Recently, I bought a 2015 Kia Soul. Overall, the car had no issues, but when turning the steering wheel left and right while stationary, I could hear a knocking sound. I read online that a very common cause of this noise is a steering coupler inside the electric power steering motor. I decided to replace it. I removed the steering column, disassembled the motor, but the steering coupler turned out to be in perfect condition. I reassembled everything as it was and continued looking for the cause of the noise.
After I reassembled the steering column, I noticed that some warning lights came on in the instrument cluster (Power Steering Warning Light and EPS Warning Light). I continued trying to find the source of the knocking and didn’t deal with those warning lights at that point.
Next, I thought it might be a good idea to check the steering rack. I crawled under the car and asked my brother to turn the steering wheel, but I realized it wasn’t the steering rack. Then I thought to check the steering column itself. I unbolted the steering column from the rack and started turning the wheel left and right — but I didn’t hear any knocking. I bolted everything back together, and to my surprise, the knocking sound was completely gone. So the issue turned out to be very simple — the connection between the rack and the steering column had loosened. It just needed to be tightened. That’s all.
I was happy to have solved the problem and decided to clear the warning lights that had appeared on the instrument cluster. Unfortunately, after clearing them, the errors didn’t go away. In the process of looking for the cause of the knocking, I had created another problem.
I thought maybe I needed to calibrate the steering wheel — maybe something got misaligned when I disconnected the rack. So I tried that. But unfortunately, in the Live Data section I noticed that when turning the wheel left or right, the angle values weren’t changing — they just stayed at zero. So I figured I might have damaged the clock spring when I removed the steering column. I decided to replace that part since it was a relatively easy fix. I replaced the clock spring, but nothing changed.
Then I thought the next step might be to check the wiring. Although, on the other hand — what could possibly have gone wrong with the wiring? Still, I need to check it and rule it out.
At this stage, I ran into the problem of not being able to find a detailed wiring diagram and connector pinout online. I found a very basic diagram that showed the wires from the clock spring going to the instrument cluster, but I need the exact pinout — for example, for the instrument cluster connector — because there are many wires of the same color.
I tried tracing some of the wires, and indeed, a few wires from the white connector that plugs into the clock spring are showing continuity. However, I couldn’t trace two wires — a white one and a brown one. And since the instrument cluster connector has at least two white and two brown wires, I need to know exactly which pins the white and brown wires from the clock spring go to.
If anyone knows where to get this information, or can suggest other possible reasons why the steering angle sensor signal is missing, I’d appreciate the help.
After I reassembled the steering column, I noticed that some warning lights came on in the instrument cluster (Power Steering Warning Light and EPS Warning Light). I continued trying to find the source of the knocking and didn’t deal with those warning lights at that point.
Next, I thought it might be a good idea to check the steering rack. I crawled under the car and asked my brother to turn the steering wheel, but I realized it wasn’t the steering rack. Then I thought to check the steering column itself. I unbolted the steering column from the rack and started turning the wheel left and right — but I didn’t hear any knocking. I bolted everything back together, and to my surprise, the knocking sound was completely gone. So the issue turned out to be very simple — the connection between the rack and the steering column had loosened. It just needed to be tightened. That’s all.
I was happy to have solved the problem and decided to clear the warning lights that had appeared on the instrument cluster. Unfortunately, after clearing them, the errors didn’t go away. In the process of looking for the cause of the knocking, I had created another problem.
I thought maybe I needed to calibrate the steering wheel — maybe something got misaligned when I disconnected the rack. So I tried that. But unfortunately, in the Live Data section I noticed that when turning the wheel left or right, the angle values weren’t changing — they just stayed at zero. So I figured I might have damaged the clock spring when I removed the steering column. I decided to replace that part since it was a relatively easy fix. I replaced the clock spring, but nothing changed.
Then I thought the next step might be to check the wiring. Although, on the other hand — what could possibly have gone wrong with the wiring? Still, I need to check it and rule it out.
At this stage, I ran into the problem of not being able to find a detailed wiring diagram and connector pinout online. I found a very basic diagram that showed the wires from the clock spring going to the instrument cluster, but I need the exact pinout — for example, for the instrument cluster connector — because there are many wires of the same color.
I tried tracing some of the wires, and indeed, a few wires from the white connector that plugs into the clock spring are showing continuity. However, I couldn’t trace two wires — a white one and a brown one. And since the instrument cluster connector has at least two white and two brown wires, I need to know exactly which pins the white and brown wires from the clock spring go to.
If anyone knows where to get this information, or can suggest other possible reasons why the steering angle sensor signal is missing, I’d appreciate the help.