I did search, and found a bunch of threads, but no real answers...

What fuse / fuses should I check? My car is an early 2003 build, so the PS fan and engine fan are on the same fuse, but I'm not sure exactly what fuse that is. I saw reference to F5 - so I checked fuse 5 in the passenger compartment fuse box. the picture on the cover of the fuse box for fuse 5 is a couple of dial looking things. I also saw reference to a mysterious 100 amp fuse under the fuse box in the engine bay. And some other fuse in the engine bay fuse box. So, just what can / should I check?

Fluid? I looked at what I'm pretty sure is the power steering fluid level. Black ball-shaped container with a screw cap that says "CHF 11 S only". There's lots of clean looking, but black fluid in there.

I can spin the power steering cooling fan (the little computer fan looking thing under the front of the car) by hand easily.

No strange noises came from the car before the power steering gave up. Now, I have no power steering "whine" when I move the wheel with the car stationary, and no power assist - so I can just barely turn the steering wheel with the car stationary.

My closest dealership is 200 miles away, so if there's a fuse or something I can check / replace myself before I drive 3 hours to a dealership (with no power steering), that would be great!

I realize there are a bunch of different power steering failures that are possible:

stuck PS cooling fan

loss of PS fluid (into steering rack?)

something that causes loud noises when turning the steering wheel

Mine doesn't seem to be any of those...

 

Did you check it? According to the Bentley manual, it (FL4) is the fuse for the electric power steering pump.

 

Not yet. A 100 amp fuse sounds like something I shouldn't be messing with, and the fact that it's in a location that isn't easily accesible reinforces that thought.

So just how do I find this fuse to look at it?

 

along with checking the fan to see if it's stuck you also did check to make sure it was still plugged in right?

 

So, the power steering fan is on fuse 5 i nthe engine bay fuse box, not the passenger compartment fuse box. Doesn't matter as both of the fuses are good.

I checked the electrical wires / plug going into the power steering fan, and it's connected and looks fine.

Still no power steering.

Next idea?

I will be calling my dealership Monday morning no matter what, but if I could have power steering for the drive to the dealership, that would be nice.

 

I had to access the underside of the fuse box when I retrofitted OEM front fog lights. You're right, it is not easy to access. You have to unscrew the fuse box so it can be tilted up to expose the underside. The underside is covered with a shroud for the incoming harnesses, and it was difficult to remove. If you are in fact managing to blow a 100 amp fuse, it might be best to let the dealer handle it.

 

I had my power steering go out the other day, but it came back after restarting the car. I was manuevering in a tight space lock to lock and it just disappeared and the temp gauge in the chrono pack started fluctuating wildly. After restarting the clock in the tach was reset also. Evverything seems normal now. Not sure what happened.

 

Sounds like a bad power steering servo motor to me. Let us all know what it sets you back to replace. I for one knew that the power steering pump would probably be one of the repairs I had in my future when I bought my '06 earlier this month. Must be some reason they decided to go with a servo motor design instead of an engine driven design. Anybody have any idea why? Seems to me the power steering pump drawing 100 Amps would put a huge load on the alternator so any improvement in engine performance by making the steering pump independent is lost by extra effort to crank the alternator. Or am I missing something here??

 

My motor went out once or twice before failing completely. Driving it to the dealer without it was a bear. Cost was somewhere in the $800 range.

 

New power steering pump / motor was installed, $575.

 

I have had problems with my 2002 mcs for 2 or 3 years now. First the fuse, if the same as mine, is in the little short row, second one down 5 amp. Anyway, just keep pulling fuses until you find one burnt. I have had a new fan motor, new wiring harness, and new altenator to try to cure this. This weekend I started blowing fuses again, no rhyme nor reason, sometimes under hard driving, sometimes stopped in traffic, sometimes when I start the car. I called the dealer Saturday with 49,800 on the clock. It is now over 50k so I am anxious to see what kind of issue I will have here. I don't know if I could lemon law them, but I really don't want to change cars. Anybody else with similair experienc?