2005 Honda Civic Hybrid Electric Power Steering. NOT working

SAMMOWRY6

MEMBER
2005 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID
MANUAL
110,000 MILES

I was driving to school and all of a sudden I realized it was very hard to steer. It was perfectly fine the day before, so it's not like it was slowly getting worse. Once I got home that day I looked under the hood to find a place to put the fluid, thinking this would be a simple fix. I couldn't find one so I looked in the owner's manual and found something about the EPS light, which is on, and I read that the power steering is electric. I have searched what I am supposed to do about it but I can't find anything helpful. My car has been this way for a couple of weeks and I really need to know what I am supposed to do to fix it. I don't know much about cars, so I need a detailed answer that will help me get to where I need to go to get this fixed. Also, I would like to know the cheap route to fix it and possibly a price estimate. I am wondering if this is just a small electrical issue, or maybe a pump failure of some sort. I would like to know if this is a common problem, and the level of difficulty to fix it. Thank you very much for your help!

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,755 POSTS

This is definitely not a do-it-yourself repair. A lot of independent shops won't even work on these systems due to lack of training and fear of liability issues if it fails and causes you to have a crash. Also, the electric / hydraulic steering gears are very expensive. If a shop owner orders one and it doesn't solve the problem, what will they do with the part?

We don't get involved with costs here because there's way too many variables. We don't even know what's wrong yet. There could be a simple corroded electrical connection or something broken in the steering gear. Those steering assemblies on Nissans can cost over $5000.00. Yours may not be that expensive, but at least you can see why there's no way to determine what the repair will cost.

Your best bet is to visit the dealer. They will have the training and special tools to diagnose the problem.