I am about to tackle the re-greasing of the torque sensor on my 2004 AP2. I am getting the choppy steering (especially when cold here in FL) with no warning lights or any other problems. I bought the torx security bit to open it up and have the Honda urea grease ready.

Two questions:
1. Do/should you mark the TS spline with the steering coupler when removing it with a marker? I am thinking it would be easier to get it back aligned the 1st time.
2. If you get the TS alignment right, do you need to do the EPS relearn? That looks annoying.

Any other tips?

 

Lol

Yes, its easier to center the rack if you mark it.

The EPS torque sensor reset is a good idea afterwards. Not sure why that is a pain in the ass, compared to everything else you need to do.

 

Great! Thanks for the feedback. I will mark it to try and make life easy.

 

I marked everything but still don't understand the purpose. Marking the torque sensor is irrelevant. What matters is that the wheels are straight and the steering wheel is straight when the coupler is reattached. I was off by a notch or two and had to disconnect and reattach it both times I removed the TS. Having another person in the car to hold the steering wheel straight probably would've helped.

My car seemed to work fine before I did the relearn procedure, but I did it anyway. No big deal.

Before you uncouple the steering column, tie down the steering wheel so it doesn't spin 360° and ruin your clock spring.

Re-greasing my torque sensor didn't fix anything and I had to replace it. But who knows how long the moron previous owner drove it like that. If yours is in the early stages of failure, you might have better luck. On the plus side, I was a lot faster doing it the second time...

 

This is great feedback. I never thought to tie down the wheel. I was thinking the anti-theft whatever would kick it if it tried to move, but I will tie it down and try to keep it straight to be certain. I haven't logged many miles on mine since it started to studder when turning as it's not my daily, so I figured I can try a regrease before spending the $$$ on a new one. Thanks for the tips!

 

Yes, if you remove the key or put it in the lock position, the steering column should lock and prevent the steering wheel from turning. But given how trivial it is to tie the steering wheel (I used the side mirror...) versus how much of a PITA it would be if the clock spring broke, I decided to be extra careful.

 

Yes, lock the wheel by removing the key and mark the shaft alignment.

Keeping the centering of the rack is important to keep the same amount of turns lock to lock. Thats why you mark it.

Or you could spend a bit of time re-centering it by measuring the steering wheel turns from center...and then moving the coupler a notch or 2 to adjust it.

...Or just mark it with the wheel locked. And dont pull on the tie rods to un-center the rack while its all apart.