I had previously been posted in this thread, but rather than continue to hijack it, starting a new one...

Quick recap - P/S light on dash came on out of nowhere. Steering never felt weird or anything leading up to the light coming on, it just stopped working one day. I checked connections, things look fine so I purchased a used unit off of eBay (89650-53082), and plugged it in. The light is gone, however, power steering hasn't returned - it might be slightly better than before, but probably safer to say it's still not working. I've only backed it off and back on to ramps (took the opportunity to do an oil change as well), so the car hasn't moved more than 10' total.

I managed to fully drain the battery during the 2.5-3 weeks the car didn't move, so I took the battery to get charged and tested and it came back good.

Any chance the unit needs to be calibrated even though it was used? Or do I need to drive around a bit or something before the car recognizes it?

 

Recalibrate the steering ecu but you first need to clear the stored error code. It should work perfectly afterwards.

 

The PN provided looks like an 11-13 F-Sport. Those are slightly stiffer than stock.

They also change input with speed so my question is this. If stopped is it a two hand effort to steer full left or right from center or will a couple fingers in the spokes be enough to steer it?
If the later, go drive it and see how it feels.

 

I never got a CEL, but I'll ask the shop to clear codes before re-calibrating anyway.

It's a two hand effort; seems like I need to go find someone with Teachsteam to calibrate it.

 

So it never showed the PS light on the dash?
If so, that's strange. If it's a 2 hand effort, you definitely need to get it recalibrated, it takes less than 5 minutes.

 

Yeah, the P/S light came on, but not CEL. I guess I was assuming the P/S would not have generated a stored code - I'm probably wrong.

 

First step to get this sorted will be to get the code cleared then recalibrate the PS ecu, it will ask to turn the steering wheel left or right more than 90 degrees then center the wheel, the steering wheel will vibrate for few seconds, then it will indicate process complete. From there the steering wheel will feel normal again.

 

Have you looked under the car at the R&P to confirm all wires and cables are okay? Like some road debris didn't damage something?

PS - OBD Fusion App and the Lexus PID pack $20 total, allow you to see inputs and checks associated with the rack and most of the rest of the car too. Its worth every penny for troubleshooting.
​​rack.I recall looking at live steering angle data, motor temperature of rack, current draw of rack when steering vs going straight. It might be helpful.

 

Yeah, I took a quick look at the 3 plugs under the car and they didn't appear damaged. If the R&P were bad, do you know if it would trigger a CEL or any other warning lights?

 

Id say yes, as the VDIM interaction uses the PS/brakes to prevent us from going sideways and all that jazz.

 

I have 2011 lexus is250 and I have a little bit stiff steering system when the car is stopping and moving as well, when I speed 120 km/h and try to turn left or right I feel the steering is hard to turn with one hand. the problem is really annoying me.

what can I do?

is it something related with SAS?
there is no power steering light on the dashboard.

 

Finally got around to finding a shop with Techstream to get the ECU calibrated. That fixed it and I have power steering again. The F Sport ECU feels slightly stiffer than the regular one, but it's not a big difference IMO.

In case anyone is wondering, no, I did not drive around for the past 6 weeks or so without power steering... haha The car sat around - a lot! One of the benefits of now working fully remotely I suppose; or drawbacks, given the lack of urgency to get the car fixed... Depends on your perspective I guess! haha

Thanks to everyone who provided input!

 

And that was an ebay used steering ECU (EPS unit)?

Glad that fixed it!

 

Correct, it was a used ECU from eBay. Supposedly from a 2011 IS250 F Sport, seller included the VIN, but I didn't do any sort of verification on that.