dsefcik

My wife just got home with the 2010 xD and the power steering is not working. I have not found very much info about this searching the internet. Does anybody on this forum have any ideas about what is wrong or what I could check? I know it is electronic and it has an ECM. It has about 45k miles so it is out of warranty.

TIA..

tc-guy

get your battery and charging system check out. with electronic power steering if there is not enough voltage the power steering will act funny or go out.

mikem53

Did you see if there is a fuse for the power steering motor? There should be one, I would check that first. Did it throw a code or an indicator light?
The system does have thermal protection if it gets too hot.. but should reset after cooling off.

dsefcik

I took it to the dealer and the battery died as I got there. They are telling me the alternator needs to be replaced, $650 plus $120 labor. The car only has 50k miles on it. It is so new nobody even has part#'s for it and Toyota has to special order it.

Doesn't this seem wrong?

jonathan

The part number for that alternator is 27060-37041 and that has been the same part # since the xD came out. Your dealer is an idiot for telling you that. Unfortunately that price is correct. Toyota does NOT offer a remanufactured alternator.

dsefcik

Thanks jonathan, I think what I meant was it seems wrong that a part that is not even considered for keeping in stock should fail so soon...50k miles/16 months..??

Nobody locally has one and I can't find anything online, are there other sources to purchase one that does not cost $650?

jonathan

I see your point. I work for a dealer here in Maryland and can tell you that most dealers typically carry the faster moving parts such as belts, filters, and other maintenance items. Our dealership has sold 3 of those altenators in the past year, so we decided to stock it.

dsefcik

So you have seen other vehicles with similar mileage have the alternator fail? It just seems a $650 part should last longer than 50k miles. None of my previous new vehicles have needed that replaced before 100k miles.

jonathan

I can't tell the mileage on the cars we did, but they were all Corolla's.

mikem53

They manufacturer thousands upon thousands of these alternators that are in service with no issues.. Things break, Sh*t happens..
If you shop around, you can get one for $470 OEM new.. Installation is not difficult either..

Nateson

Might even be worth it to find someone that rebuilds alternators, or check ebay for wrecked corollas or XD or anyother vehicle with the same alternator. Alot of times even if it isn't listed you can ask the seller parting out a car if they could make it available.

I don't know if this link will work, but looks like you can find one around $80.
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_trkparm...&_sop=16&_sc=1

dsefcik

Thanks for everyone's help, I just spent some time looking online and there are some out there, oem and reman as well as parts pulls. I am gonna make some calls Monday to local shops and salvage yards. I am also gonna see if Toyota will cut me some slack and offer reduced repair or cover it completely. If not I will shop around and replace it myself.

While it appears that it is the same as a Corolla are the pulley's different?

Thanks!

dsefcik

I haven't got the car back yet to look at it but are there any special gotcha's or tips/technique to know beforehand? I know the space is tight and was mostly wondering about how the belt tensioning system worked.

TIA...

mikem53

3. REMOVE FAN AND GENERATOR V BELT
a. Loosen bolts A and B.
Fig. 8: Locating Generator Bolts
Courtesy of TOYOTA MOTOR SALES, U.S.A., INC.
b. Turn adjusting bolt C to release the tension and remove the V belt from the pulleys.
c. Remove the fan and generator V belt.

Alt is on top.. bolts A and B hold the altenator.. Bolt C is the tensioner on top of the alt, you turn this to remove the tension and remove the belt.
Get a feel for the tension of the belt BEFORE you remove it.. so you can
return it that way.. a tension gauge is helpful here.. but not necessary..
If you tighten it too tight, you can cause premature bearing failure of the alt.. too loose and the belt slips..
I've done lots of these before on other cars, including some transverse mounted like the xD.. can't comment on the clearance.. but it's up top.. so it shouldnt be too bad.. and it looked like the dealer charges 1 hour to install.. so it's prob less..

dsefcik

They want $120 labor...seems pretty straight forward, thank you!
Will post the results of it all for anyone else in the same boat...

Nateson

When I was installing the pulley for our car, the pivot bolt for the alternator was a right ba$$tard. So heads up on that. You might need 2 people for it. 1 to hold the ratchet in place and one to use a cheater bar.

dsefcik

Turns out the dealership and Toyota did (IMO) the right thing...they covered the alternator cost and I only paid $110 labor...happy ending for all.

Thanks to everyone here, it was a great help!

nguyen925

Glad they covered it, I don't see why your alternator would stop working at such an early stage in your car's life.

CXTKRS1

Just a defective part, does seems like quite a few members are having alt. problems as well. Problem might be a supplier who went cheap with one of the internal parts in the alt.

katchkillah

same here. my white slug is currently sitting at the dealership due to the alternator not being in stock here in hawaii. been one week so far, i changed my battery back in march and last week same thing while driving lost my steering. ugh. this time went straight to dealership seeing this surely wasn't a battery issue. well luckily it's under warranty so labor and parts is covered and now driving a loaner from the dealership. wish they'd stock it here too. but then again maybe this is happening more frequent and they really went out of stock.