Hi guys, I was absolutely horrified today when my w213 2017 e350e power steering failed and displayed a message saying "Steering Malfunction - Increased Physical Effort Check manual" , After turning off ignition for 5-10 minutes the power steering started working again ... But it was short lived and the same message appeared again, I am absolutely devastated and I've done only 18,200km... Driving this vehicle has brought more pain than happiness...

How should I proceed? All help is much appreciated...

 

Had this happened to one of my BMW. The steering motor was overheating. It would fault and cool down and fault again. Dealer replaced steering motor.

 

You need to get your steering issue diagnosed. It may need a good reset, a rebuilt rack or a collection of steering column modules worked on.

Something is causing your Steering rack Module to freak out every 10mn... At least its communicating well with the ICluster through CAN, not too glitchy!

Low voltage is always a basic, rule that out first if you lack use of a proper scanner.


Being aware of your steering issue, the option NOT to drive and read the owners manual is in your hands.
🤞

 

sorry for resurrecting an old thread but any updates?

 

I was wondering if the power steering fluid level was low. It might be an electrically driven system, which I am not familiar with.

 

the W213 cars all have electric power steering. No fluid is involved

 

correction,

all the W213 cars have electrically assisted power steering which is not the same as electric power steering (that is more a fly by wire type situation that no car has as of right now).

Or put another way. If the electrical system fails, there is still a mechanical link to allow steering. In an electrical based system, there is no mechanical/physical connection from the steering to the rack.

I think the only car that has such a system is the Tesla Cybertruck.

 

For archival purposes, I am sharing this document related to the Electric Power Steering recall campaign back in 2017.

It has the MB instructions on what to check for moisture intrusion in the connector of the steering rack.

 

Thank you JC for this interesting document...
It applies to all exposed chassis connectors used on Mercedes products.

steering rack drama


attributed to leaky connectors "water-in-harness"

The recall is limited to a narrow scope where the reality is EVERY VEHICLE OF THAT ERA feature this issue.

Leaky connectors are not new to MB, some of the most popular are :

• swamped Blind Spot radars
• every down low connectors
• radiator sensors
• engine A/C compressor,
• ISM tranny "PRND" shifter
• front bumper sensors string.

This is a clear invitation NOT TO HOSE OFF engine clean due to many connectors around engine top.

The simple fix is an RTV Silicone campaign to seal every exposed connections down low.

 

Here, if I am not mistaken, it is a video of the electric motor internals (solderless?)

 

Nice video from a Punjabi white-shirt expert showing us around the rack internal controls.

The only Hindi I understood was "TEA-KAY"

straight intelligent truth
SHU-KRE-YAH!

This system is designed to be amazin' in multiple ways such that it works until it safely fails self-test at every IGN-key cycle - "Steering malfunction".


WATER rusted motor shaft
​​​​​​
We are concerned with water intrusion and the solderless pins used for both external and internal connections.


solderless oportunities to disfunction 🙄

This helps us make sense of multiple source of faults int/ext. Armed with this knowledge we can recommend not to ever drive through standing water (rack:RIP!).
Silicone your rack housing and connectors.


outside cover seal leaks ...


this is high current module input


easily removed sub-assembly component..


connections on the smart controller with 3 CPU's


Solderless all over... nearly good until really bad


Epoxy enclosed bottom motor control boards

This looks like we have a 3-PH motor, like the FSCU LPFPump. Great to split high currents into 3 coils with RPM frequency control.


> OUTLOOK :
-- We see the state of the art fancy rack belt assist motor has a low power control board for the high power 3-Ph motor.

-- Overall this is a nice unit besides its water intrusion weakness.

-- The "solderless pins" I am most concerned with are the external pins that royaly screw-up CAN bus timings with junk traffic.

-- I don't know what CAN the rack works with nor what the other impacted CAN Modules going to be...

-- Be on the look out for abnormal bus chaos originated from this noisy 3-Ph. module.


> Advanced Solderless rework:
Let's think about what can be done to prevent premature failures.

-- Life safety is definitely going to be a concern working with steering that can quit. Dealers can swap this complete unit with a used unit rebuilt/recertified.

-- There is a high chance lifting the control board out may be destructive for undersized PCB traces... one bad trace connection in the multi-layered board is game-over show-stopper.


external interface by solderless pins

-- Rework within limits... the big pickle here is we can NOT get access to the solder side without lifting out the board destructively.

-- RTV Silicone all the intrusion spots.

Pls drive carefully.

 

>
I came across this information while helping another W212 owner with the "Power Steering Malfunction" message. So far, the diagnostic is a new rack -> @3K once you include labor and miscellaneous.

He will be removing the connectors to have a quick look. Fingers crossed is just a bit of poor contact; otherwise, it will not be cheap.

 

Yes, exactly! Water penetrate into MB modules through their connector. Swamped control boards are non-repairable.


PIN DISCOLORATION is poor external connections

​​> CHOICES:
-- The only time to act preventively is before water intrusion!
-- After damage sets in, the only choice is rebuilt rack + wheel alignment. All good again.


+++ INTERFACE PIN OUT...
These 5 pins looks like

1. 12V control
2. 12V control
3. GND Ref.
4. CAN+/High
5. CAN-/Low

 

hi mate,

did you ever get this resolved? If so what was the issue?

 

If that steering malfunction ever threw off any codes, a BenzNinja code scanner could have verified them for troubleshooting, is what I am thinking.