So I am new here. I have been looking for any information to help and have found this place. I got my wife a remote start for her Maxima for Christmas. It is an MPC brand, mostly plug and play. I installed it and everything works good except the lock and unlock on the MPC remote. Not a big deal as we can still use the factory remote for that. So after installing it I started the car and have no power steering.
a few details. I did disconnect the battery during the install, about 2 or 3 hours. I have the red light flashing on the dash, I assume because the alarm system does not recognize the remote start as a valid key?
the car starts as it should but no power steering.
The car is still in the garage, I have not driven it on the road.
So what did I do wrong? Is there a steering angle sensor somewhere that may have come unplugged?
the only wires I had to splice into were the wire on the push to start button and a purple wire on the BCM that is supposed to be the door pin. I had to add two connectors to the BCM for the lock and unlock but they did not fit correctly which is why the doors won’t work with the new remote. Everything else was plug and play with harness plugs. One to the OBD port, one to the brake light switch and one to the key port.

 

Well, it could be the EPS connection. But you should have thrown a code. If you haven't done so, please get a scan tool and see if any codes are active and let us know!

 

I scanned it with my Autel scanner and found no codes.
I did have the battery disconnected for a few hours and unplugged a couple of connections on the BCM behind the instrument cluster. Is it possible it lost memory somehow?
EDIT: I just moved it out of the garage. I found that if I rev the engine to about 3000 RPMs the power steering works. Don’t know what that means exactly but adds to the puzzle.

 

Kind of sounds like the PS Pump is bad or low on fluid. Maybe not related at all to your remote start work.

 

Hoses to the PS Reservoir are known to leak, peek under the plastic cover on the pass side eng compartment and check the reservoir.

 

It does act like a pump, what gets me is that the steering was fine when I parked it in the garage. I added the remote start and started the car, power steering didn’t work.
There is no fluid on the floor under the car.
I will check the fluid level to see.
is there a procedure to test the pump to see if it failed?

 

Well yes there are some pressure checks you can do but start with your Mark I standard issue eyeball. Put her up on jack stands, pull off the wheel and weather cover and make sure the belt isnt slipping and that the pump is turning when running. If it is and fluid is fine, you may want to do the pressure tests but it would most likely be the pump....especially as you mentioned it worked at higher rpms. Sometimes, stuff happens not directly correlatable with what you were working on.

 

The fluid level is good but the fluid looks very dark like used engine oil.
I did notice when I drove it back to my garage the power steering worked but when I slowed down to pull into the garage it stopped.
I did look the other day and the pump is turning, the belt is not slipping.
I see the parts store has one in stock for $155, I might just go get it and see what it does. It looks like it is not too hard to change.
The whole thing has me confused. I went to tech school back in 1988 but have not been turning wrenches for 25 years. I work on all of my own stuff and make a little money on the side working on peoples cars and mowers but I stick to repairs I know and am comfortable with.

 

Problem may be found!
I took the front wheel off to check things out. I found oil inside of the wheel. There is oil coking from the power steering pump. It appears to be from the front of the pump, shaft area but I can’t really tell yet. The reason I did not see oil in the shop floor, it was running down the tie rod dropping into the wheel. Running down the wheel and puddling under the tire. When I brought the car into the garage to do the remote start it was -5 degrees and the tires were covered with ice road salt and road grime. I assumed the weather spot under the tire was from the road salt so I threw some floor dry on it and swept it up. Now to determine if it is a hose or the pump. I am leaning to the pump as I have not lost a lot of fluid out of the reservoir, it is still at the cold max line.
thanks for the advice and convincing me to check deeper into the problem than just looking at where I was working! I will post if I have any more problems or questions.

 

Congratulations! Now just a word of warning. These pumps are incredibly frustrating to replace. Prepare those around you for the obligatory hours of "cussing like a sailor" and acts of frustration. The first time I replaced mine took over 8 hours and i had to do it a second time as the first pump was defective. It can be done but none of us that have tried it have ever said it was easy. Good luck and please let us know how you fared.

 

Got the pump changed. It wasn’t too bad, but I never want to do it again. It only took about 6 hours, half of that time was sitting on the floor thinking about my life decisions that brought me to this point, and entertaining my neighbor who was bored and kept wandering over to talk.
power steering is working good now. I do see a drip hanging from the high pressure hose. I don’t know if the hose is now leaking or if it is residual from putting it back together. I suspect it is leaking around the banjo fitting on the pump.
Do the brass washers on the high pressure bolt have a right and wrong way to install them? One side felt a little flatter than the other. I installed with the flat side toward the banjo fitting and the more rounded side to the pulp and the bolt head.

 

Impressively done for your first time! Re: banjo bolt waaher. Sounds correct.