john6000777

Hello Everyone,

I have a 2001 S2000 with 118,xxx miles on it. Currently, the EPS light is on and my power steering does not work. The light first turned on after a trip to the supermarket. I was never given any signs of it failing on the way there, but, when I went to turn on the car to head back home, the EPS light came on and I drove home without power steering. In the following days, the power steering would work only on some days. If at startup, the EPS light was not on, then the power steering would work completely normally. If at startup, the EPS light was on, the power steering would not work for that trip. The power steering would never cut out mid-trip and would drive completely normal if on startup the EPS light was off. But, as time went on, the rare occurrences of the EPS light being off on startup gradually became less and less until today where the EPS light is always on.

Now, here is the weird part, these symptoms all began as the Connecticut weather got colder and colder in the fall/winter. As the weather got colder, my chances of the EPS light being off on startup went lower and lower. Eventually, the cold weather got to the point where the EPS light is always on and my power steering does not work at all. Now, on the EXTREMELY cold days before I put the car away for the winter, I would startup the car to what would feel like a completely frozen steering rack. The only way for me to "unfreeze" the steering rack was by leaving the car on for about 30 minutes and snapping the steering wheel side to side until the wheels broke loose. Now, as spring is approaching, I want to take the car out of storage and have this power steering issue fixed. Today, I took the car out for a spin and the power steering still does not work.

Next Steps:
What do you guys suggest my next steps be? I do not want to go to the extreme of purchasing a completely new steering rack when it could possibly be just a small component causing these issues. I also feel it is important to mention that I do need to change the tie rods on the driver's side. Let me also add that ever since the cold weather came in, there have been a few times where it seems as if my ignition button would not work. But, if I pop start the car and turn it off again, the ignition button would work as if nothing ever happened. Overall, I guess s2000s and the cold do not mix. What do you all suggest I do?

Thank you!

windhund116

Have you tried the "paperclip trick?" Read the flashing code, off the dash console. Description is in below link.

"All you have to do is jump the 9 and 4 pins on the gray HDS plug(rectangle plug, cant miss it) and the EPS light will blink a certain number. Long blinks equal ten and short blink equal 1. So, for example if you have 3 long blinks and one short blink it will equal code 31. let me know what code it throws and I will set you straight from my helms manual or you can google it but I'm more than happy to help you with anything I can."


OBDII plug. Number layout.




Good luck!

EPS link

outeiroj

first step is to pull the code... could be something as simple as a bad connection. I'm also in connecticut... if you don't have access to a scan tool I can probably help you out with that. but honestly without having a code or additional info its very hard to steer you in an accurate direction

john6000777

After doing the paperclip test, I got the codes:

23
33
3
14

Any ideas?

windhund116

Sounds like you may need a new EPS unit.

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-un...-codes-961911/