Fiat Panda MK3 2011 onwards Steering column Faults

Fiat Panda MK three 2011 onwards

The new shape panda was launched in 2011 and uses a Delphi eps column that is similar to the Fiat 500 column. The column is different to the previous MK 2 Panda 169 model.
The eps on the new panda can suffer from an intermittent failure of the eps column which can become permanent. The panda eps column can suffer from control unit faults whereby it stops communicating with the B.C.M, this will cause the power steering to fail as well the ESP and hill hold functions. The torque position sensor within the eps column can also fail which will result in the power steering failure and ESP and hill hold failure. Our reconditioned new panda columns do not require any programming and they are plug and play.

Common Fault Codes will be;

C1001: Electric Motor Failure

C1002: Steering Column Torque Sensor Failure

Any of these faults will require a replacement steering column.

1. Motor failure, sometimes intermittent to begin with but always leads to terminal failure, due to components within the internal control board inside the motor burning out.

2. E.C.U. Failure, the ECU contains several chips which control both the function of the column and also the self-test and failure system. One or more of these chips can fail and cause the system to shut down, sometimes the ECU can give an erroneous fault code that appears to be a motor failure if scanned, but is actually a fault of the ECU itself. Importantly the ECU also controls the left/right balance of the column and is used to calibrate the output from the torque/position sensor contained in the column, for this reason, the ECU should be matched and calibrated to the torque sensor.

3. Torque and position sensor. This is inbuilt into the centre of the panda column and gives the ECU information on the position of the steering wheel and also how much assistance is required from the motor. The sensor can go out of balance and steering becomes lighter in one direction, also can fail to give a signal, which will cause ECU to shut the system down. When a torque sensor is replaced the column needs to be re-calibrated to ensure it is in balance. We believe the only way to do this is for us to supply a complete column with all components tested and calibrated.
No coding or programming will be required, this unit is simply a plug and play Fiat Panda steering column.