Re: Sudden loss of Power Steering
 

One thing to think of though, regarding FORScan. Not that I distrust Russians with my credit card information, or anything, ;) but it is Russian software. I would recommend that if you decide to pay for an extended license you do so with a PayPal account or, alternately, a gift card or something like that which is *not connected to anything else important* in your financial universe.

I trust the software, I think it works as they say, it's neat stuff. I cannot say that I trust my credit card and/or bank information in the same way paying for a Russian product. My $0.02.

Re: Sudden loss of Power Steering
 

thanxs so much (i do use paypal). off of what Rex posted, i ordered the adapter earlier.
will be here next tuesday.
dealer was too busy (they wanted to keep it in order to get an estimate);
i figured it was not worth the hassle (forscan will work (i hope)).

Re: Sudden loss of Power Steering
 

Not surprising. They have every reason (including liability) not to bend their procedures for people with 12 year old, out-of-warranty cars. They'll bring it in, do a workup on it, hit you with a big estimate and ask what you want to do next.

Your car's steering system is obviously in failure. Something is wrong. Even if the root cause is something as simple as taking the covers off the column, other panels, etc., putting it on their equipment to diagnose it and then re-seating a connector and clearing the codes, you're going to get charged for it if you want them to do it. If the problem is what I think it is, the estimate will be north of $500 and maybe north of $1,000.

This is why I just keep hammering away to people I know that preserving the ability for independent repair shops to diagnose and work on these increasingly sophisticated and computer-laden vehicles is paramount. Not just to keep people employed who are already throwing wrenches, but to give people reasonable alternatives when they are frugal and try to keep their vehicles running after they're out of warranty.

Tesla is the most egregious and blatant offender in my mind, but others are not far behind. In one way or another they'll follow Tesla's lead.

People who lease cars, or have the means to just buy new ones whenever they want, don't have this problem to the same degree. But I do, and many of my friends do. As the future unfolds, the automakers seem to be inching their way, step by step, toward making the cars completely unserviceable by anyone other than the manufacturer. I think they want that very badly.

Keep letting us know how it goes.

Re: Sudden loss of Power Steering
 

somewhere in these threads i mentioned that an email went awry - that was a glitch on my part and not innova.
I did write innova early this morning and it went through and they responded.
Here is their reply:
"Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, none of our code readers will support anything other than check engine for a 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid.If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to reply or contact us by phone at (800) 544-4124.

Sincerely,
Innova Team

My goal is to provide exceptional service. You may contact my management team at corp@innova.com?subject=Innova%20Tec...agement%20Team and let them know if my goal was accomplished today."

the one i used did read a "U" code and that is in the communication category.
the one i referred to in my email is a "B" code and i guess the person just said, for convenience, well that which he said.
so no body or chassis codes.

Re: Sudden loss of Power Steering
 

You might want to tell them their website is at least a little misleading then. Because when you say "2009 Ford Escape Hybrid" it doesn't give you an engine option and shows that all you can see is CHECK ENGINE and when you select 2009 Ford Escape and make the L4;2.5L;U;16V;SEFI;HYBRID engine selection, it gives you a lot more features, but it's not completely correct, either.

Kind of upsetting but the guy who brings in all the JSON data to populate the form fields for thousands of years, makes, models and engines of cars probably has not tested all of the permutations. ;). In fairness, this is kind of a rare car at this date. I've seen worse. Welcome to the 21st Century, as I've gotten used to muttering to myself.

Technology can be great, but a lot of the time its inherent problems chip away at the benefits. Look at your car: this is a vehicle with power steering. Thirty years ago you had a simple diagnosis:

1) Is the pump pumping?
2) Did the belt break?
3) Did the rack fail with fluid spurting out of it?

Now you're using Russian software on what would have been one of the world's fastest supercomputers 30 years ago, to interrogate a proprietary computer network in a car, to hopefully read a diagnostic code to tell you whether you need to replace a sensor, etc., etc. and you are having no luck getting clear information out of a company running an information source on a global high-speed packet-switched network. And you're listening to some guy you've never met from clear across the country named Alex ramble on.

Onward and upward.

Re: Sudden loss of Power Steering
 

Ok finally got the codes:

1) APIM B1252:04-28

2) PSCM B2278-EF

3) IC U2023-20

well could have been worse and of course could have been better;
the 2278 seems to be the one most seen;
and Forscan did mention that it is a steering shaft torque sensor malfunction.

Re: Sudden loss of Power Steering
 

1) APIM B1252:04-28

This is shown as "USB Port: Internal System Failure"

• DTC B1252:04 (USB Port: System Internal Failure) — sets when the APIM detects an over-temperature condition in the USB circuit. This can be caused by a fault in the USB cable and port, or by the customer USB device.

So this could potentially be as simple as a device that was attached/is attached to the USB port that is drawing too much power/causing too much heat. Or it could be the port, or the cable connecting the port to the APIM, or some combination thereof. Even just a loose cable connection between APIM/Port. There are pinpoint tests here.

http://www.nicksmustangranch.com/Ser...ble_extract_25

2) PSCM B2278-EF

This is the infamous Torque Sensor, as you say. The manual's advice is, of course: "Install a new steering column." But you don't want to do that. You are going to want to change the sensor.

3) IC U2023-20

This is the Instrument Cluster. Fault Received From External Node: DTC U2023 is set when a module receives invalid network data from another module with a faulted input. RETRIEVE and REPAIR all non-network DTCs in the other modules on the network. REFER to Section 419-10 for a list of all DTCs.

I have a feeling this last code is related to the PSCM B2278-EF code. It sounds like if you fix the other DTCs, this one goes away by itself.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Re: Sudden loss of Power Steering
 

More on the 2023 Code:

https://www.greenhybrid.com/forums/f...tle-ice-16908/

So it appears that if you get the other things squared away, we have confirmation that the U2023 code shouldn't mean anything/will disappear. On the other hand, there are some references I've seen about this on the interwebs to the ABS system and the TONE RINGS. But I think you have to try fixing what you know about first.

This "communication code" as they call it may be what is turning your wrench light on. In other words the system knows it's got DTCs from some modules, but not one of the ones that makes it completely disable the car into a no-start condition. I'm thinking it's there to tell you something is wrong that is not emission-related.

Re: Sudden loss of Power Steering
 

short on time;
not too concerned about the u code or even the other b code; will go through carefully your post (thanxs so much);
but in my excitement last night i even forgot to erase the codes - Bummer
i am just "country boy" and all this high tech stuff is beyond me :)
the software does prompt one to switch to the other can - so that was nice;
hope i can do bi-directional with it - have to upgrade the forscan to the pro version;
will go back and erase the codes this evening - if i can get off work in time.

Re: Sudden loss of Power Steering
 

Sounds good.
> i am just "country boy" and all this high tech stuff is beyond me https://www.greenhybrid.com/forums/i...kons/smile.gif

You're doing just fine. You have a high tech car and you're getting the boot camp education!

And there's some Country Boy in all of us. Or most of us, anyway, thank goodness.:)


These cars can definitely be a funny, funny riddle to anyone. Until I found this forum and bought mine, I knew 'nuthin about them.