No Power Steering on 2016 Arctic Cat 700 TBX

[Gwbarm]

Just a thought i am not really familiar with Arctic Cat.

[Mech]

I found the right manual at last. The later models don't have the diode in the fuse box.

This should be your wiring diagram.

There are three places the permanently live red wire from the battery goes to on the fuse box, one of which is the EPS fuse then to  the EPS relays live terminal, and the other two go to main and memory fuses.. If the battery had been momentarily connected backwards, the EPS fuse and relay's live terminal should have been a dead end circuit with no current flow. The reverse battery shouldn't have hurt things in the EPS circuit as long as the key had been off. If everything else is still working then it would seem nothing else has been damaged either.

I'd check those three wires going from the EPS to the diagnostic and the dash for continuity using the beeper on my gauge.

output.pdf

[Mech]

I'd double check all the fuses had power and continuity too..

[Shadowace]

I did turn on key with battery  hooked up in reverse that's how I knew it was hooked up wrong. I will Chek the things Gwbarm mentioned  tomorrow. Again I can't say enough how I appreciate your help. 

[Mech]

No trouble. We all need a hand some times.

[Shadowace]

Hi guys  checked all the wiring I can't find any issues at all with it , must be the power steering  box .I guess I learn to li e without  power steering or both the bullet and spend 3 Gs on a new box.

[Gwbarm]

I would take the unit out put voltage directly to it and see what happens, that would be what i would do. Its possible the motor is stuck maybe could free it up.

[Shadowace]

Worth a try .Big job to do that though. 

[Mech]

The diagnosis does seem to be that the unit is crook. Given the circumstances it's possible/likely that it's blown a diode or some other electronic part that can be replaced. I'd take it apart and remove the electronic board/unit and see if I could repair it.

If it's old fashioned electronics with the components soldered through a base board, it's likely to be repairable. If it's the new surface mounted components then I'd doubt you'll get anyone to fix it. If it's the old through board style electronics you'll probably see the blown component and someone will be able to find a substitute, hopeing that it's only the obviously blown things that are crook.

[Mech]

I'd check the voltage at the PS unit though, with the wire plugged in, and with the steering turned to hard lock, watching the voltage drop..

Just having enough power at the plug to run a multi-meter doesn't necessarily mean there is enough power there to run a motor. People get caught out by this all the time. You need to check for voltage to a unit, with a bit of a load on the circuit.

[Shadowace]

That makes since I will give that a go as well.

[Shadowace]

So I played with it again this morning and seems to be consistent power on the main unit I found what looks like a port were the wires connect to the motor .So put the tester on it no reading at all .So I'm guessing no power getting to the motor.So I hooked it directly to the battery and nothing. I thought forsure it would attempt to start the motor , but nothing .I took a pic of the internet of somebody else's ps box just to show you what I'm talking about .The only difference is the one in the picture looks all black mine is nice and shiny. 

[Shadowace]

So I found some more pics The yellow sticker Is were I'm talking about .What would 3 terminals be for ?

[Gwbarm]

Did you have voltage on the wire that plugs into the terminal, or does the voltage only get there when you go to turn. If voltage is there all the time, then there must be a sensor internally that sends voltage to the motor when pressure is applied for turning.

[Shadowace]

There is voltage on terminal we're it plugs in main supply. Didn't change with turning the  handlebars. On the other side shown In the picture, I would think I'm bypassing the electronics in the ps unit.There is 3 terminals I'm guessing because it's a 3 phase dc  motor. So one should be a ground , but I'm not sure how to test it to see if the if I go to ground and positive to the other 2 I should get something  from the motor ?So it seems like nothing from the ps box to the motor and bypassing the ps box nothing as well. 

[Mech]

The wiring diagram shows two plugs on the PS unit. One plug has two wires, one power and one earth. The other plug has three wires, one power and two CAN communication wires. The power wires should have 12v and good earth, the other power should be a switched 12v(tested against any earth),and the CAN wires will I think be about five volts. I think also the way to test the CAN wires will be to use an ohm meter between them and you should get about 60 Ohms.

[Shadowace]

I'm referring to the terminals under the cover which says do not remove there are 3 terminals looks like there for the motor bypassing the ps box.

[Mech]

I think the power steering will be speed sensitive(the book will say), and that being the case it will be controlled by the ECU which has the speed sensor going to it. If there is a fault the PS system shuts down.

If either CAN wire broke it would stop operation most likely, but should set a code saying the CAN was broken. You aren't getting codes..

So.. Check the ECU and the PS are getting 12v at all the places they should be. Study the wiring diagram carefully. See the dash has two power wires, one permanent and one switched. The ECU has several power wires, some permanent power and some switched, and it will have several earths as well I think. The PS unit has two power supplies.

#31.. Might be a test port. It might have a can siganl.. Don't try to power it or earth it.

Edited August 6, 2024 by Mech

[Shadowace]

It looks as though it's we're the motor attaches to the ps box that what it shows in the pic I uploaded here I'd like to get the motor off and test it but I took of the bolts and it feels like its being held by a gear or something so I  didn't want to force it off .I'm trying to avoid taking the whole unit out but I may have to .also I put my meter on the terminals that look like we're the motor connects and there is no voltage at all even when applying force on steering. 

[Mech]

The motor will only get power momentarily when needed, and only when told to by the ECU and/or PS sensors and computer. If there are any faults the PS shuts down.. I wouldn't be expecting power or any action out of the PS unit.

If you find the two CAN wires on the PS unit you could unplug them and put an ohm gauge on them and you should get about 60 ohms.

[Shadowace]

Basically I'm bypassing the ps box and hooking directly to the motor.Same as if I had the motor out on the bech without the ps box attached at all.Ok I will also try putting meter on can wire .Once again thanks for your help.

[Mech]

In the manual it said something about not putting gauges on the motor, I think because there were capacitors in there, which probably means there are other electronics in there, to forward and reverse it..

[Mech]

be careful..  haha.

I'd check everything till I was totally confident and could justify taking it out of the bike, then I'd dismantle it.. I wouldn't do it in place, because it's more likely something will get damaged, and because until I was certain it had to come out I'd be trying to fix whatever else is wrong.

In this particular case, it's highly likely that the reversed battery has done the damage, and the damage won't be to the motor, it will be to the electronics.

[Shadowace]

Hum maybe I think at this point it just needs to be replaced. I'm going to hunt around and see if I can get lucky and find a used one .I also may consider  selling the bike with full disclosure on the problem and getting something newer .Tks.

[Mech]

The service manual may say whether the electronics have reverse or overload protection, or it may say to be careful not to reverse the battery because things will blow.

The ECU and the PS and possibly the dash all need all of their power supplies, and all of their earths. The ECU has separate earths for different parts of it's workings, all the earths have to be earth. If those are all good then it should have recorded a trouble code if the CAN wires were broken. The CAN wires can be tested for continuity. Each unit on the CAN has a 60 ohm resistor(from memory) in it's communication lines. If you google CAN testing it will no doubt describe how to check those wires.

If you take the PS off, is the steering heavy then ?

[Shadowace]

Yes it's hard to turn whether it's on or not I will try testing the can tomorrow and see what happens.

[Mech]

I meant, if the bike didn't have power steering(as a lot of them are), how heavy is the steering. Perhaps a faulty PS causes heavy steering.. hevvier than it would have if it didn't have the unit bolted on...  Perhaps just biffing it is a viable option.. Might have to get a dealer to re-program it as a non-PS model so no trouble codes come up.

[Shadowace]

I was thinking of that and how it could be done.You would think the ps would add extra resistance when trying to steer.

[Gwbarm]

I was really hoping that it might be a binding gear from the backward power surge, i wouldnt think that what you did would burn the motor out, but you were having problems with it before you replaced the battery.

[Shadowace]

Yes that's correct. I'm almost ready to  give up on it .