Randomly turn off, steering stuck
 

Went to the store yesterday in my 08 Scion XB. Everything was fine except for this weird whining noise the car was making when on the road. After coming out from the store, I turn the car on and when I was trying to put it in drive, the steering got really hard. Then it just turn off and wouldn’t turn on anymore.

Had to get the battery jump from a nice person in the parking lot and the car turn on. Had to drive it carefully all the way home. Luckily the steering kind of returned to normal. But today the steering wheel is still very stiff.

What could it be? Is it the power steering control module?

sucks because I just had the engine replaced and was starting to enjoy driving it.

Odd that it would work after you got a jump on the battery, perhaps that is the place to start.
What is the battery voltage after it has sat overnight?
What is the voltage at the battery terminals with the engine running? What happens to the voltage when a friend increases the revs to 2000rpm?

Seconded.

Most likely alternator or battery. Check if the battery is "swollen" or if you have a little battery sign in your dashboard. Most likely electrical since xBs steering is electrical as well

battery seems fine, keeps a charge and starts. but the steering wheel feels very hard to move now.

battery is fine, i see a wheel sign on the dashboard

Time to plug in one of those computer readers into the OBD2 port - not sure which one will work though
Autozone has a free OBD2 scanner, but it couldn't read an ABS fault I had.
Might have to google search and read reviews etc if someone doesn't chime in.

Check your main buss fuses in the engine compartment. Hopefully it's just a blown power steering fuse. These cars have electric power steering so no electricity, no power steering. Unfortunately the other choice is the power steering ecu is fried and will need to be replaced. Also check the plug at the power steering unit. I had mine go out just to come back a couple days later. Only thing I can think of was that the plug was loose. I've attached the power steering parts locator tech file page below so you can see where everything is.

no code at all. nothing came up when i scanned it

checked the fuses, they are all fine. there is the fusible link but i dont know how to check that one.

Wow, it turned the steering light on in the dash, but didn't store a code???
Greg may be onto something with checking the harness plugs for poor connections. Might even see some burning which could explain the whining noise you heard.

Unfortunately a basic code scanner won't pull codes for the steering, you need a mechanic level scanner.

You'll need a multimeter to check the fusible links. If you don't have one you can get a cheap one at Harbor Freight or swing by a mechanic and ask them to check them.

is there a way to check the fusible links without taking it off. it seems taking it off would be a pain

well its not the power steering electrical module. found one at a local junkyard and it didn’t work. the steering light went off but the wheel would turn smoothly for a few seconds before making a whining noise then getting hard again.

Sounds like your power steering motor is bad. Might try getting the one from that same junkyard. Grab the whole column so you get everything.

yeah probably. I will take it to a mechanic and see what he says. then i will buy the parts

so everything seems better now. mechanic told me the battery had malfunction and probably short circuited the power steering module. Since I had already changed it, a new battery was all it needed.

seems to run good now,
thanks you guys for all tour advice. 👍

OK, so now you have a new battery...
What is the battery voltage after it has sat overnight? (should be close to 12.9V)
What is the voltage at the battery terminals with the engine running? (should be close to 14V)
What happens to the voltage when a friend increases the revs to 2000rpm? (should stay around 14V and not drop with increasing revs)
Cheap voltmeters available here

Why all this extra work?
Need to find out if the battery just died of old age or if it was not being charged by the alternator.

I second all this. You want t o make sure everything is alright with the charging system just in case. Trust me it's no fun having your alternator die while driving. Had to baby my car home once on just battery power. Fortunately I have am oversized battery in the trunk for my air ride and sound system.

yeah giing to have to check again since its two batteries now that have died on me, and the battery light will not turn off. cant be the fusible link since i just changed that.

Battery light staying on is a pretty solid indicator that your alternator is not charging correctly. Test it with a multimeter to verify but I'd bet it's no where near the 13.5-14 volts to needs to be.