My 08 Fit Base 5 speed, 155k.

When I turn it feels like it holds the steering wheel in a place for a second and then lets go. It's getting annoying, 2 dealers and 3 mechanics can't figure it out.
My normal mechanic broke his arm and has the shop closed.

Anyone got any advice on the issue?

I've heard everything from the steering column, bad wheels or a tire issue.

Stock Honda wheels, balanced fine every time since Day 1, Tire are Kenda Kinectica 175/65/14 inflated to 34 PSI.

 

Did you ever get a EPS module update or recall performed? I would bet that would be the suspect. I would have the power steering lock up during high speeds and had to pull emergency procedures. Module updated replaced everything is fine.

 

I'm sure. I'm the only owner of the Fit have been.

I don't remember every recall, but I do ask about previous ones when I do one. It's all been taken care of.

I saw the intermediate shaft bearing thread and thought about that. It's a cheap part, but it could be causing my issue.
I have a small airplane noise, but not big. I'm just tired of dealing with it. I might just go get a new one. Go GE8 or 15 and be done.
I'm all for saving an older car, but there's a point when a cheap daily driver gets alot of mileage and becomes a burden. My Fit is one of the latter. A burden, but every time I feel this way, the car proves to me that I shouldn't give up.

 

My bet is on the EPS. Now which part of the EPS I have no idea.

 

Just some questions to maybe help narrow down the cause.

Does it always happen at the same position of the steering wheel?

Does it happen in both directions?

Does the speed you are driving effect it? In other words, will it happen at the same steering wheel position if you are driving at 5 mph or 15 mph?

Has anyone that looked at it been able to reproduce it while the wheels are off the ground?

Have they been able to reproduce it at all?

Im trying to help you figure out if it seems EPS related or suspension/steering related.

Steering or suspension can bind at one position sometimes. If it does happen with no weight on the wheel then they can disconnect the tie rods and see if it still happens.

Then at least they know its not tie rods, ball joints or upper strut mounts binding. Even if those seems like long shots, at this point, you have to eliminate whatever you can to solve the issue.

Now, the EPS can also be internally binding and causing this. Steering racks in the past used to have quite an issue with that exact kind of binding. You would turn the wheel and all of a sudden it would feel like you found a hard spot. Those systems were fluid driven but the binding is what I'm talking about. Even though there is no fluid it still has moving parts that could be binding.

 

1 no
2 yes
3 doesn't matter what speed, hwy speed making a lane change or turning from a stop
4 yes and they can't get it to reproduce driving or on a lift

I'm thinking it's steering or suspension related. The car did get into a minor accident and I repaired it. New everything, partially because of the mileage and the accident. I hit a pothole and it broke something and made my passenger side wheel derp off.

I had the fender off, wheel and plastic on both sides fixing it. It got basically aside from the steering rack new everything for steering and suspension on both sides. The rack was taken off and inspected and given a clean bill of health. I cleaned it and reinstalled it.

I'm at a loss. Everything was torqued and double checked for torque before I took it off jack stands. I should have done a k20 while doing all of it since the only thing that didn't come out was the engine.

The only thing I can think of is, the rack or a bolt is loose. I gave every bolt a red mark for initial torque and a blue one after the double check. So I can look to see if I missed one but I doubt it.

 

(a) Can you reproduce the problem at will or at a certain location? (b) When the steering changes, is it after a change in road surface, going around a corner, after a bump or dip in the road, etc? (c) Did you tell the various mechanics about your pothole incident and that you did the repairs? (d) After your repairs, what were the before and after alignment settings?

 

A - No, it happens randomly but 75% of the time it's turning and 25% its making a lane change

B - Yes and no. The roads are shitty where I live, the city is blaming all the snow, but the roads were shitty prior to that in the summer. When it does happen I've noticed it's going from bumpy to smooth roads.

C - Yes, they know and I have a list of the parts replaced and inspected/serviced

D - Before, in spec whatever they are, I wouldn't know without looking. I get one done once a year for cheap insurance on tires
After, In spec, made big adjustments to bring it back in, I tried to get it as close as I could with an eyeball. It was decent enough to make it the 3 blocks to the tire shop, The steering wheel was cocked to about 1-2 o clock for that. Once there and done, it's fine.

I'm almost tempted to yank the steering wheel and plastic around the column to look. Every place says they've tried to reproduce it but couldn't so they didn't do anything beyond a visual inspection. 1 Honda dealer did note they saw my red/blue lines and asked about it. I told them and then they said they'd call if another car came in with similar issues.

I did, tie rod ends and inner rods, bushings, struts, springs, hubs and bearings, axles ball joints, removed both UCA's and LCA's had them inspected along with the steering rack. Brakes( needed them anyway ).

Basically if it involves turning or the ride, it was replaced or inspected for continued use and reinstalled. Front and back. It rides like new, feels new, looks close to it, aside from having 155k, it's basically new.

Could the P/S pump be failing or on it's way out, causing the jerk/locking up?
It's the only thing that didn't get messed with under the front or back. I spent 8 days tearing the bitch apart, putting it back together and making sure it's done right. I'm not a self taught mechanic either, I'm a former Honda service tech. I did this kind of work all the time. I just got a better job now that doesn't require being under a car or in a garage or service bay.

I did all work according to information found online and through a friends Alldata. I only the work myself to save the money and make sure that I knew it was all taken care of.

 

I feel bad for you... I wish like hell I could help you figure it out.

 

Now that I know you were a former Honda tech I feel I may have asked some questions you have already asked yourself!

But, lets keep trying here.

Did this happen right after the pothole and the parts replacement?

Have you looked where the steering column meets the steering gear? It could have a ujoint that is starting to go bad. u joints can definately bind as they fail. From a sketch I saw of the steering column, it looks like it has one mid column for the tilt and one at the bottom to change the angle where it connects to the steering rack. You wont be able to see all bad u joints like that. You will have to pull the column or shaft and move the u joint in all directions to feel for any binding. You may however see signs of a bad u joint in the form of powdered metal near the bad joint. Unfortunately it wont rust since its inside the car. It turns a nice orange color when they go bad on a driveshaft under a vehicle.

As far as a loose rack or bolt, that usually causes some kind of pull or wandering since the rack moves and the toe setting changes as the rack shifts up and down. It temporarily causes the length from outer tie rod to outer tie rod to change. You can also sometimes get the steering wheel off center if the rack is moving as it changes position but you will usually get some kind of noise and or really a binding.

 

Since this occurs while turning in some fashion, is it always while turning in one direction? If so, check lug nut torque, upper strut mount and CVJ on the side under load.

I'm not quite certain whether ": cushion b, gear box Part Number: 53436-SLN-A01" is a bushing, but other racks have had an internal bushing fail. I'm not certain whether that would need to be tested dynamically or statically.

 

Take the connector for the EPS off, and verify that it is clean and free of corrosion.

Resistance from a bad/dirty connection might cause it to "stumble" or pause for a second before doing what it is supposed to do.

This is simply a guess, but still worth checking.

 

So I started messing with the connections to the column itself this morning.

13Fit was right. A connection was dirty and I cleaned it with q-tips and a little bit of alcohol and it took care of it. I put about 50 miles on it and no issue.

Holy crap, 1 dirty connection caused a headache and a half. I almost started to remove stuff to do a triple check of torque.

Now that it's fixed, I can get another 155k out of it provided the engine is good to go.

 

I believe I mentioned to check the Electronic Power Steering in the first reply, and sorry for your luck.These EPS systems are a great evolution from power steering and fluid. But the Version 1.0 EPS unit that came on '06-'07 is moisture sensitive and would periodically fail. It did for me, and it even hints about it in the owners manual. When it failed, it left you with no steering, so your sticking feeling makes sense due to corrosion and dirty pathways. Personally I am amazed it took that much of an attempt of understanding the mechanics to figure out the problem was the computer the whole time.

 

Glad you got it sorted out.

If the connection was dirty you may want to put some dielectric grease or soemthing in there as a corrosion barrier to reduce the chance of it coming back. You know how that corrosion works.

 

I put some grease in there already.

@Lance, car needed work from the pothole anyway. I did the work to get it over with.
I'm surprised too that such a small thing caused a major issue. It's fixed now, next time I'm starting with the easiest solution and working towards the hard ones. I figured it could have been something else. I mean I did have the thing tore apart pretty hardcore. So I thought it was that to be honest.

I mean the only things that didn't get removed where the subframe, engine, trans, steering column and probably something else. If it was steering or suspension related it came out to be taken care of.
I did some engine cleaning too since I had all that crap off. Made it alot easier. Plus I painted some parts to prevent rust. Now everything is a nice black color underneath. I still need to fix my damn OEM plastic under tray but for now it's got about 400 thousand zip ties holding it on.

 

Surely the EPS failure left you with non-power steering, correct? The wheel is harder to turn, but you can still direct where the car is headed? I would be completely astounded if the federal motor vehicle standards permitted a car to be sold where a single electrical failure would leave you completely unable to steer.

 

DrewE, they do, every car could have 1 electrical failure prevents the car from moving.

The battery, or alternator, even a surge from a lightning strike.

 

A single electrical failure can of course prevent a car from moving (under its own power, at least). That's not the same as preventing the steering wheel from steering the car. If you turn the key (to disengage the steering wheel lock) but don't start the car, you can still steer the car by turning the steering wheel, but you won't have any power assist. It's similar to how the brakes still work with no vacuum and no power assist—you can slow down, but it takes a lot more force on the brake pedal to do it.

There are a few (mostly large) off-road vehicles with hydraulic power steering that is completely dependent on hydraulic pressure—you cannot steer at all if the system breaks. So far as I know, this isn't permitted for any highway legal vehicles—or, even if legal, is not done.