So this problem started last winter. On occasion (only when it was cold outside), in the morning when I would start my car, it would start okay, but the power steering light would appear on my dashboard and I couldn’t steer. Every time this happened, I was able to turn the car off and back on and it fixed the problem. Well, the problem is back this winter with a vengeance.
The other day, it was in the 40’s overnight, and it took my two times of restarting my car before the power steering would come on. This morning, i had to turn my car off and on 5 times before it actually worked, and the second to last time I tried, I left it on for about 5 minutes.
I’m really worried that the problem is getting worse and it’s going to be getting colder and colder. Any ideas about what could be wrong?
Twenty years ago American cars were notorious for that problem. It was called morning sickness and black rack disease and was caused by the rack and pinion. Flushing and re-filling would often improve the situation then. But the problem was taken care of by re-engineering the seals long ago on American cars and I was not aware that Hondas ever had such a problem.
Could be that you have some moisture in your fluid? Or a faulty pressure valve…does this Honda have speed sensitive steering? If so that valve system might also be acting up when its cold out.
Try flushing like the guys state and see what you get. Also Honda has a specific type of “Honda” PS fluid…they clearly state not to use ATF in their systems…Why I have never figured out… Just know that Honda asks for a specific type of fluid for certain…so be aware when you flush it out
This Civic may have Electronic Power Steering. When the power steering light comes ‘ON’ that indicates that the EPS is not operating.
Is this Civic still under warranty? If so let dealer service have a look at it.
Even if it is out of warranty, I suspect that the dealership may be the only source of diagnosis and parts replacement. There appears to be a Honda Diagnostic System that can pull Diagnostic Trouble Codes from the EPS control unit but the HDS is probably different from any generic emission control reader. It is not even evident if the DTC codes are retained in the control unit once the light is extinguished so they may need to catch the code when the problem occurs.
Good luck on this. Post back with the news when you get the problem solved.
Sorry fellas everybody is wrong here. The 2007 Civic SI has electric assisted steering. That is why the car is telling the driver there is a steering problem. This one will have to be taken to the stealer to be put on the computer.