Okay, the time line is as follows --

At 6:00 a.m., I drove home from work, the car having been off for a good 10 hours. Everything was fine.

6:45 a.m. I start the car again, having been home for about 15 minutes, so the car is still warm. However, for no good reason, the power steering is gone (the little light on the dash board is illuminated). I turn the car back off, and on again, and still no power steering. I go and fill up on gas.

6:55 a.m. Full on fuel (and me with hot chocolate), the power steering is now back when I start the car at the gas station. Seemlingly back to normal.

Now, the car only has 1300 miles on it. And it is bitch-*** cold here (-10 degrees). Is this a problem I should have checked out, or a once in a lifetime thing that is likely never going to happen again?

 

What year?

If it only has 1300 Kms on it it sounds pretty brand new so I would just get the dealer to check it out cause that is def not normal.

 

It's an 07. I've only had it 2 weeks.

 

Take it back to the dealer man that will be covered in the bumper to bumper.

 

X2

some known issues with the steering harness wiring, but i am sure they have that fixed for a 07.

loose connector? maybe.. but it is a dealer problem..

beers

 

The only problem is, it isn't persistent. It just happened the once and lasted 5 minutes. If I bring it in I'm sure I'll get the old "We were unable to replicate the problem" line. Just kind of wanted to know if it was a common problem or not.

 

it's common for the harness in the front of the car to not connect properly after a while - we seem to be in the 40k range before it happens though. The fix is to just solder the connections together. What you describe might be the same issue, but when it happened to me, steering went out, and stayed out till the dealer fixed it.

 

xxxxx2

and it is really fing cold up there!!!!!! my guess would be a connector. but get it on record!!!

beers

 

+1!!

Take it in anyway. Get them to look and get it on file. Its odd so soon, but I am a firm believer cold messes with things.. check out some of the threads in the Canada forum!
Mine did it too, -35C and it just crapped out (cant say I blamed it). Got it home, warmed it up, pulled fuses so i felt useful (lol) and it was fine the morning after in my poor -4 garage..

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah, cold changes the shape of metal (as does heat obviously), so I guess it wouldnt' be wierd for something to jiggle a little. I'll take it in, as you suggested, to get it on file. Hadn't really thought about just having a record of it being a problem, just in case.

 

yep,

and it changes plastic, and rubber seals..

x pro skier.... 9 years..

cold is bad!!!!!!!

beers

 

one last note:

make sure your dealer knows it's electronically assisted power steering- my friend went to the dealership and the jackass mechanics told him to check the power-steering fluid...

 

Should have called MNAO hahaha that is what I would have done about the morons who work there :D

 

this happened to me, i just cleaned the connectors with compressed air (electronic cleaner)....then everything worked normal again.....i think it because of moisture corroding the 2 metal pieces in the connectors...

 

Really? I wouldn't have known there is no power steering fluid... I jus take it for granted.

 

Can anybody explain how to find the wire harness? This just happened to me also. @ 43,000

 

Usually it's the connectors right below the overflow for the coolant pipe, at the top of the rad.


S

 

I thought the same thing too. I would clean mine with contact cleaner. But it got worse to the point I was doing it a couple times a week. I ended up splicing the wires together.


The pic attached should give you an idea where its located. As mentioned above, I spliced the wires together leaving some length in case I need to get around it.