No Power Steering on 2016 Arctic Cat 700 TBX

[Shadowace]

I have a 2016 artic cat 700 tbx seems like the power steering is not working what some obvious things that I can check.tks.in advance. 

[Gwbarm]

I would check the battery voltage and make sure you have a good connection and voltage there, the speed sensor and throttle position sensor are also involved you may check for a good connection there, are you getting any trouble codes on the cluster, and what exactly is it doing or not doing.

[Shadowace]

I put a new battery in and cleaned the terminals there is just no power Sterling, hard to turn when stopped. My old battery was pretty bad I wonder if lack of voltage could burn something out ?

[Gwbarm]

I dont think it would have burned anything out, but it could have gotten low enough you might need to do a reset 

[Shadowace]

I thought swapping out batteries would of reset but if not how do I do a reset ? 

[Mech]

Have you checked the fuses and relays ? Is the dash flashing at you, or got lights on ?

[Mech]

Ok, found the manual.. It says to check for 12v at the control module and at the power steering unit.

It does say though that not all models have power steer, so..  Does the power steering connect to the battery with it's own separate wires ? Did you get those wires reconnected when you had the battery out ? Have you checked those wires for breaks right where the wire enters it's metal terminal ?

[Shadowace]

You know what maybe I missed a wire .I will check that tomorrow and also voltage at steering box .This site is awesome and thanks for all the info.I hate not knowing why something is not working and paying somebody else to fix it , and quite honestly I've seen so many shady dealers I don't trust any of them . At least if you pretend you know what your talking about they may not try to take advantage. 

[Shadowace]

Still  working on it. 

[Mech]

#8..  Absolutely right about knowing what's what before you go see a mechanic.. I've told lots of young fellahs, mates of my sons or children of my peers, that learning how things work, and to fix them, is a good idea even if you eventually decide to let someone else take care of your cars/bikes. It keeps them out of the clutches of rouge mechanics.

And if you know how to fix your bike or quad.. it makes you al lot more adventurous.

Adventures are always good..

[Shadowace]

So still can't get ot working. I have 12 volts at the unit .I checked the fuses all are good I'm not getting any codes on the dash that others say they are getting .When I pulled the fuse fir power steering the code did show on dash but went away when I put the fuse back in .If there is a control module we're is it located ? I'm not lazy I've been looking around the web and can't find to much about it .I'll have to see if I can eventually down load the manual on this site and see what I can find out .Again as always thanks for your help.

[Mech]

You should be able to get the manual now.. I think you only need ten posts and you are up to fifteen..

Have a try at downloading. If it won't allow it I'll cut the chapter out of the manual and post it for you.

[Mech]

Here..  It's only three pages. This is from the 2016 Alterra 500,550,700. I think it will be the same.

output.pdf

[Shadowace]

Thanks again 

[Mech]

No trouble.

If you need the wiring diagram yell out.

[Shadowace]

Yes Mech , I found a wireing diagram but there is no power steering in it.Im hopping not but maybe it's just the eps is shot I need to keep looking and see how I can confirm that it's shot.

[Mech]

Hmmm.. You're right. It's mighty hard to find the wiring for the EPS. It's shown in later model wiring where it was fitted by default but I wouldn't depend on those.

I found this though...

2010_Power_Steering_Addendum.pdf

[Mech]

Any idea where or what the diode they mention is ?

[Shadowace]

I have 14.4 volts at the poer steering box.I have no codes being displayed. I talked to dealer they say very unlikely the ps box is faulty and trow a code if it was.I jacked the bike up and everything is moving freely. The weird thing is I can't find d the 30 Amp fuse in the fuse box or the .I have attached pics . Becuse im confused as why it dont have the fuse or the relay for ps .I took a pic of the ps unit to confirm that is what i think it is , and its marked artic cat not aftermarket  .Tks.

[Shadowace]

Just noticed lookin at my own pics I do see the eps fuse it is a 10 instead of a 30 Amp.Not sure if that would make a difference. It isn't blown though so I'm thinking all should be good .

[Mech]

We need to bear in mind that this only developed after you'd changed the battery..  Right ? Or had it been playing up with the old battery ?

I think I'd pull all the relays and see which one cut the power to the unit, then do the same with the fuses. That would confirm what was what. The fuse is lower center and the relay should be lower left. You did see that last pdf I posted ?

Then I'd try and find that diode it mentions. It should be right top or second down. If the battery had been connected backwards for an instance it could have blown the diode, and when the old battery was low voltage that can cause excess current draw which might have damaged the diode.

I'd check the kill switch carefully. It may be a double pole switch and one pole/contact might not be working.

Most of that though should have set a code. About the only thing not listed as a code is a worn or stuck brush in the PS motor, though it may be a stepper/brushless motor anyway..  The common cause in cars when there is no code set is either that it's a mechanical fault, or the power supply or earth is the problem and at the instant it's occurring the computer isn't powered and can't log a code !

So... I'd check the 14.4v didn't drop when it got a load on it. To put an electrical load on the EPS unit you have to put some force on the steering. I'd do that and see if the voltage dropped right down, which would mean there's a bad connection in the power or earth supply( you have checked all earths ?), or if it dropped slightly which would indicate the unit is trying to work but perhaps the motor's brushes are stuck or worn out, or if it didn't drop voltage at all in which case it would mean there was something wrong with the control unit or the EPS electronics.

I'd check for voltage drop at the EPS control unit too when it had a load being applied to the EPS

[Gwbarm]

Great advise Mech! I think you covered it well. I did notice in the PDF it said if no codes are tripped its not electronic its mechanical.

[Shadowace]

Yes thanks mech .I did hook up the battery the wrong way .Duh wtf was I thinking so there is hope again for me I will have to find that diode have no idea we're to look tbough .I think the steering failed the day the battery died , not positive but I think so probably wasn't working because of low voltage and I know I did hook up the battery in reverse so that .makes since.I aks read that you have to Rev the engine up to 2700 rpm .for 45 seconds to get it to trip and then it will stay on so tomorrow I will do that . Is a diode close to fuse bank I don't even know what  it should look like .I guess I'm asking what would be some good places to look .Tks again for the info I would be  totally lost otherwise. 

[Mech]

Thanks Gw.

Ah well then Shadow, that starts to make sense.. lets hope it's only the diode.. Trouble is, if the diode goes it's meant to set a code. It may have blown something else, like obviously the PS unit or the control, or even the power supply module those things have.. We hope not.

The diode is shown in that pdf as being in with the fuses and relays, third column from the left and the top two. They are both shown as diodes. Your bike appears to have fuses in there.. Check if they are blown. And.. you know how to test a diode huh ...

One of the manuals I was reading said that all the relays in the fuse box are the same and can be interchanged. I'd try swapping the EPS relay.

[Mech]

Is everything else on the bike still working ? Fan, lights , charging, gauge..

[Shadowace]

Yes everything else works. If you look at the picture I attached I don't have the diodes on my fuse box like  on your pdf.i have another picture  attached. 

[Shadowace]

So the latest .I pulled the 30 Amp fuse no code so ran it for at least 1 minute and no code.Then I pulled the relay and did the same ,no code ,then I pulled both harnesses of the ps unit and did the same no code , this doesn't seem to make any sense to me at all. I also phoned the dealer it is $ 2600.00 plus 15% tax for a new one I can't see making that happen .

[Gwbarm]

Thats a crazy price. Can you take the old one off and see if you can figure out whats wrong, i know there are no replaceable parts, but still may be repairable. Whats really bothering me is you unplugged all the electrics and still no code, so the computer thinks that it is still operating as it should, so maybe it is internally grounded or not grounded, havent looked at wiring diagram, causing the computer to think everything is fine.

[Mech]

Neither the PS unit nor the control unit can log a code if the fuse or relay that supplies them with power is disconnected, or if the earth's disconnected, or if the units are unplugged. Shadowace had disconnected something earlier and got a code so it is working.

Shadow, what does the writing say under those two fuses ? I can't quite make it out. And if you pull those fuses, does it disable whatever they are labeled as ?

[Shadowace]

To the right of the 30 Amp fuse bottom left is the main . To  the right is eps  . I unplugged the the fan and got a code but also i unpluged the relay for the fan and got a code .May be if I left the power  harness on the eps but took of the other harness it would send a code ? It didn't trigger ra code with the harness plugged in when I removed the fuse or the relay.