Being a non-automotive-type female, I have a question for those experts out there -- mainly since I really don't want to go out into the hot garage to get my Camry Hybrid manual to look this up:

I learned - the hard way - that the Camry Hybrid has electronic power steering, which is evidently very different from regular power steering. My question - which I neglected to ask the service guy at the dealer - is if the electronic power steering uses power steering fluid? I'm guessing not.

Last Thursday, two years to the day after purchasing my TCH, I was backing out of a parking space in a parking garage, where my car had been parked from approximately 6:45 AM until noon. Backing out in reverse was fine; when I put it into drive and started turning the steering wheel back to the straight position, it totally locked up. Had to be towed to the dealer (where I have had it serviced like clockwork since purchasing) and even the tow truck driver, who chose to try to drive it out of the parking garage rather than try to get his truck inside the garage, could barely move the steering wheel. But he was able to move it enough, hauling on it with both hands, jerking all the way, to get it from the second floor down to the first and out into the adjacent surface lot where the tow truck was sitting.

Turns out the dealer's service department diagnostic computer said the chip (I think he said it was a computer chip) controlling the electronic power steering detected overheating. After being parked, in the off position, inside a parking garage, for over 5 hours. Whatever. The entire electronic rack & pinion steering system had to be replaced, and had it not been under warranty, would have cost me around $2000. Ironically enough, the Houston Chronicle had a column in their automotive section yesterday about a 2003 Prius that had the same electronic power steering failure, although that poor woman was actually turning a corner while driving, then lost all steering capability and almost hit a truck. And her car was out of warranty. It was that column that educated me on the differences between electronic power steering and plain ol' power steering.

Anybody else hear of this type of total steering failure in a hybrid Camry or Prius? Just curious.

Gretchen in Houston

 

No, I never heard of any problems with the electric steering. I also have a 2007 TCH. I have to turn full right in one direction after backing out of the carport behind our house. I have to turn full left to go the oppose direction and down our gravel driveway. Otherwise I would be backing for 200 or so feet to the road.

As for the heat. It gets up to 105 degrees out here in the desert during the summer.

So far never a problem with the steering. Our TCH is about 10 months old. This by far the best car I have ever owned and also gets the best gas mileage of any of my previous cars.

 

wow!

No, you guessed right--electric power steering systems do not use power steering fluid since it is not a hydraulic system.

I love my car too but the price of repairs is really scary (although I do have the extended warranty).

Don

 

Parts on new cars are expensive, nothing hybrids invented. Replacing the hydraulic power steering or air conditioning systems on a regular car are pretty expensive too, although not as much due to the production volumes involved. And electric power steering doesn't leak or sweat nasty fluid which most hydraulic pumps will eventually do.

If it helps, consider this: the electric power steering is part of the VDIM stability control system. More advanced over standard stability systems because of the added capability of electric control of the steering.

 

It sounds as though you might have had an "isolated" failure. I'm sure it was still not fun to deal with. That being said.......electronic components do fail sometimes. I have dealt with electronic systems and components for most of my adult life. Even though Toyota's are very reliable, (especially the TCH)........they have many electronic systems in them and can have problems like this. I have not heard of this failure either........hopefully i never will experience it. I'm sorry that you have.

 

I recently replaced the power steering module in a Chevy Cobalt at work. The customer's repair bill (parts and labor) was about $600. She would intermittantly lose her power steering, and when this happened a warning indicator would light up on her dash.

The system is actually pretty simple. A sensor monitoring steering wheel position, a module, and an electric motor all built into one unit. Replacement wasn't especially difficult either.

It was an intermittant failure of the module (not the motor), so I disassembled the motor from the rest of the unit, and mounted it onto our water hose reel (the manual crank handle for the hose reel had broken off months ago). Now, when we have the hose extended after bay-scrubbing, I simply hook up a battery charger (set to 6 volts, as 12 volts spins it just a tad too fast) to the motor and guide the hose. It works great! (Lots of power, but no 'hose snapping out of your hands' kind of torque).

 

How many miles on your Hybrid when this happened?

 

Unfortunately I can add to this thread. I have a 2007 TCH and have experienced absolutely no problems for the 20,600 miles I've had It.

A few days ago I was backing out of my driveway to go to work when the steering wheel gave a jerk and then I had no power steering. No messages, alerts, nothing. I had it towed to the dealership.

The dealer said there were no computer codes whatsoever, and they were stumped. They asked for some Toyota engineering advice, which was (paraphrasing) "Since there is no code, change the rack and pinion and see what happens". The rack and pinion was changed (only had to wait one day for part to arrive) and so far so good.

Based on two years of monitoring this board, Im sure this is type of problem is quite rare.

 

My car had been recovering from a front end collision and in the Toyota repair shop. They had been test driving the TCH when it happened to them. Toyota blamed the accident and absolutely said they would not consider it for warranty coverage.. Cost was $2,500 +/- and insurance had to buck up for it.. See TCH VS DEER thread for more details.. https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...eer-wins-9383/

Steering is ok now.. sometimes a slight twitch in the sterring wheel after starting out from a stop light but this may be normal.

 

The "twitch" is probably due to survivor's guilt. Did it see Bambi's twin?