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Today at Atelier Kaz - ex-Honda R&D, F1, Indy/CART engineer

EPS Controller Service 01

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3 Comments
by
Kaz-kzukNA1
, 02-12-2012 at 10:47 PM (5788 Views)




Being contacted by one of the garages to
service the EPS – Power steering control unit.







It’s the famous ver.023 unit and all of them will eventually
fail sooner or later.

In US, Acura released TSB to have it replaced with later spec one but
this didn’t happen for the UK market.











Seems like water ran down around the controller box and also
the connector housing showed some rust and again,
the traces of moisture.


The original relay inside the 023 version EPS controller didn’t have
enough current capacity and the contact will burn out.

The representative told me that this unit triggered EPS error code #22.

Typical phenomenon when the relay contact has burnt out.


Later Honda replaced one of the two relays with high current capacity one.

I’ll be replacing both relays with high capacity one and
this will require drilling additional holes on the circuit board.

Very delicate process as I don’t want to cause any damages to
this super expensive board.










The original relays that are not up to the task of EPS.








The back of the relay.

The top and bottom terminals will be 3 pin style so need extra holes........


I won’t start drilling the holes until I have the despatch note from
the parts supplier.

Exactly the same relay used on later spec EPS controller is
only stocked in US for some reason although it’s manufactured in Japan.

Due to Thanksgiving holiday in US, it’s taking longer than usual for the delivery.
I hope I can get the parts some point this week.

Kaz
Categories
EPS - Power Steering

Comments

  1. Hagasan's Avatar
    Hi Kaz,

    does it make any difference whether Matsu****a or Panasonic for these high capacity relays? The reason I ask is that appears to be easy enough to buy the Panasonic version in the UK but less so Matsu****a (as you mentioned only stocked in the US). As Matsu****a is the old Panasonic name are they not the same part, just newer production when as branded Panasonic?

    Many Thanks,

    Gary
  2. Kaz-kzukNA1's Avatar
    Hi, Gary.
    (The Forum software doesn't like latter part of the company name Matsu-s-h-i-t-a so it automatically changes it to 'Matsu****a'.)


    That's very old info. The blog was posted in 2012.
    You should be able to get one through RS, etc these days.

    Regarding the Matsu****a, Panasonic thingy….
    It will take several pages explaining the changes in brand name as well as the company name so please visit Panasonic website…..
    Basically, Panasonic was just a brand name outside of Japan and not a company name long time ago.
    In Japan, it was known as completely different brand and company name (may sound strange but it was branded as 'National' with company name as Matsu****a) until they decided to change everything and went for one global brand and company name as Panasonic.

    The electronics components was manufactured by the company within the Matsu****a group and you can find the logo as ‘M’ surrounded by square like frame or ‘NAiS’ on the parts even after the company name was changed to Panasonic.

    So, you can use the one sold under the name Panasonic but the relay configuration has several standards so if it's the same, you can use other high current capacity one from Omron, Tyco, etc.

    Kaz
  3. Hagasan's Avatar
    Hi Kaz,

    thanks for your reply. Yes I realised the forum software was being polite with the company name

    I wasn't sure if there might have been any specific differences between Matsu****a and Panasonic versions so just wanted to check.. My EPS unit has been replaced in the past before I bought the car. Mine's is a 96 car and it has been replaced with a -305 version. When I bought my car back in 2008 there was an EPS issue but it was only an old battery causing the problem. It has been fine ever since I had a new battery.

    Last month when I MOT'd the car, on the way back home the EPS light came on. I haven't read the code, I just reset the fuse. I haven't been back out driving again since but if it comes on again i'll check the code. I was just looking ahead as to if it might end up being an issue with the power relay whether the high capacity one was crucial as Matsu****a. I saw the Panasonic ones on the RS website so good to know they will suffice should I need a relay upgrade.

    Thanks again for your advice.

    Gary
    Updated 06-05-2017 at 02:31 PM by Hagasan