Anyone else have problems with eps? - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

dann_04 · 07-31-2008, 04:22 PM

Hi, i have a 2003 civic si with electronic power steering. It is great because there is no pully to steal power from the engine and it only causes more load on the alternator when being used. But my problem is that when i eoc and have to turn, it first turns like no power steering which is fine, but after i put a certain amount of force on the wheel, it abruptly kicks in and causes some serious issues with trying to perform nice controlled turns. It's like you have 10lbs of resistance till you get to 1/4 turn and then 0lbs resistance in a split second. Very hard not to jerk the car really bad in the direction of the turn. Anyone else have these issues? It's nice afterwards because the power steering stays on and turns are as easy as with the car on. Just curious if there is someway to disable it while the car is off or maybe if you only put a certain amount of force on it it doesn't engage? I don't want to eoc into turns anymore because of it, but it's great for getting to work and i turn it off and coast into the lot and then into a spot.

Also forgot to mention, sometimes when eoc'ing to a stop and i start to use the brakes, my anti-lock brakes have been kicking in on dry pavement, but only with the engine off, any ideas?

Edit: Yes i do turn it back to on after killing the engine

Daox · 07-31-2008, 04:29 PM

You turn your ignition back to "On" or "Run" once you engine off, right?

MetroMPG · 07-31-2008, 04:38 PM

I'd be looking for a way to enable the power assist during EOC rather than disable it, assuming it's no more complicated.

EDIT: no ideas about the ABS.

But I do wonder what would happen if you set up a kill switch rather than keying off and back on again. It may be a potential solution to both problems.

slurp812 · 07-31-2008, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dann_04

Hi, i have a 2003 civic si with electronic power steering. It is great because there is no pully to steal power from the engine and it only causes more load on the alternator when being used. But my problem is that when i eoc and have to turn, it first turns like no power steering which is fine, but after i put a certain amount of force on the wheel, it abruptly kicks in and causes some serious issues with trying to perform nice controlled turns. It's like you have 10lbs of resistance till you get to 1/4 turn and then 0lbs resistance in a split second. Very hard not to jerk the car really bad in the direction of the turn. Anyone else have these issues? It's nice afterwards because the power steering stays on and turns are as easy as with the car on. Just curious if there is someway to disable it while the car is off or maybe if you only put a certain amount of force on it it doesn't engage? I don't want to eoc into turns anymore because of it, but it's great for getting to work and i turn it off and coast into the lot and then into a spot.

Also forgot to mention, sometimes when eoc'ing to a stop and i start to use the brakes, my anti-lock brakes have been kicking in on dry pavement, but only with the engine off, any ideas?

I get the same thing, its not you turning it, its time. Mine always takes about 10-15 seconds to kick back in. Turn off a little sooner, and wait, it will steer like normal once it kicks back in.

slurp812 · 07-31-2008, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I'd be looking for a way to enable the power assist during EOC rather than disable it, assuming it's no more complicated.

EDIT: no ideas about the ABS.

But I do wonder what would happen if you set up a kill switch rather than keying off and back on again. It may be a potential solution to both problems.

Oh and I am working on a kill switch. I am going to try and switch off the fuel pump. its the easiest to get to from inside the car. If I ever get around to it, I will post pics. I actually have a relay to use, and have had the back seat out looking at it. I just need a switch, and some time....

dann_04 · 07-31-2008, 08:31 PM

hmmm... i guess maybe it is a time limit lol. Anyway i don't know if a kill switch would help. In normal cars the engine dies and the pully stops so the power steering stops...so in ours i guess it wouldn't reset the circuit so maybe it would work. I dunno, i just started eocing this tank so we'll se what i get. My last tank was 37.86, it's rated for 25 and i'm shooting for 40. As for killing it via the fuel pump i don't know if that's a good idea, because normally there is still some pressure(on most cars to change fuel filter you pull the fuel pump fuse and run the car till it dies(takes like 30 seconds sometimes)) so you would hit the kill which would kill the pump then you would run until your engine got lean enough to die. Doesn't sound good for the engine to me. I'll try to look/think of a different area to hook up a switch to easily. But if you do do it let me know how it turns out.

Does your si take like 3 cranks to start every time even when warm?(i mean you hold the key and the engine turns 2-3 times before start up) Just asking because on my old metro and escort you just had to barely make contact with the key and the thing roared to life. This one seems to take the same amount of time to start regardless of temperature or amount of time running.

bhazard · 07-31-2008, 09:07 PM

Yea if you kill the pump the car could take a while to die. And then when youre ready to start back up there wont be any fuel pressure built up and it could take a few seconds to start.

slurp812 · 08-01-2008, 07:28 PM

Hmmm.. Well maybe I will have to look at spark. I can do the injectors, but I would have to hack at the wiring harness, and I want to avoid that. the fuse has several things on it, like the ECU. once that gets shut off, I think that also kills the power steering...

steensn · 08-02-2008, 03:21 PM

Slip Control (ABS) integration expert here. You ABS or ESC system will not work in accesory mode at all. If you key the car back into ignition without turning the car on the ABS module will turn back on. It should not activate at all, but you could have a faulty module, probably Advics or Bosch who's failsafing is jacked up. If you think it is doing it while the car is in acc then you are mistaking it for something else.

slurp812 · 08-02-2008, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dann_04

Does your si take like 3 cranks to start every time even when warm?(i mean you hold the key and the engine turns 2-3 times before start up) Just asking because on my old metro and escort you just had to barely make contact with the key and the thing roared to life. This one seems to take the same amount of time to start regardless of temperature or amount of time running.

I spins a few times, yes. but of course always starts...