Need big brain help! M-6017-504V & EPAS come on in...

[sldghmr]

Okay, so not sure how many others are running FRPP M-6017-504V Gen 2 wiring harness/ECU and a stock EPAS rack (15-17). I've had my setup since late 2016 and for the first 6 months or so didn't have 'power' to the rack, so I was muscling the car everywhere. Figured out that the EPAS rack needed power and can bus connections to the little plug as well as heavy power/ground (big connector). So from summer of 2017 to now power steering been working good. Last track session of 2018 steering wonked out on me. Just dropped power mid turn and then came back...instant spin. Didn't realize it at the time but now believe that is what happened (coincidentally one of my tires were showing cords, but never loss air). Beginning 2019 and everything is fine. Only ran one weekend, now second time on track this year (last weekend) and 'power drop' rears it's ugly head again, and it's been constant since. It does it at speed and just puttering around the paddock. Today I pulled car out of trailer and turning into driveway it did it again. Have checked and re-soldered all connections. Have raised car and cycled steering from side to side (this seemed to make it a little better but not gone). So here are my questions/thoughts:

1) Why does this standalone harness have can bus access (IF per Ford it's NOT to be used in a 2015-2017 Must GT)? I don't have ABS module connected and have no other sensors (yaw, TPMS, etc.) connected, so I'm wondering if in someway having the can bus connected to the rack might be hurting???

2) Anyone else experience an issue like this?? I've called FRPP and Watson Racing (waiting for contact back from both).... does anyone know (or are YOU) a 'goto' person for Ford steering?

3) Would it be worth it to spend the time swapping the rack into another (reg street car)?

4) Thinking about hooking FORSCAN to it and see what I can do with that.... WHAT can I do with that?? Thoughts??

Sorry for the long rant, but my head hurts thinking about this.... :-)

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[ddozier]

I am not sure I have a lot to offer but I have had a dead spot in one rack and it would loose assist at the same steering angle. At first it was only doing it near the end of a track day and was only at a very narrow window of use on the rack, then as time went on it got a little worse and would start effecting a wider steering angle the hotter it got. I do not really know what the issue was but I just put in a used rack out of another car. Used racks are cheap and can be had for under $200.00 they are not too hard to put in and unless you can find a loose wire or something I think it is the next thing to try.

My understanding is the PP cars have a different rack so you will want to make sure you get one out of a PP car. When I bought my last one the guy had 2 so I bought a spare just in case. I would sell it if you can not find another but they are all over Ebay and LKQ.

Dave

 

[taylor.crandall1]

You may also want to try reaching out the Multimatic as they are the ones who prepare the GT4 and GT350R-C race cars and see if they are using the stock EPAS or an upgraded version: https://multimaticmotorsports.com

I mentioned this in another thread a few months ago, but for the 2011+ S197 you could upgrade to the Boss 302R steering rack: https://www.kohrmotorsports.com/product/boss-302r-electric-steering-rack/

It would be nice if there was something similar for the S550.

Also check out these guys. They may have a solution: http://www.dcemotorsport.com/Home/EPAS

 

[sldghmr]

Thank you to you both!! I've got an identical street car so I've started the process of pulling and switching racks to see what happens. Do ou guys know if you need to drop the cradle in order to get the rack out w/out upsetting alignment settings? And thanks for the links....I didn't think about reaching out to Multimatic, and haven't heard of the other guys....I really hope there is an upgrade replacement like the Boss 302R

 

[DickR]

Thank you to you both!! I've got an identical street car so I've started the process of pulling and switching racks to see what happens. Do ou guys know if you need to drop the cradle in order to get the rack out w/out upsetting alignment settings? And thanks for the links....I didn't think about reaching out to Multimatic, and haven't heard of the other guys....I really hope there is an upgrade replacement like the Boss 302R

Per the FSM you don't have to drop the cradle to remove the rack but there are a LOT of very specific steps including removing tie rods. I would assume you would need to at least verify toe with toe plates. You might want to purchase a 72 hour FSM subscription from https://www.motorcraftservice.com/Purchase/ViewProduct for $21.95. Most sections are printable to pdf or printer as I recall or can be saved. The CD version isn't good for printing. Note that to view wiring diagrams you need Adobe SVG viewer 3.

 

[sldghmr]

Per the FSM you don't have to drop the cradle to remove the rack but there are a LOT of very specific steps including removing tie rods. I would assume you would need to at least verify toe with toe plates. You might want to purchase a 72 hour FSM subscription from https://www.motorcraftservice.com/Purchase/ViewProduct for $21.95. Most sections are printable to pdf or printer as I recall or can be saved. The CD version isn't good for printing. Note that to view wiring diagrams you need Adobe SVG viewer 3.

Thanks...this is what I am going to do going forward. A friend of mine suggetsted checking out Alldata, I didn't get into anything so I signed up for the 5 day trial. Looking at their stuff confirms what you said...'remove both outer and inner tie rods' then rack will have enough wiggle room to drop out...of course alignment goes POOF! Oh well, gotta pay to play, right? Alldata would run me $150/month so that is a non-starter right there but it does have nice photos and diagrams and such. Thanks for the info about needing Adobe SVG.

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