems up every time, but the EPS is the hardest and first one to fail and fire up.

 

[earthling]

That will do absolutely nothing. The voltage from the battery needs to be there when turning the key on to kick the EPS on. There is either enough voltage in the battery or there is not. If there is not enough voltage to operate the EPS, you can run the sled for a while then restart and it will work.

I run that damn Shorai lightweight battery and if its cold out, I cant get the EPS fired up, the closed loop module or the flasher & wi-fi to come to life for live data. It takes multiple runs and restarts to warm the battery enough. I installed a warming blanket around the battery at the end of the season but got only one ride with it on. It appears it may work, I just dont want it to overheat the battery when running so need to approach that carefully. I wished I had never gone to the thing now but thats for another discussion.

Someone mentioned something about a can-bus system and I'm no electrical guy that is certain, but I think all these systems run on that and the low voltage absolutely affects them and their systems from firing up properly. A good fully charged battery is required to make these systems fire up, and from the looks of things even AGM batteries can fail to meet the requirements to fire these systems up every time, but the EPS is the hardest and first one to fail and fire up.

Canbus voltage comes from the main power bus, its is a DC-DC conversion from whatever voltage is available (10-17v) down to canbus levels. Its likely more about voltage drop from starting. Putting a meter on the shorai when its cold should tell you what you want to know.

 

[Pstn head]

any of you that had intermittent power steering not working at startup ever find a definite problem and solution? My 2023 does this at times since new.

Like KnappAttack said the battery has to be in good working order.