I have an annoying screeching sound when turning my 2011 Sonata right or left. When I shut off the radio to hear the noise better it goes away…is something causing interference with the radio?
Before making that assumption I’d open the hood, stick my head under, have a friend turn the wheel, and listen. And I’d check the power steering fluid level. Then shut the engine off and check the belt for glazing (shiney spots), cracking, and tensiosn (you should only be able to twist the belt 3/4 of the way around.
Post back with the results.
I think it is an eps electronic power steering control that may be causing your issue. Hopefully a warranty fix if it can be duplicated for the dealer.
Oops. Sounds like I was tripped up by electric power steering! I’m going to have to get used to its existence.
TSM, I think everybody needs to get used to electric power steering! Is is here to stay.
Seems all the gripes I read in new car reviews seem focused on EPS. Why?? Continual complaints about steering “feel.” I own a year 2000 car with EPS and it works great, on the street, on an autocross course and at track days. It should be poor because it is a very early application but no. EPS is one of the better products to transition to electrical assist. It saves fuel, simplifies the accessory belts and never leaks…
Did power steering get this much criticism (I’m a little too young to know)? Anybody remember?
^
Well, some of the early power steering systems (Chrysler’s comes to mind) were rightly criticized for requiring almost no effort to turn the wheel, and for having absolutely no “feel” to the steering.
I can vividly recall my uncle taking us for a demonstration ride in his brand-new '58 Desoto on the NJ Turnpike. In order to show us how effortless the steering was, he took a thread from his clothing, tied it to the top edge of the steering wheel, and then proceeded to steer the car–at 60 mph–with this incredibly thin thread.
As a young kid, I was impressed by his demonstration, and did not have enough sense to realize that he was putting all of us in danger with that bone-headed stunt.
But, to return to the topic of electric power steering, my friend’s '08 Rav-4 has electric PS, and I find it to be very good. It really doesn’t feel any different than “conventional” power steering, and it works very well. Based on his experience, I don’t think that I would fear it on my next car.
I have no problems at all with the steering, it’s just that the screeching noise is not present at all unless the radio is on. I can only think that the EPS is causing some interference with the radio.
Since turning the radio off makes the sound go away, you’d pretty much have to conclude the sound is coming from the radio speaker. You should do the experiment of course to verify.
Assuming it is coming from the speakers, either the radio is extra susceptible to rfi for some reason, or something is producing a lot of rfi. (rfi == radio frequency interference). Bad connections to ground can be a cause. What I’d do first is make sure the radio and antenna grounds are making solid connections to the car body. If that didn’t fix it, I’d likewise check the grounds associated with the electric steering.
My '64 Fairlane had the old system. It was basically just a separate hydraulic actuator linked to the steering links. The mechanical parts were a recirculating ball steering box with a proportional valve attached and a hydraulic pump.
Early power steering was extremely easy… (I could turn the wheels to full range with my pinkie while stopped). But the rest of the suspension wasn’t that good and most of the roads weren’t that good, so we didn’t know any better. Besides, we only had skinny bias ply tires with big sidewalls back then, so handling wasn’t too good anyway. Wandering around the lane, the bias ply tires being pulled this way and that by changing road surfaces, was pretty much normal.
With all of the possible sources of noise in a car, it’s amazing we can hear car audio systems as well as we can.
Mark, most automakers shield the heck out of everything to avoid any interference. It really ticks people off to hear their wipers through their radios.