I recently picked up my S2000 from a guy who had let it sit a whole year. When he left it, power steering was working just fine and when I purchased it, it had no power steering. I was able to get it to come back by unplugging the connector on top of the sensor but this only partially brought it back and it became harder to turn right than left. This was only a temporary solution as it would cut out after a day. I got power steering to last longer by spraying the connectors with Deoxit D5 which it to stay on for multiple days at a time but now even that’s not working. After spraying it and getting power steering back on, it will cut out mid drive so I need a permanent solution. Is getting a new power steering unit my only/best option now?
Don’t know if the specifics of my problem have been talked about before but if it has please link me to it

 

You have to remove clean and grease the inside of the plastic slip ring, so that it moves smoothly. That's step two after ruling out the relearn procedure. Step 3 is to replace the unit.

 

Of course it was...

-- Chuck

 

Try re-greasing the EPS torque sensor (look up how to do it.) Sounds like you are borderline so this might fix your issue.

It did not fix mine but made it slightly better. But my EPS was bad when I bought the car and the previous owner was a total moron, so who knows how long he drove it like that. Replacing my EPS sensor with a new AP2 sensor ($460!) fixed my car.

 

I have a similar issue with my 2003. These issues came about after letting it sit a lot in the garage during the pandemic. My steering hasn't crapped out yet, but it does the following:
1. Started the car once and wheel swung 1/2 to 3/4 turn to the left, banging on the stop twice. Then it just stopped.
2. After #1, and occasionally at other times, it'll turn roughly to one side and smoothly to the other.

it's gotten to the point I fire up the car and turn the wheel to both stops and it behaves well after that.

And it did indeed work when I put it away.

 

Sounds a lot like gummed up grease.

You can probably just keep doing the left right thing before each drive, and if you resume driving it regularly the grease will loosen up.

But there is always the risk it'll freak out while driving, and it'll do the turn left thing while you're driving. You might be able to muscle it and override, but reaction time might still mean you're dead before you get a chance to.

So you really ought to do the steering sensor regrease. Not difficult. Not likely to find a shop willing to do it, as official repair is replace sensor, which is expensive and unavailable. They'll just want to replace with used one, which will eventually have same issue.

If you don't have ability to do the job, suggest buy used steering sensor, do the regrease diy on that yourself. Just need place to work and some simple tools. Then bring refreshed sensor to shop to swap. Then sell your old sensor.

 

This is what some people assume, because the AP1 part number is no longer available. But the AP2 sensor is a direct replacement. I tried re-greasing my EPS sensor with no luck. The slip ring was probably too worn out and loose.

Fitting a new AP2 sensor into my MY2000 fixed the issue.

 

Yes, but even the ap2 sensor is difficult to find anymore

 

I bought mine last month from hondaautomotiveparts.com. It was in stock.

 

Nice! I thought I recalled people having trouble ordering them.