Don't know if i am doing this right as a newbe, but here goes. I have a 2006 IS350 RWD at 180K miles. Last week the power steering would stiffen up when I was making a turn under acceleration. I checked the blogs and found a guy who said to clean the connector pins on the steering ECU which I did. Worked well for 1 day then lost all power steering and now have a PS light, a ABS light and Trac light. Took it to Lexus Service and was diagnosed as a bad PS ECU and wiring harness for a $4,600.00 repair. Considering that is 1/2 the resale value, I'm caught between a rock and hard place. I find it hard to believe the ECU AND harness both went bad. Sounds like a SWAG by the tech. Anyone have the same problem and what was your outcome and cost. Comments appreciated.

 

Seems like you did something while cleaning the connector pins. Was it dry when you put it back together? After the problem did you go back and check the wiring connectors? Perhaps maybe you didn't attach them properly?

I bought an ISF ecu for about $500 so the majority of the cost is probably for the wiring harness.

 

I find it VERY difficult to believe a wiring harness just "went bad". More than likely either you didn't reattach the ECU fully or the ECU itself did crap out. First, double-check that the ECU was reinstalled correctly. Then if it is, look onto a replacement ECU, like from Ebay.

 

Man get a used one. Will work as new.

 

Seems like lately a lot of early 2IS models are having steering issues. Did the dealer want to replace the whole engine harness? I don't think it's a separate item going just to the steering ECU. Like mentioned above it's hard to believe that the harness could go bad. Unless it was cut or mangled bad enough to be worthless.

 

So I took my car to the dealer for an intermittent power steering fail. They replaced the ecu and repaired a wire and said that it was fixed. Several days later the electric power steering failed again. This time the dealer wants to put in a new wiring harness as they are stating there is a short? Plz respond if you have seen this problem before.

 

Can't answer your question but "electrical shorts" means energy goes to ground and A) fuses are blown. B) wires and connectors are burned.

That said I doubt it is a short. 95% of the time when harnesses are damaged it is at junction/plugin connector where pins meet. That said I would place my bets on it being something else if physical inspection of connectors is good.

Like maybe the sensor in the column or the PS rack itself. Maybe roll the dice on a used rack from junkyard?

 

Any updates on this? I brought my car to a dealer for a power steering issue and they said one of the wires was not seated to the ECU properly. They fixed it for $175 and it worked fine for a bit but started acting up again. Now they’re saying there is a short and I need a new wiring harness and want to charge me another $650.

 

Well guys I too stated this issue over a month ago but, I had more problems. Luckily my boy hooked me up and fixed everything but the power steering issue; mine is constant no P/S from the start position. I rarely have time to work on the car but I'm going to start at the P/S ecu and go from there. This has been a problem with many IS's and I'm surprised it's not a recall because I believe it's a safety issue. I think the 06's have a recall on it but, I'm not for certain?

 

Years ago, there was a recall for the rack, on our 2006 model. Supposedly the rack wasn't sealed and the welds on the assembly was problematic. It was three years old. I let them change it out,
I watched part of the process, its was pretty straight forward. That was in 2009/2010 ( can't remember for sure) and haven't had any issues since. I was looking for the numbers, and paperwork, but can't find it, I will.
sorry that yours has quit. It usually is good & reliable.
ask them about that recall years ago.
best regards.