Hello, All.

I recently had my power steering light come on and took it to my local Toyota dealership to have it diagnosed. When the indicator light would come I no longer had power steering. I would restart it the car and all was well until it decided to act up again. After a day and a half of them trying to replicate the problem they determined that the P/S CPU is bad and is why the problem is intermittent.

Would anyone here know how to replace the CPU? I was quoted a price of $1300 to get it a new one installed. However, I found a used one that works for $200 and will do the work myself. Just need to know where it is in the engine compartment and any whammies I may run into while doing completing the work.

Any help or suggestions I would really appreciate.

Thanks, All.

 

are they sure its the PS CPU? i had the same situation and my rack and pinion went on my car. There is a recall for the rack and pinion. take a look into it and see if yours has been replaced already.

Heres my thread i made, may help you

another thread that may help you

 

IX, I did have the recall taken care of back in 2009.

 

does a CEL go off when this happens? Just go to your local auto parts store with the car still on and have them run a OBD scanner to see what it is (if a CEL does indeed come on though).

GL OP! I've never had this problem before *crosses fingers*

 

I would clean the terminals before replacing the unit

 

Funny you mention that, ibidu1. I mentioned that to the mechanic and apparently he made sure to look at it but to be honest I haven't see if he actually cleaned them or not. I will say that during my last oil change at my local Lexus dealer they recommended that I change the battery cable because it was corroded. However, I looked it myself and the only side that was somewhat corroded was the negative pole. And I don't think it was bad enough to completely stop the P/S CPU from working correctly. But, I'm no mechanic and I could be wrong. I figured since the car started that meant there was good battery cable contact?

Since I've gotten my car back from the mechanic I haven't had any issues. Yet. I may wait until it fails again before proceeding with the repair while keeping an eye on my battery cable to make sure it's clear of any corrosion.

Xx, the only indicator light that came on was the P/S light so far.

 

Quick Update:

On day 3 and power steering still working even though I have not replaced the ECU.

 

Food for though:

If you feel weary of purchasing a replacement grounds cable or power cables, you can tap an extra wire on the side, approximately 4-gauge power wire (preferably higher end car audio power cables), and connect them parallel to the sources of your OEM wires.

That way you can see if it eliminates the P/S issue.

 

Day 8 and no problems with my P/S yet. Really reluctant at this point to replace the ECU.

 

dont, unless you absolutely have to

 

Before fixing the ground - how many days would the car go without the issue?

 

Angus, my power steering gave me fits on my way to work Friday morning. On the way home it just failed. I stopped and started the car once I got home and it was intermittent at that point. I let it sit over the weekend and took it into the shop on a Monday morning. They had it a day and a half. It was working fine when I drove it in. It hasn't failed since I've had it back. I'm really leaning towards the ground on this one. I've got a used ECU sitting in a box ready for install. Looks like I may have it up for grabs if this keeps up.

 

Sorry to bump this old thread, but my P/S died tonight.

Tried disconnecting the battery but still dead.

Car is almost impossible to drive now.

Guessing I will try a used ECU and see.

 

My first GS300 had this issue.
I went out to start my car and no PS.

There is a recall that took care of it for me at no cost.
I called the dealer and they came out and towed my car and dropped off a loaner for me. Lexus of Westminster.

Good luck! =)

 

+1 On that note