So I had a Warn winch installed on my truck by the Leonard truck accessory people. When they were finished, my service advancetrack light came on and the steering wheel locked up. Somehow they got it to disengage and I drove away. The next day as I was running errands it happened again. I had it towed to the ford dealership and they told me that my steering gear control module was fried and that its gonna cost $1500 to fix it and that they cannot tell me if it was the winch that sent the sensors awry. They also told me they refuse to hook up the winch to determine if that's what caused it and said I needed to take it back to the Leonard people and have them hook it up to determine if it was their fault in case it happens again. I'm about to go on a 2-3 month expedition and don't have time to take someone to court let alone pay another $1500 if that's what caused it. Leonard people said all they did was attach the power wires to the battery. Could the act have somehow tripped some stupid sensor?
So I'm asking for opinions...??? Can a winch being hooked up cause all these problems with sensors and computer modules and short everything out?

 

Sometimes I really hate computers or at least my lack of understanding them..

 

I have a love/hate relationship with computers too - and I have a Masters of Science in Computer Science!

I moved your thread to the electrical section, because I think it belongs here instead of in the "Chips..." forum, which is mostly for aftermarket programmers.

It may help if you'd tell us your truck model and year. At this moment though, I don't see how installing a winch directly to your battery could cause a steering problem.

Hope you get your problem figured out soon!

- Jack

 

Electric power steering, too much weight on the front maybe?

 

It's a 2012 f150 XL 4x4 5.0L and thanks

 

Need to know more about whats in the PS Control modulel and what it does but since they were able to "unstick it" previously, I have to wonder if it's really burnt out or it's something just stuck in it. If it were me I'd take it to someone that understands hydraulics and something about electronics and have them dissect it and try to find out what happened. Stearerships are all too quick to just blame "modules" and then want to spend thousands of dollars (of YOUR money) to replace entire assemblies instead of finding out what's wrong!

Ford and Warn should have designed the winch and truck electronics to withstand the surges that electrical winchs create. But you could get some healthy diodes and put them across the winch motor electrical terminals (reverse biased) to absorb any reverse current surges caused by the winch motor. That's standard procedure in electronics when connecting to Inductors (coils and motors) that can cause huge reverse voltage surges when turned off.


PS: OP. I just looked and I see tht your truck is 2012. Is your truck still under warranty? Or is the STEALERSHIP trying to blame the winch and denying warranty coverage?

 

ya that's what i was going to say truck is still under warranty.. If the dealership is trying to blame the winch install tell them they have to prove it. They have to prove 100% that it was the install or the winch that caused the issue if not they have to warranty it

 

I've been thinking about this some more and I agree completely with Zrock, if Ford is trying to say that winch caused this I'd make them PROVE IT! Frankly I'm very doubtful that the winch caused it, especially after they (Ford) prevously said that control unit was "stuck". Electronics don't "stick" and you can't fix them (even temporarily) by "Unsticking" them! It sounds to me like it was a stuck piston or control valve and Ford wants to try and place the blame elsewhere!

 

100acrehuphalum,

Let me see how I can help. PM me your name, phone number, VIN, mileage, and dealer info. I'll take a look.

Ashley