DS3 2013 Electric Power Steering Failure

[Swany99]

Hello All,

My mother has a Citroen DS3 2013 with 30K miles on the clock and has developed a power steering failure, my genetic code reader shows nothing even although the 'service' light is also on.

I have checked all the fuses and down at the unit there is 1 red heavy gauge wire that has 14v and black heavy gauge wire that has a good earth. There is another 3 smaller gauge wires which I could not access
down at the motor to check but checked them at the connector behind the battery where the plug was clean

• Has anyone experienced this on their DS3 and what was the outcome?
• Does anyone have any further check ideas? Have just purchased the iCarsoft i970 so await that to come
for further code checks.
• Does anyone have a wiring diagram of the steering circuit so I can check comprehensively?

Thanks in advance

[Jamie@SPTuning]

You'll need a diagnostic tool that will communicate with the steering ecu and bsi unit, Lexia is probably your best bet.

[Swany99]

Hello All,

Received the icarsoft 970 and checked car tonight where the below errors were shown even after clearing and without engine running.

With reviewing the errors I think the alternator is faulty. Can anyone advise on these faults and if they agree or not?

[Swany99]

Also may have an issue with a steering angle sensor can anyone advise.

https://youtu.be/Lu5XK_OPJe4

[Swany99]

Or possibly the electric power steering is being affected by the alternator fault. I believe the alternator have a reversible
Side and when the stop start kicks in the polarity changes and it stores the energy etc. So am still thinking the alternator
has a fault with the 'LIN Network' control side causing issues with the steering, 'Service' light being illuminated permanently, stop/start being inactive.

Citroen advise the alternator is 180Amp type and they want over £1,000 just for the unit, Europcar parts are £650 and TMS are £480. There is an option of a 150Amp unit fitted to some DS3's which are £160 however unsure if the car requires the 180Amp one to operate effectively?? Anyone had the above issues before??

[lupipe]

did you fix it?

Did you ever get it fixed? I am having the same issue

[Swany99]

Hello All,

UPDATE: I did not agree with Citroens diagnosis so I stripped out the stop/start unit, headlight and pulled
bumper back to gain access to all the wiring. I checked the stop/start unit voltage which was fine so drained the unit and checked and cleaned all connections from the ecu all the way to the alternator. I measured all cabling that was on the Lin network ensuring there was no breaks in the cabling or shorts to earth or power all measurements were ok and the only thing left was that when the alternator started generating it was
Internally shorting on the Lin network.

I took my finding back to my local Citroen garage and also told them I was not happy with their
mid-diagnosis which would have cost in the region of £250 for a tensioner and belt. The price for a
replacement alternator from Citroen is £1,200 so I contested warranty (although the car was out) on the
basis of the car having low mileage. They took the claim to Citroen who have responded this week advising
They will support 60% of the claim (labour/parts) leaving £700.00 still to pay. Hope the update helps.

[Gpswinny]

Did anyone solve the problem with no power steering I have same problem but I have fixed mine