Yepp. You read that right. Not just another one of those "I have problems with the EPS" threads! ;b
Well, to start off with first things first.

I've done very little troubleshooting, but I'm making this post to see if anyone has had the same symptoms as my car is showing.

'98 Honda Accord Wagon VTL
F23A1, CF6
Japanese imported

I got the car on Saturday, September 24th 2016. When I got it, I got aware that the EPS light was on and that there were no power steering at all.
Fair enough, the car drives and my noodle-arms get some exercising

I drove the car for 22 hours to get it back home to my home-town, and during this heck of a ride through the roads of Norway, I did a few stops to re-fuel both
myself with caffeene and the car with gasoline. Now.. At this one stop, I had the wheeles turned ~35° to the left. When I got back in the car after doing my
shopping, I turned on the ignition and felt this sort of "pulsating" or vibrating feeling in the steering-wheel. I don't know if this is normal with EPS, as it might
be the EPS initializing or something. Anyways! I turned on the car, and the EPS worked(!) And what a WONDERFUL car it was to drive when it worked!
To be fair tho, when I turned over the steeringwheel, this nasty "crunchy" noise came from the steering-rod (or something) and the steering-wheel "nudged" abit.
As if the EPS cut off for a split second, making the steering-wheel hard to turn again. It did get somewhat better after I did a few turns left 'n right with the steering-
wheel, but as I was driving, it was sorta uncomfortable when I did turns on the road doing 80-100 km/h and the steering-wheel sort of "nudged" while I was in the
middle of the turn. It worked for a good 25 minutes before the EPS light came back on and I lost all the power-steering again.

I called the previous owner, and asked if the EPS had worked when he had it. He said it had never worked while he had the car, so that was a 1-time-only thing.
I have tried turning the wheels and start the car again, but it hasn't worked ever since. Also, worth mentioning; Whenever I use anything electrical in the car (i.e.
power-windows, turn on the window-wipers etc.) the battery-light flashes for a split second. Measuring the battery while the car is idling, it's showing ~14.30V
which is a good sign. The alternator is charging. The EPS fuse is also good.

Although I'm not 100% on how the EPS system works, I know that there are 3 main "ingredients": The rack, the EPS "ecu" box and the sensor (don't shoot me
if I'm wrong here ;b) - But could it be the rack itself being dirty inside and needs cleaning? Like... When I had the wheels at a certain angle, the sensor got contact
inside the rack and it worked, and every time I turned left 'n right, dirt/corrosion hit the sensor cutting the signal, causing the steering-wheel to get hard again.
Am I onto something here?

Long post, I know.. I like to type things as if I was to explain with words, and I also like to get as much information on how I experience the faulty as possible :b

Share your inputs and give me some advices if you want


Kind regards!

 

That's about right.
EPS in the NSX/CF cars used an electromagnetic ring that took place of the hydraulics.
Honda Electric Power Steering - Automotive Service Professional

Since the EPS light is on, you may want to see if you can pull a code from the EPS system. If your car still has the blue two wire connector for diagnostics you may be able to pull a code via jumpering it and watching the EPS light for blinking.

However, if you are having other electrical issues, you may want to locate what that problem first as the EPS may be a secondary victim from a faulty electrical system. IIRC ABS systems shut down if the voltage of the system is low.

Pull the codes to the EPS.
Then move on to checking the battery/charging system.

Pull the battery, verify it is clean and the battery tray is clean. Use a voltmeter on one terminal and trace around the battery case to verify there are no traces of electrolyte causing a potential constant drain. Thoroughly clean the battery case and battery tray.
Verify the battery terminals are clean
Verify the battery cables are clean and tight.
Verify the battery cables to the fuse box and main bonds/grounds the the body are clean and tight(remove/loosen the bolts and clean the surface/fastener/cable end of any corrosion/dirt.
Verify the bonding jumpers and other grounds are clean and tight.
Verify the alternator is properly charging.
Verify the wiring harness of the charging system is intact.

With everything reconnected drive the car and see if the EPS works properly.
No point in trying to fix a subsystem if the main electrical system has an issue.

 

Thank you for a good reply!

My car has OBD II 16-pin connector. So I guess the blue 2-pin contact is not there then? Or is it a chance that it's also one under the dash/mid?

We did some more troubleshooting today. Considering the battery-light in the dashboard is flashing every now 'n then (just a quick flash) I'm going to replace
the alternator first. Although it's charging by ~14 volts when the car is idling, I'd say it's "good". But you simply never know if it's stable whenever the car is
revving.

I'll keep this post updated

 

Later model USDM Accords kept the blue two wire connector in conjunction with the OBDII pin, so it may still be on your JDM car.
If you can locate a scanner that can communicate with the JDM computer that would be the best route. Not all JDM cars will communicate with EDM or USDM market scanners. Although in Europe I would suspect there should be a readily available way to check OBDII ports on JDM vehicles.
Battery light is a very vague warning light, it could mean anything in the electrical system is causing a fault in the charging of the battery.

What is the voltage of the battery at rest? Older batteries would usually maintain a charge of 12.4, newer batteries now are 12.6 at full charge.
Turn off the car and let it sit for a few moments, as a battery can maintain a bit of capacitance and give a false voltage reading when tested soon after shutdown.

If the system is maintaining ~14.1 Volts while running that shows that the alternator is working. Adding loads while the engine is idling will show if the alternator is properly working, usually only when everything is turned on, radio, lights, ac, flashers, interior lights, door open chime, etc etc, does the alternator show a slight drop in voltage output. If it drops during mild loads then the alternator, or ELD, may be at fault.

Don't replace anything without verifying it is the component first, test the alternator and the battery before replacing either.
Battery needs to be properly load tested on a bench. Some auto parts stores don't have the correct load tester or carbon pile tester to put a proper load on the battery. If they come out with a hand held voltmeter device to 'test' the battery, then they are not properly load testing the battery.

 

Get your steering rack checked, if its got worn out bushings.
Apart from that, a friend of mine had a similar problem in his CF4 and replacing the EPS ECU worked for him

But could be the steering rack as well, most likely it is that only. So get it checked thoroughly.

I replaced the alternator on my CF4 and I had the exact same issue as you (battery light flicker) AFTER the new alternator, even though the volts were fine and it was charging, I ran the car for a few days and the occasional flickering of the light stopped.

 

Yepp, I'll make sure everything is checked thoroughly before I replace it. And thanks alot for the "test-under-load" tip; I'll definitely try that out first

As it turns out, a friend of mine has a multi-scan tool that did exactly what I needed it to do. I got the error-codes, and everything indicates that the issue here is the box itself that needs to replaced.

• FAULT CODES
• 5-1 /Permanent DTC Reference (-ve)
• 33-1 /Permanent DTC d-Axis Current Target
• 37-1 /Permanent DTC D-Axis Current Target (GEN)

Thank you guys for rock solid replies. I understand that this is a job I'll have to do myself, and replying to forums won't make any wonders :b
But what I *do* know, is that I grow wiser for every time you guys give me good inputs and tips. Experience is gold worth, so I do not take
that for granted :-)

I'll keep you guys posted! ;-)