[Richiea]

I30 experts please help... My 5 year old 40k mile diesel i30 keeps going into limp mode coupled with the ESP light coming on. I am now at my second garage who have advised that I will need a new steering column costing £2,017 fitted. I am not convinced they have diagnosed the right problem. Volts are down to just 7 when engine on and the diagnostic is throwing up a problem with he throttle sensor which sound more like the fault. Thought, help, similar experiences greatly welcomed.

[asathorny]

I really have little or no idea and many here are more in the know than I..   However, my first instinct would be to disengage the battery for 20 mins and then reconnect it, in other words, force the ECU to reboot and see if it sorts itself out.   Ya know, like computers do   

[Asterix]

Hi Richiea

 

I fail to see what the steering column have to do with an Electric fault. There's a steering angle sensor, that feeds the ESP system with info, that sensor have been faulty before. I'm sure it's also cheaper.. 

But, if you only have 7 Volt, that could be your problem. Most Electronics in cars today needs more than 10 Volts to work properly. Get the battery tested and recharged if possible. If not, start with a new battery before anything else.

[Dazzler]

  Richiea

  I was going to suggest the ECU reset too as the first thing to try.

If the steering assembly was the problem, I would expect you to have loss of power assist or some other symptoms   

[Phil №❶]

Can you tell us where the 7 volts is measured and is the engine running or not at the time. 7 volts is WAY too low, unless the device has a voltage regulator in it.

As far as the steering, you would have other symptoms it the steering was faulty, does the car drive and corner ok. 

[Shambles]

Do you have access to an OBDII reader? It'd be interesting to see if either of the garages you've visited have looked for (or seen any) trouble codes.

[Richiea]

Firstly thanks to everyone who has responded to my post...greatly appreciated.

The 7V reading is when the engine is running with lights on. My limited knowledge suggests this is still too low.? I have mentioned this to the Hyundai garage who are taking a look at this today. I don't have any problems cornering and the ESP memory has been wiped a few times during the diagnostics and the problem still occurs.

They don't see a link between the car going into limp mode and the steering column either and as the power steering is fine I became worried about a £2k repair bill for a steering column that is not at fault.

I wondered if a sensor in the accelerator pedal could be to blame as this came up on the diagnostic as faulty, although the garage seems to be ignoring it.

[Richiea]

Do you have access to an OBDII reader? It'd be interesting to see if either of the garages you've visited have looked for (or seen any) trouble codes.

The first garage could not make sense of the codes although they did mention the sensor in the accelerator pedal. The second garage (the Hyundai Specialists) only mentioned the accelerator pedal code but then went onto to say that I needed the new steering column.

[Phil №❶]

Before anything else, that voltage is simply too low. It needs investigation and sorting first. Typical working voltages are between 13-13.5 volts even with lights on. Alternators by design, are capable of producing significant charging current, even at idle revs, unlike generators.

Until the volts are sorted, I wouldn't get too excited about fault codes at this stage.

[Richiea]

Before anything else, that voltage is simply too low. It needs investigation and sorting first. Typical working voltages are between 13-13.5 volts even with lights on. Alternators by design, are capable of producing significant charging current, even at idle revs, unlike generators.

Until the volts are sorted, I wouldn't get too excited about fault codes at this stage.

Cheers Phil; the garage is calling back later today so I'll press for them to address this voltage issue first.

[Just Rick]

ESP light could be related to a faulty brake switch(very common on the earlier Hy's)limp home mode could be related to so many sensors.accellorator sensor,oxygen sensor,fuel sensor,I had this happen when one of ours was only a few months old,they replaced I think it was the throrrle body sensor,hasn't happened since.
have to agree with everyone else,your voltage is way to low,this could be most of the problems.