[Just Rick]

I can't remember the exact amount when they did ours but it was well over $3000

[Dazzler]

G'day Folks

I have replied to Hyundai.  They say it is an "inconvenience" for us, I've said it's a safety issue.  They say ours is an isolated incident (singular), I 've said the power steering has failed four times over a 3-month period, and twice after the dealer supposedly fixed it, they say they have no other record of power steering failure in i30s, I've said that there are four reported incidents on this forum (two requiring the expensive steering shaft replacement that Hyundai have to pre-approve before it's done).  I've also sent all details (invoices, correspondence, references to this forum) to the Department of Infrastructure and Transport whose responsibility it is to investigate possible safety defects.  I don't anticipate any further correspondence from Hyundai, and I imagine any investigation by the Department will necessarily be lengthy.  Hopefully the failure that we and a few others have experienced is restricted, but it remains, in my opinion, a safety issue.

Cheers
John

Well done John... You covered all bases..

[johnjohn14]

Hi

Further to my post of about a month ago, the car has been serviced and the steering column was identified as needing replacement. Hyundai authorised this and it was done about two weeks later-last Wednesday.

As the fault is within the electric motor that should solve the problem.

The fault had not re-occurred in the time up to the service.

I would just mention that whilst the car is drivable when this happens, the steering does become exceptionally heavy. Not so bad at speed, but if you are turning at low speed, and not anticipating that it could happen, the results could be very serious.

What is additionally confusing-or was to me at least-is that the ESP light comes on as well as the power steering EPS. For an instant it does look as if the car is suffering some sort of widespread failure-plus the two lights are so similar both in colour and spelling, that there is a comprehension delay as well (might be senile decay though)
John

[Dazzler]

Hope it never happens to the Wife 

[Doggie 1]

Hope it never happens to the Wife 

It won't.
It can only happen to cars.

[kabukiman]

I thought dealers liked warranty work. They're paid by HY aren't they. It sounds like steering replacement would be worth a few bucks too. 

As far as Ford goes, I know for sure that their techs are paid much less for warranty work by the company, than for equivalent work ordered by a paying customer.  Seems to be why they were always reluctant to do anything at all to my previous car aside from break it more.

[Doggie 1]

I'd believe that.
The big companies would screw the dealerships as tightly as they could get away with.

[John G]

G'day Folks

The Dept of Infrastructure and Transport have replied to my proposition that the powere steering on the i30 is possibly defective.  There conclusions are:

1.  The system is fail-safe in accordance with Australian regulations inasmuch as the car can still be steered. I can only assume that they considered our incident where it failed doing a right hand turn, mounted the kerb, and crossed the footpath.
2.  There is no systemic fault, and ours is a one-off incident.  I did point them to the threads on this site, which at the time I wrote had four similar reports, two of which required steering system replacement.  I also pointed out that the dealer here in Canberra said to me that they had replaced others.  I note that there is now another thread reporting the same issue, and with replacement being the solution.
3.  They have not received any other complaints. How many do they need?

The Dept state that they will monitor the situation.

I don't intend to take it any further.  What's the point?  I can take some comfort (but for myself only) that the new steering system that has been installed is upgraded/modified.

Cheers
John

I did try to post this earlier today, but it hasn't appeared.  Apologies if there is an eventual duplication

[Phil №❶]

Sad John G, that this is the result. The Dept of I & T are a bunch of cretins. You might like to let them know that at the 1st injury, someone from that dept is going to get a public arse kicking, followed by a law suit.

Thank for going to the trouble of informing them & us 

[Surferdude]

Sad John G, that this is the result. The Dept of I & T are a bunch of cretins. You might like to let them know that at the 1st injury, someone from that dept is going to get a public arse kicking, followed by a law suit.

Thank for going to the trouble of informing them & us 

Agreed Phil, but one point in their defence is that, if they haven't had any other complaints, it can't be very high on their agenda. Everyone who has an issue should register their details with the same body.
They certainly earn their "cretin" tag with the comment about it still being driveable. Even with my years of paddling a surfboard I have difficulty steering my car without the power steering. And that's when I KNOW it's not working.

[Phil №❶]

Good point surferdude. 

[johnjohn14]

Hi

After my experience of having the steering column replaced on my Crdi, and looking at this thread, it does seem to me that there should be a possibility of changing this system to fail safe.

When my system failed, it resumed after switching the car off and then on again. The problem did not repeat for quite a while and many miles. This, to my mind, implies that a sensor was sending incorrect information to the part of the Engine Management System that controls the amount of assistance given by the electric motor. By switching the engine off, this acted as a computer re-boot, clearing the held data.

So, I would say, it was not a failure of the electrical motor, but an erroneous signal sent by a, possibly failing, sensor. Given that the sensor does not control the steering I would have thought that whatever micro processor controls the vehicle could be re-programmed to check whether the vehicle still has forward momentum before shutting down the steering assistance.

The various processors measuring fuel consumption and average speed, would have this information in real time. It would take a very small portion of a second to check this and override the steering sensors' faulty signal.

This could also have the benefit that were an engine to fail-or indeed run out of fuel-the steering would continue to remain available to the driver

Would be interested to hear if anyone thinks this to have some merit.

Kind regards

John

[Dazzler]

Sounds very good logic to me John..

Will be interested to see what Mr Alan Ho or one of our other retired engineers would think of that idea

[Phil №❶]

It is good logic and I agree, a secondary backup system should be employed. Like the brakes, there is a brake light to signify a brake fault, but the system is designed to provide partial braking at all times.

However, "The various processors measuring fuel consumption and average speed, would have this information in real time. It would take a very small portion of a second to check this and override the steering sensors' faulty signal."

Replace the signal with what! If the sensor's faulty (and it appears that this is the most common failure), there will not be any "signal" to the electric motor. So, without a complete backup system, this can not happen.

[johnjohn14]

Hi
Understand your point, but the faulty signal itself does not turn the steering off.  Some solenoid(or suchlike) does the actuation.  If the sensor signal was confirmed by whatever senses/measures motion prior to it activating the solenoid/switch, that might be a way of diverting an incorrect signal.

so false signal is sent; compared to motion; if motion exists signal ignored; if no motion signal accepted. Sort of like a Branch in Basic programming. (Ah the joys of designing a pub search programme on my Tandy TRS80!)

kind regards and Happy New Year to all
John

[Phil №❶]

TRS 80 eh, I to programmed in basic with a Microbee z80 processor. 

The issue here is not just about a solenoid deactivating the steering, but what to do with the incorrect sensor signal itself.

Correct sensor signals are a result of turning the steering wheel and the effort of moving the steering components is performed by an electric motor, so the steering is nice and light when all is functioning correctly.

Now imagine driving along a winding road the steering detects a fault and power to the motor is disconnected. The steering is very heavy, because the steering effort has to be performed by the driver. This is the current situation which is dangerous, because it is unexpected and difficult to react to.

If a faulty signal is interpreted and power is not disconnected, (your suggestion), what is the motor to do, turn left, right, by how much, or stay straight, the motor cannot make any determination what to do, only the driver and that input comes from the sensor, which is faulty.