19 replies to this topic

[hallie]

Hi I am trying to get the steering to work correctly on my S1 GT and even though I have a sporty steering button that lights up when pressed there is no change in the steering feel at all.

I have had the rack off today, tested the solenoid by feeding it 12v and it operates ok.

However when the button is pressed with the ignition on there is no 12v feed to the solenoid! Does it work when the car isnt moving or running?

Is there a steering ecu on these cars like there is on the later twin turbos.

Sorry for all the questions

Martin

[DCVR]

don't be sorry for the questions..........ask away

I've never had probs with my sporty steering so can't help you with this one........so did it just stop working?

[blk ice]

Have you checked the fuses....... I know it sounds stupid but sometimes the simple things are overlooked.

[hallie]

Yes I have checked all the fuses.

At the nurburgring last year I had the power steering fluid boil and lost power assistance after about 9 miles. It was fine when it cooled down again but I decided to uprate a few things to try and stop it happening again this year.

I have fitted a later pump from a 97 GTB twin turbo and a cooling loop from a JDM Gen1 S2 auto along with different hoses

It all seemed to work fine for the first ten miles but then it got really heavy and hard to turn the wheel. I took the pump off and found that it had seized so changed it for another.

I now all works but I am convinced that the steering is a lot heavier than it used to be.

The sporty steering button had never made any difference so I was looking to fix it.

I have had a few issues on the car with dry solder joints in control boxes/switches (locking control box and mirror control switch) and was wondering if there was a control box for the steering that had gone faulty

There is a light that comes on on the dash that says steering when the ignition is on so I assume that there is a box somewhere

Martin

[boostin]

Yup it's the silver box on the underside of the steering column. They have many issues!! I had a page from the factory manual explaining how it worked. I'll see if I can find it.

[DacerX]

I just swapped to a v3 wrx sti rack and got rid of the sporty steering, yes the old bc/bf rs/gt racks have the smallest lock to lock but I wanted a less issues, but as boostin said check the controller, but my advice just change the rack over to another subaru.

[hallie]

Found the box today but couldnt see any dry joints in it. I did find that the switch was a bit intermittant so have fixed that.

I have also put the old pump back in so will see what that is like tomorrow

Would anyone be able to tell me if the solenoid gets sent a 12v feed with the ignition on and the switch depressed?

[Reuben]

Yeah, BG's have the solenoid too, although no switch to turn it on and off in the dash, I swapped in an STi rack and said good bye to mine. If you get an STi RA rack, you'll keep the very quick steering.

Maybe you could wire a constant 12v to it and have it perma-on? Is this desirable? I don't have any experience with the BC/BF sporty steering.

[DacerX]

Still say go to sti rack

[WorkshopMgr]

Reuben, will any STi rack fit the BC?

Am interested as I might need to do the same thing.

[DacerX]

Pretty much

[Reuben]

Up to GDB I think. After than they changed the spline count or something silly. But it is possible to custom later ones in I hear.

THere was a thread ages ago on the matter, can't recall if it's on DOBC or CS.

[boostin]

Yeah, BG's have the solenoid too, although no switch to turn it on and off in the dash, I swapped in an STi rack and said good bye to mine. If you get an STi RA rack, you'll keep the very quick steering.

Maybe you could wire a constant 12v to it and have it perma-on? Is this desirable? I don't have any experience with the BC/BF sporty steering.

Wiretap told me they run on a duty cycle, not constant voltage. Cannot confirm or deny though....

[hallie]

Steering has returned to normal again after refitting the original pump. However I cant tell any difference when the "sporty steering" button is pressed

[boostin]

Steering has returned to normal again after refitting the original pump. However I cant tell any difference when the "sporty steering" button is pressed

Same with mine, so I never use it. It does like to try and surprise me at times though.

[hallie]

Is there any way of testing the sporty steering control box?

I like everything to work on my car

[boostin]

Yeah I do too. Other than having it sent away for testing to an electronics specialist, no idea how to test it sorry. I can't find the page on how it works either. I do remember that at low speed that the standard and sporty programs are the same.

[Reuben]

Thread bump. I'm dealing with a mates car at the moment that has the opposite of the normal failure. It's one of the only first gens I've ever driven where sporty steering works! It cuts in at about 70kph, after that it's rock hard when on.

The problem that's developed is now sometimes it comes on at 70k ish, regardless of whether you have sporty steering turned on or not.

Does anyone have any schematics for sporty steering?

I wonder if it's a sticky or loose solenoid, or bung controller

Gerald reckons that unplugging the solenoid basically locks it in hard all the time. Said one of his old RS's was left unplugged, and the wires got torn out after wrapping around the axle.

[legacy_h6tt]

Hey guys, I'm having what I think is a problem with my steering dash button. When I turn the key on the rack solenoid starts to buzz even with the dash button on or off. I didn't actually realise there was a control box, I thought it was just a direct connection between button and rack to tighten up the steering.... apparently it is speed-dependent?

Anyway, I still can't find the FSM for this section so if anyone has a copy or can point me to a resource that would be awesome! I've tried all the usual sources like NASIOC, experiencetherave and ken-gilbert.com, but there must be something out there elsewhere.

Cheers

[Reuben]

Yes indeed there is a steering computer, it’s very much speed dependant, with sporty steering on, it’s only supposed to be stiff after maybe 40-50kph, (from memory, I may be wrong)

But good luck finding info on this, I might suggest trying to fix the system up is a fools endeavour (they drive much nicer with an Impreza rack, that doesn’t have sporty steering).. Then again, these cars are rapidly approaching classic car status, and perhaps there is now, unlike before, value in trying to restore the system...

I’ll suggest that the likelihood of the solenoid physically failing before the control unit is much more likely than the control unit failing first. So to anyone restoring the system, start at the rack, maybe rebuild it, take the solenoid out and clean it, they’ll probably be full of gunge. Then go from there. Also note turbo BG/BD’s and BE/BH’s all have solenoid racks too, which bolt in. Maybe that’s an option too. There is also one rack which has a quick steering ratio and solenoid, and that’s BC5 RS. If you can get your hands on one of them, that’s a nice upgrade for a GT.