Steering failure while driving

Howdy · **April 13, 2011, 17:16:28**

The POWER STEERING FAILED while driving my 2008 Hyundai Elantra at the speed limit on a 4 lane, non divided highway in rush hour traffic.
I was driving my car to work in normal morning rush hour traffic. I was about 7 miles into a normal 10 mile commute. There was NO WARNING. While moving at the speed limit, the steering wheel locked up. My initial thought was that the car had somehow stalled. I rapidly pumped the brakes to slow down and warn other cars. It is a manual transmission, so I depressed the clutch and pressed the accelerator. I heard the engine rev, so I realized it was power steering failure, not a stall. I continued to pumped the brakes and fought with the steering to maintain control.
I am old enough to have driven cars that did not have power steering, but steering in this condition was more difficult than that. I slowed the car without incident and managed to pull it into a parking lot. I realized that the parking lot was connected to a side street and was only a block away from the dealer where I purchased the vehicle, so I drove the car onto their lot. The dashboard showed one RED LIGHT, 'EPS". Only after stepping out of the car did I realize how shaken up I was, it was probably poor judgement to drive even that one block. I left the car for them to service.
From the service write-up: UPON INSP TECH FOUND STEERING ANGLE SENSOR IS DEFECTIVE. CODE C1259, & C1290 PRESENT. TECH REPLACED SENSOR & CLEARED CODE. OPER TO MFR SPEC.
The dealership did this under warranty, no charge. They also performed 2 other recalls related to airbags while the car was there.
I purchased this car new from this dealer and they are the only ones to ever service it. I have no reason to fault the dealer, I appreciate their work.
For the car however, this is a dangerous situation. I had NO PRIOR WARNING of any type that the steering was defective or would fail. It failed while the vehicle was moving. This incident could have had very dire results.

eye30 · **Reply #1: April 13, 2011, 17:36:49**

This is the first time this issue has been reported on this site.

Glad to hear that you are OK and managed to steer but I bet it was so heavy, just like a Lada I once drove, so anyone who has only driven power steering would not realise what was happening.

Did the dealer indicate whether this had been subject to previous reports to Hyundai?

Re steering angle. Was this defect due to a component failure or had the car been previously damaged?

Howdy · **Reply #2: April 13, 2011, 19:46:11**

For eye30 :

The dealer did not discuss how common of a problem this is in the USA. However, a brief internet search on my part revealed dozens of sites with random comments on similar incidents. For Elantras, there are reports from 2006 and forward. Some owners reported having entire steering colums replaced after the power steering failure occured.

I think there are many such incidents, just scattered reporting.

The defect had to be due to component failure. The car is 3 years old, but only 13000 miles (I have a short commute), and no accidents of any kind, not a mark on it. It's actually been a great car, no problems until this incident.

eye30 · **Reply #3: April 13, 2011, 20:58:37**

Quote from: Howdy on April 13, 2011, 19:46:11

.

The car is 3 years old, but only 13000 miles (I have a short commute), and no accidents of any kind, not a mark on it.

Mines 3.5 years old with only 20k miles.

all well but.......................

TrishCW · **Reply #4: April 13, 2011, 23:05:48**

Pleased you are ok.

If that happened to me I think I would struggle to steer the car.

I have driven cars with no power steering but I think that loosing your power steering would be heavier.

Dazzler · **Reply #5: April 13, 2011, 23:13:52**

Quote from: eye30 on April 13, 2011, 17:36:49

This is the first time this issue has been reported on this site.

Sorry to contradict you Lester but I think there have been a couple of other isolated incidents with the i30 steering failing .. Where is Lorian when we need him :-\

**Reply #6: April 14, 2011, 09:43:08**

I think the power steering is very quirky and not one of the best. My steering assistance was left in a failed state (EPS light on) after the rack was replaced. The mechanic was unable to adjust it and had sent me home with it still failed and asked to attend a different service depot the following day. Had it failed in the way reported here I would have been very cranky. It still worked fine during the error condition and was fixed next day.

Why I bothered to mention it here is that when I got home (and before it was properly adjusted) I alighted the car after removing the key and the power steering was still powered up! The wheel turned easily while the car was stationary. I fully expected the battery to be flat in the morning but it was normal again by then... the rest is as I said... fixed up and NP since.

I did bother to try driving the car after turning off the engine once while moving and noted that it was surprisingly heavy to steer. I'd imagine it would be near impossible to steer at parking speeds. I hasten to add that I immediately turned the ignition back on after stopping the engine so that the steering lock could not engage (and I was driving straight at the time).

Don't try this unless you really understand what you are doing.

I was demonstrating to my wife what to do if the cruise control would not disengage because there had been several reports of runaway cars on the news at the time.

No-one suggested the simple action of turning off the key. AFAIK engines don't run when turned off.

Surferdude · **Reply #7: April 14, 2011, 10:09:59**

Pretty scary situation.
I'm sure the geometry of power steering equipped cars is different to that of non-power steering cars which explains why the steering is so heavy when power assist fails.

Howdy · **Reply #8: April 16, 2011, 13:26:22**

An update:

I lost the power steering again after the repair. No warning, just gone.

Two days, and very few miles driven, after the steering angle sensor was replaced on my Elantra, the power steering failed again. This time I was sitting stopped at a traffic signal, waiting for a green arrow light so that I could make a left turn. The EPS red light came on, and I let the car roll forward about a foot to see if I could jiggle the wheel, but no luck.

I had read on one of the forums that some drivers with this situation turned the key off and restarted the engine which made/allowed the steering to return. So I tried this and it worked! I drove normally for about half a mile at a very slow speed, and the steering went out again, the EPS light was back on. I muscled it over to the curb and called for roadside assistance to tow it in to the dealer.

The dealer is going to replace the 'steering column'. I'll know more about what that entails when I see the work order. The service tech told me that when he has seen this condition on other cars it makes the steering looser, not harder to steer, so obviously this is happening to more cars than just mine.

I'll post again when the work is completed on my car.

I will agree with some ot the commenters here, when the steering goes out, it is harder to control than a car that never had power assisted steering. The wheel can still be turned, but it requires determination.

2i30s · **Reply #9: April 16, 2011, 13:32:34**

fingers crossed howdy,that this fixes it.

Dazzler · **Reply #10: April 16, 2011, 22:41:58**

Not a good situation Howdy.. THe Steering Technician saying he has had situations where it has made the steering looser seems odd unless something broke and then the steering would turn but the car wouldn't (even scarier)

FatBoy · **Reply #11: April 17, 2011, 06:09:37**

A pretty scary situation to go through.

I too learnt to drive in a car without power steering, and it made me think about why a car with power steering, that lost the power steering, was much harder to drive. I compared it to my previous work vehicles that were much harder to operate without hydraulics working (we could turn it on or off). One of the reasons is that you not only have to move the wheels, but also the hydraulic fluid as well (or electric motor, which may be resisting the change).

Hopefully the work you are having done will get it all sorted.

FatBoy

paul · **Reply #12: April 17, 2011, 08:12:40**

Quote from: FatBoy on April 17, 2011, 06:09:37

One of the reasons is that you not only have to move the wheels, but also the hydraulic fluid as well (or electric motor, which may be resisting the change).

good logical answer fatboy

Sunder · **Reply #13: April 19, 2011, 20:49:12**

Scary situation.

A 2008 Elantra (you're talking about a sedan, yes?) is not the same car as the i30 / Elantra Touring. Does anyone know if it shares the same steering components?

Howdy · **Reply #14: April 25, 2011, 21:18:43**

** Another apology, posted half a message a minute ago.

Sorry so long to reply, finally got my car back from the shop.

My car is a 4 door Elantra sedan sold in the USA, made in Korea. Elantra Touring edition are sold here also, but I do not own one.

I found this i30 Owners Club site through an internet search, and began reading others' comments about similar problems with steering defects and red ESP lights. This is a very informative forum on many topics of interest!

On my steering failure, second repair attempt --
The dealer fixed the vehicle by replacing the steering column shaft and associated bolts, plus a Torque sensor. I could not get a clear answer if this was the same sensor they replaced on the first attempted repair, or if it is a different sensor. The work order states --
SOP PART REPLACE STEERING COLUMN, SHAFT C1290 TORQUE SENSOR

I drove from the dealer to home, no problems, and boy is that steering tight! The power assist is clearly working, but there is no play at all in the steering, you budge the wheel and it re-directs. I hope this solves my issues and I get to forget about about this concern after a while.

Dazzler · **Reply #15: April 26, 2011, 00:04:57**

Hi again Howdy (that sounds funny) ..

Hope it is all sorted (as Sunder says "different car" but the steering machanisms could be the same?) There have been only limited issues with the i30/touring steering on this forum so far..

2i30s · **Reply #16: April 26, 2011, 09:10:21**

hi howdy,could you post up a pic of your car? the reason i ask is that my father in law owns an elantra [australian delivery] and the running gear is identical to an i30/elantra touring. if your car looks the same as my father in laws car,the running gear is identical to the i30/elantra touring.

i hope i haven't confused anyone.

Dazzler · **Reply #17: April 26, 2011, 10:59:25**

Fair call Steve

2i30s · **Reply #18: April 26, 2011, 11:21:05**

so the way I'm looking at this dazz is if howdys car is the same as our Australian elantra,we can help him out and he can help us out with a little info at the same time.

win win situation.

Merlot · **Reply #19: May 22, 2011, 06:10:00**

I bought my i30 second hand and I actually rang the previous owner owner before I bought it and she said that the only problem she had was the steering locked up. When I had my first service done the dealer said there were bolts missing as the steering shaft had been replaced. now to the point my daughters partner was the foreman mechanic for a Hy dealer and I have mentioned this before on this site. If the steering sensor detects that the alignment is out by 5 degrees or more it shuts down the steering to avoid damage to the tyres [stiff if you are in the middle of a freeway] He also said that whenever you have a wheel alignment done or any steering work you have to reset the sensor one the computer so it knows it is not out of alignment. I would say the problems above are from the dealers not resetting the computer. [maybe]

Dazzler · **Reply #20: May 22, 2011, 08:17:47**

Thanks for that possible Solution.. I sent Howdy a PM as he hasn't been on for a month...

Howdy · **Reply #21: May 23, 2011, 19:28:30**

Yes Dazzler, thanks for the message. I've been doing a lot of reading on the site, but no writing. Here's what's been happening with me and my Elantra...

I have been driving cautiously optomistic since the second repair on my Elantra. It has been a month now since the repair, and several hundred miles driven, and I have not had a steering failure nor a red EPS light on the dash since the repair. The steering remains tight, I would say tighter than prior to the steering column replacement. However, there are occasional 'twitches' in the steering wheel, somtimes at idle, sometimes while moving. The steering wheel will do a sudden up and down rotation, maybe moving an inch or two. Sometimes it wil rotate down-then up, other times it does the opposite. Not enough wheel movement to scare you, but enough of a movement that you notice it. If it hadn't happened while sitting still, I could have attributed it to bumps in the road.

I am a very cautious two hands on the wheel driver now, but that is not always possible since the car is a manual tranny.

After reading the post from Merlot, I am beginning to think that the steering mechanisms on these cars are overly complicated.