Power Steering Failure

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Joined
Aug 9, 2018
Messages
16
Has anyone else experienced this? If so what was required to correct the problem. I started my car up the other morning and I heard a strange purring like sound coming from the dash area and the power steering warning light came on. I was able to put it in gear and drive to work, but it was obviously very hard to steer. Has anyone else had this happen and what did it take to fix problem. My Leaf is a 2013 S model with approximately 55000 miles on the dial.
 
I will try that. Might be a dumb question, but can that be done by taking it to autozone or comparable store? I don’t own a battery tester. Also, everything els(A/C, all accessories, etc) seem to be working fine. That’s what lead me to believe that it was a power steering problem. Thanks for the response
 
^^^
A/C is run off the high voltage bus, not the 12 volt bus. Weird stuff can happen when the 12 volt is low.

Can you at least use a voltmeter and measure the voltage of the 12 volt when the car's off after it has sat overnight or many hours? If you are on your original 12 volt, I wouldn't be surprised if it's toast by now. Mine bit the dust in ~2.5 years from date of car's manufacture. Was replaced for free under warranty.
 
I’m going to have it tested today. Hopefully the battery is the issue. Nice simple fix for that. Thanks for the responses and the knowledge. I’m still learning about my car. I’m definitely converted though. I’ll never buy another clunky internal combustion engine car ever again
 
Low voltage on the 12v system would cause the steering assist motor to draw more current and could certainly do weird things. There's also a history of the power brake assist (not all braking) being lost and odd regen behavior when the 12v battery is failing so keep that in mind for the drive home. Please let us know what happens with the test.
 
I’ll for sure post the results. The battery has a sticker on it that says 3/15. Not sure if that’s manufacture date or expiration date. It looks like it’s a Nissan brand battery. The car is a 2013 so it may be original battery. I haven’t noticed any problems with braking yet and I’ve been driving it since Monday when I first noticed power steering being out and the PS light being on. I have an appointment August 20th to have a leaf tech look at it. There’s only one Nissan Leaf tech in the city of Saint Louis it appears.
 
You can buy a cheap volt meter to check the 12 volt voltage. Even an el-cheapo from Harbor Freight Tools would suffice. (I have one for free from them.)
 
Another question. Would the reading be accurate right after shutting car off. Should I have waited a few minutes for everything to power down?
 
JesseLeeMcClary said:
Another question. Would the reading be accurate right after shutting car off. Should I have waited a few minutes for everything to power down?
I don't know anything about the machine, but I'd personally wait until the car has sat overnight or MANY hours before checking w/a volt meter.

Putting the car into READY (car green car w/arrows) engages the DC to DC converter and thus will charge/maintain the 12 volt battery, raising its voltage. I know nothing about the unspecified machine and don't know if it does a load test (or a good load test).

If you had Leaf Spy Pro, you could read the DTCs (Diagnostic Trouble Codes) and even clear them, to see if they return. Leaf Spy Pro REQUIRES an OBD2 dongle that is known to be compatible with the app. Don't just pick a random one or use someone's unknown filter/tool to pick one.
 
I’m thinking I just might purchase both the leaf spy app and the obd2 dongle that goes along with it. I’m sure that the technician is gonna charge me a lot just to find out the same thing I could find out. I’m also going to test my battery again after it has been sitting a while.

I’m just surprised that from what I’ve read on here and various other places, I’ve been unable to find anyone whose power steering isn’t working, but they’re able to drive car. It seems other folks who experienced this weren’t able to put the car in drive.

Thank you all so much for the assistance
 
It will be interesting to see the resting voltage after a while although I don't think we necessarily know how/if the DC-DC converter maintains a float voltage across the terminals. A fully charged lead acid battery should be in the 12.8 - 12.9v range according to google.
 
It’s just interesting that I haven’t found one other case where the power steering wasn’t functioning and they were still able to drive. I’ll test battery after it’s been sitting for a while and post those results. This has been perplexing me since monday
 
In case you do test the rest voltage, a Leaf typically reads 12.5-12.7 volts. 12.4 isn't likely to mean the 12 volt battery is the issue, but lower than 12.3 might. And yes, your problem is unusual.
 
JesseLeeMcClary said:
I will try that. Might be a dumb question, but can that be done by taking it to autozone or comparable store? I don’t own a battery tester. Also, everything els(A/C, all accessories, etc) seem to be working fine. That’s what lead me to believe that it was a power steering problem. Thanks for the response
I have read that Autozone will load-test your battery for free. Gives a better health reading than just measuring the resting voltage.
 
Nubo said:
JesseLeeMcClary said:
I will try that. Might be a dumb question, but can that be done by taking it to autozone or comparable store? I don’t own a battery tester. Also, everything els(A/C, all accessories, etc) seem to be working fine. That’s what lead me to believe that it was a power steering problem. Thanks for the response
I have read that Autozone will load-test your battery for free. Gives a better health reading than just measuring the resting voltage.

True. Just keep in mind that they may "fail" a battery that can still easily start a Leaf because there is no high-drain starting motor.
 
I’ve been driving the car since Monday and it’s been starting up just fine everytime. Literally everything works sans power steering. Is it harmful to the car to drive it without power steering? It’s a pain to steer of course. I have to drive it like this til the 20th. That’s the date that the leaf tech can take a look
 
I wouldn't have suspected the 12V battery. The battery would have to have a shorted cell or something like that and then the car wouldn't even go into drive mode.
 
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