We recently purchased a 2013 Honda accord EX with about 52,000 miles from a private owner. The car sat for longer periods of time over two years as it was owned by an older lady. Since purchasing the car the steering is going bad. We noticed a very slight issue when test driving and our mechanic said he believed it was the tires as they were dry rotted and in poor shape. However, since then the issue is getting worse to the point we do not want to continue to drive until fixed. When driving, the steering wheel wants to turn to the left on its own and is hard to turn to the right. The car will literately make a u-turn if you your hands off the wheel at slow speeds. We already put new tires onto the car, had it aligned and had the suspension checked. It aligned without issues and no suspension issues that we can see. Front brakes will need to be changed, but they are not sticking. Dealer wants $160 to diagnose problem. After purchasing the car I found NHTSA has an open safety investigation into the 2013 Accord due to steering issues, but I do not know if this might be the same issue. Would really appreciate feedback from anyone who may have experienced a similar issue and what they did to repair. Thank you

 

Probably needs a new steering rack.

Torque sensor in the electronic rack gets skewed or goes bad and that's that. Honda doesn't sell just the torque sensor, it comes with a rack.

 

Thanks for the quick answer. Any tests we can do to confirm before paying $1000+installation for the new rack? if so, what would you recommend?

 

An HDS or HDS clone scan tool can probably see the torque sensor values. I have never looked.

I did have a similar experience with a first gen Insight that predates the advanced scan tools. Used an oscilloscope to look at the torque sensor output and found it was stuck full in one direction.

 

Thank you, I appreciate the information.

 

We were able to obtain the following codes today. Any thoughts on whether these codes have anything to do with the steering issue?

Thank you

 

System malfunction in the electronic power steering. Do you not have engine lights showing up on the dash? The EPS light will literally be an orange steering wheel. Turning by itself sounds like a real malfunction. I guess the EPS motor could go out / short out and cause weird steering issues. I can't say for certain. I would start by checking the plug to the EPS motor.

 

Thanks for checking back. Turns out Honda has a warranty extension for the electric steering. They read the codes at the dealer and confirmed the issue was covered under the warranty extension so they replaced the fully rack under warranty.

 

another satisfied customer!

 

Found out that my 2013 Honda has a very similar issue. However the dealer has said that the EPS control module is what's causing the problem, not the rack. Has anyone had a similar issue with having to replace the EPS control module and not the rack?

 

Hey I have this exact same year honda accord and the same exact issue you have, the car was given to me used and about a month after having it, it started to have a steering issue where it will turn the left at any given moment and it’s hard to turn to the right and about 6 months ago i had a light come on my dash with a orange steering wheel. I took it to honda in 2022 to have them check it and they said i needed a new steering rack and i haven’t been able to afford it. What kind of warranty were you able to find?

 

I have the same issue with my 2013 honda accord and i had it scanned yesterday and this exact same code came up on mine and so i took it to honda today to have it looked at and see if it would be under the warranty as well and they said no and want me to pay almost 4 thousand for labor and instillation is there anyway someone could help me understand why mine wouldn’t be under the warranty if it has the exact same code and issue. Thank you.

 

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...52445-0001.pdf

DTC 53-01 or DTC 53-02

 

this is the code we were able to pull, and a 61-11.
We brought it to Honda today and they said it needs an ABS Control module replacement would that fix this issue.