Hello,
I am new here and trying to find a solution, but I was lost with all the old posts so I decided to make a new thread about my problem.
I have a C7 2015 and sometimes when I start my car the steering wheel gets stiff and a light on the dashboard comes on. If I turn the car off and on it will go away and the car works perfectly, also it does not get stiff all the time, it is just rare to happen from time to time.

I read people talking about a catch can, which I did not install on this car.
The ground wires I don't know which ones I checked the visible ones and I can see all connected well. I would be grateful if there was a diagram showing where each ground wire is.
Also, people talking about the tourq sensor but I don't know where to find it.

I am up for any help, I took the car to the dealer and they told me I need to replace the whole steering wheel I know our dealer doesn't know anything about fixing they just replace anything that think is the problem.

 

Not sure if you meant to say they told you it needed a steering wheel or steering rack? If they said steering wheel, run and never ever go back there. The ground wires you're speaking of when a catch can is/was involved are the ones circled in red below. The pic below shows a catch can but same wires/bolts/nuts involved. Worth a shot to check for tightness or anything suspicious.

 

When checking a wire for correct contact, it isn't good enough just to check if it's tight. Corrosion can be impossible to see. Remove the wire, use a wire brush to clean the contact points, then tighten it.

 

Some of these had a recall on the steering gear assembly. Don't know if this applies to you but, you might check that out.
Looks like this does not apply to your model year.

 

Thank you all for the replay, and yeah they told me the steering wheel needs complete replacement :/, I will check the wire and remove them clean then put them back and see if this will fix it.


Also, I have another problem forgot to mention, sometimes my screen goes dark with all the lights on the steering, all other lights on the dashboard and everything is working also the buttons on the wheel also working but the lights are off, I need to turn the car off and wait then turn it on it will get back to normal, if anyone knows what make my touch screen go black and the lights on the wheel please help.

 

Some people that install a catch can move the ground wire forward and attach it to where the other 2 ground wires are and only use the bolt down hole to hold the can.

But in your case it sounds like to have other issues with all the other systems going down.

Time to start reading the DTCs and isolate the fault or faults.

 

I will clean and do all what they told me up now, and will get back to you guys with update

 

Standard question....How old is the battery?

 

Good question, I bought the car a year ago, and I think the old owner may not have replaced it for more than 2 years also. Today when I was cleaning all the ground points I went to the battery in the back to check it, and I noticed the glass indicator of the battery is White... green is good, black needs recharge and white means it needs replacement. So I opened the battery holder and shook the battery it became green again. I will buy a new battery tomorrow in case and replace it, but if the battery is not very good dose it do all that?

 

These cars flip out with a bad battery and all sorts of strange things happen. The steering, like many other things on the car, has an electronic module so yes, it can be affected.

 

Some of the '17s (Vettes and other GMs) had a faulty p/s controller that would die and the p/s would quit... entirely. I bought a new one from Kerbeck's that did so just as I was about to leave on a 1600-mile trip home (They replaced it with an identical '18, btw). So, I'm thinking other years can have the controller die, as well, taking out the p/s. If it "resets" with a new start-up, this would seem even more probable (no, the bad '17s wouldn't do so). All the best in any event.

 

I think it was 2017

Dave

 

I hope this helps.

Bill

 

Our team would like the opportunity to serve as a layer of support between you and your GM dealer while your Corvette is in service. We want to learn more about the stiff steering on your C7 and investigate ways we can potentially assist. When you get the chance, please send us an email to socialmedia@gm.com. Be sure to include your Username and Forum name in the subject line, then provide additional details about your experience in the body of the email. We look forward to your contact.

 

Good luck with troubleshooting the car’s problems. Hope at least the majority of the issues is caused by a bad battery.

 

So what you're saying is you have no steering assist sometimes and a light on the dash at startup (saying something like Service Power Steering)

If this is the case, and its intermittent. REPLACE NOTHING. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Hardware of your Steering System (the EPS), or your Intermediate Shaft or your Steering Wheel.

As others said, this is a grounding or power issue. The first thing to do is check grounds. There is a single "chassis ground" for the EPS, if this ground is "lost" the EPS is effectively "dead" (electronically speaking, the mechanical system works just fine just with extremely heavy efforts until you get up to speed).

The second thing to check is the power side. This will be a complete wire to the battery (usually on a large fuse). Rarely is there an intermittent problem on this side (typically if something goes wrong here the fuse blows).

Lastly, the most unlikely solution is that the Communication Enable (Comm Enable or Ignition Line/KL15) is damaged. Like power though this is rarely intermittent.

Since the EPS is rather easy to get to when the car is up on a ramp you can always check that you do get 12V on the connector to the EPS (it's always HOT so even if your car is off there should be voltage). The other thing to do with the connector disconnected is do a continuity check from the ground pin on the connector to ANOTHER grounding stud (not the EPS one). If there is a"clean" connection this should show that these are indeed the same circuit.

Messing with those studs, including when people install a catch can on there is not advised. The surface area is important for handling the current load. In fact if you are to "reuse" one of those mounts PERSONALLY I'd go in this order:

1. Frame
2, Grounding Eyelet
2. ADD a washer (use the right material and size tighter is better), this is "replicating" the bolt head
3. Your Mount
4. Bolt Head.

What people don't realize is that it's not the contact to the bolt head that transfers the current, its the entire assembly including the eyelet being snug up against the chassis.

 

I cleaned the grounding, and I have no problem with the power steering anymore, it is working perfectly, I replaced the battery today and yes the old battery was leaking a little from the top. So I put in the new battery and started the car but still, my media screen won't turn on, and the lights on the steering won't light on. Do I need to use OBD to reset everything and check?

Also, I get a message when I drive the car that says " Rear Axle System Off? I don't know what that means, could it also be caused by the old bad battery?

I have not driven it yet just installed the new battery, and will test it later today but should I take it to the shop and do an OBD reset on all errors?

 

Make sure the little wire on the ground is not broken. You can see it when you look at the battery in the tray. It's very common for that wire to break and it can cause all sorts of issues.

You can buy a code scanner for less than $100 and read and clear the codes yourself.

My 2016 started doing the service axle warning and had the screen go dark 1 time a year ago. I checked the battery and it was the original from GM. I replaced it and have had zero electrical issues since.

 

^^ The wire he mentions is a thin black wire that attaches to the ground clamp on the battery.

 

if you can send me a picture of which one I would be thankful, I will go now and check it but when I replaced the battery I did not noticed anything is broken, but I will double check it now. Do I need to remove the battery to check if it is broken?