steering wheel freezing

[4thjeep1stjeeptruck]

After what seemed to be a weak battery response the gladiator struggled to start. Monitoring the battery voltage showed it went very low in voltage but after a couple of tries the Gladiator started with multiple warning light lit. Motor was running OK but the steering wheel was frozen, could not move it. Turned engine off and started again. When engine started the voltage did not drop below 9-10volts and this time the steering was OK. This has happened 3 or 4 times in a couple of days. Once driving cautiously on the road I had proper steering at all times. I Recharged the battery but problem remained intermittent. Then a couple of days later the truck started normally with no issues and proper steering wheel effort returned. Been ok for a couple of days now. I believe when the start voltage was very low the computer got screwed up and did not enable the electric steering assist and caused multiple error lights. Only when the start voltage remained higher did everything come up OK with no warning lights and good steering effort. Possibly a bad position on the starter motor caused the excessively low starting voltage but it has been OK now for many starts. You would think the bad starter position would have been hit more often and the problem would reappear but it hasn't. Anyone else experience these issues?

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[Mr._Bill]

After what seemed to be a weak battery response the gladiator struggled to start. Monitoring the battery voltage showed it went very low in voltage but after a couple of tries the Gladiator started with multiple warning light lit. Motor was running OK but the steering wheel was frozen, could not move it. Turned engine off and started again. When engine started the voltage did not drop below 9-10volts and this time the steering was OK. This has happened 3 or 4 times in a couple of days. Once driving cautiously on the road I had proper steering at all times. I Recharged the battery but problem remained intermittent. Then a couple of days later the truck started normally with no issues and proper steering wheel effort returned. Been ok for a couple of days now. I believe when the start voltage was very low the computer got screwed up and did not enable the electric steering assist and caused multiple error lights. Only when the start voltage remained higher did everything come up OK with no warning lights and good steering effort. Possibly a bad position on the starter motor caused the excessively low starting voltage but it has been OK now for many starts. You would think the bad starter position would have been hit more often and the problem would reappear but it hasn't. Anyone else experience these issues?

Could be the ESS battery failing. See if you can get the dealer to test both batteries.

 

[Renegade]

Could be the ESS battery failing. See if you can get the dealer to test both batteries.

This has been an issue with JLs. There have also been problems with fuses not making good contact. I would locate the electric power steering pump fuse and pull it, then reinstall.

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