2013 accord, base model, EX I believe. 71k miles, 2.4 L CVT and all that... this car has been great until last week... out of nowhere steering started pulling to the left. I didn't notice at first that in fact while stopped, turning the wheel to the left was much easier than turning to the right. Had my trusted local shop check it out. they did an alignment and only found one of the rear wheels out a bit. So that didn't make much if any diff. My son noticed that when you park and turn the car off, the wheel nudges to the right when you kill the engine. It's like when left over assist or right under assist stops, the wheel goes back to neutral. I researched these issues and I know something similar has been reported, but that seems to be a total loss of power steering, which is not what i have. It's like turning to left (again, when not even moving) seems much easier than it used to be and to the right is noticeably harder. Car is still usable, but this is annoying. Got this car from a family member who is original owner. They always did dealer maintenance and no accidents. My shop is saying I need an entire electric rack/pinion unit. $$$$ any feedback would be appreciated. thanks, drew w

 

It's a known issue with that year. I think Honda extended warranty for that issue but will not fix unless the EPS is throwing a code. An article about it

I am trying to find the warranty information

 

Looks like you do not qualify for the replacement.

SB 15-056

Supposedly there's an updated version that extends it to 13 year coverage. I'm trying to find it now or you can go to the Honda recall site and put your VIN in. Your family member should of gotten a letter from Honda. Ask if they still have it.

 

Ok I found the updated one

Extended warranty for EPS

Again if your car is not throwing the codes the dealership will not replace it for you. My advise is when the light comes on take it straight to the dealership without turning it off. Apparently the issue can be reset once the car is turned off and once the car turns off the light goes away and the dealership will say they can't duplicate the problem. You have 6 years until it expires which is 13 years from your year model.

 

Seanjordan20
thanks so much for jumping on this!
I'm sure my sister in law would have let us know of any recall.
the commonly observed issue is total loss of PS. that's not what i have
I did check for stored codes and found none. I don't believe I've seen any warning lights flash on the dash.
is $2500 a reasonable price to install a new E rack/pinion assy? (ASSuming that's it) LOL. not like I'm doing that in my driveway.

thanks again
drew

 

It wasn't a recall it was an extension on the warranty. I would tell you to get a couple quotes to get the best price. It seems to me that your issue is the beginning of what the SB is stating so it will get worse over time and eventually flash the light. If it's something you want to do now then get more than one quote. I would go as far to say one of those quotes should be from Honda. At $2500 I'm sure Honda will probably be cheaper because that price is outrageous. I just had one done on my 15 Yukon with the column and it wasn't $2500.

 

thanks for the advice, yeah I was wondering if this was the start of the real/commonly reported issue. i guess we'll see how tolerable it is for a while. who am i kidding, its annoying, and a safety issue if you briefly forget about it lol
drew

 

Update. Strange things. a few days ago I drove the car a short distance and it seemed almost back to normal. Just a bit more PS assist to the left than to the right. I could even let go of the wheel at 20 to 45 mph and it hardly if at all drifted left. after that my son reported the same, along with it just going crazy, like tons of assist to the left and to the right nothing. Today I drove it and at first it was plenty assist to left and like nothing to the right for the first 1/2 mile, then it was like no ps at all for another 3 miles. after stopping at my destination and on the way back, it was actually back to totally normal. do you know if this is typically a problem with the EPS control module, or a problem with that motor in the rack/pinion unit? thanks again

 

duh, just realized what you said about the extended warantee. at least there's some hope in not paying for an eleven hundred dollar factory defective part.

I'll ask again, what the heck was wrong with hydraulic power steering in the first place? the car will eventually drip oil or coolant or trans fluid or washer fluid or battery acid or brake fluid or beer, why not leave PS fluid in that mix of driveway stains?