Reduced Steering Effort (Diagnose/Replace Steering Wheel Position Sensor)

This bulletin is being revised to update affected model years and parts information. Please discard Corporate Bulletin 86-32-06.

Some customers may comment about reduced steering effort while driving. This reduced steering effort may change back to the original effort intermittently during the driving or remain until the next key off-on cycle. These slight changes in steering effort do not affect the control of the vehicle, but may alert the driver that the system is not operating as intended.

The condition may be caused by high electrical resistance in the steering wheel speed sensor. The high electrical resistance is a result of inadequate contact pressure of the electrical contactor in the sensor.

Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 of the strategy based diagnostics for the condition. Refer to section 2B5 of the service manual, Diagnostic System Check. Verify that there are no stored DTCs. The conditions stated above typically will not set a DTC. If no DTC is found, do the following diagnosis:

1. Disconnect the 3 wire connector from the steering wheel speed sensor.
2. With the key in the OFF position, use a digital multimeter (DMM) to test for resistance between CKT 1057 (ORN/BLK) and CKT 1059 (LT BLU).
3. Rotate the steering wheel slowly from lock to lock.
4. Record the highest reading. If the reading is above 12K ohms, replace the steering wheel speed sensor and bearing assembly. If the reading is below 12K ohms, the steering wheel speed sensor is operating as designed.

For vehicles repaired under warranty, use: