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We have a 12,000 pound capacity Caterpillar fork truck. It lost power steering all of a sudden. What are common problems or what do i do to fix it myself. Will this be an expensive repair? Thanks for any information you can give me.

On a Caterpillar E12000 I had a no steering problem, In this application there is a Steer motor that must activate and spin the hydraulic steer pump that is a#ached to the motor. I had no steering and also no noise of the steer motor spinning with the truck on, sitting on the seat, lap belt on, and parking brake on with truck in Forward position and no Codes were displayed on dashboard.

First step is to always checked battery voltage I had 51 V on my meter directly on the battery I removed the rear cover to check all my fuses and they all checked okay, always good to check fuses using voltage on meter. There is a schema?c on the removable rear cover, located the positive wire going to the steer motor, or test directly on the steer motor by probing positive wire with you red lead and nega?ve wire with your black lead, sit on the seat, start truck and remove parking brake, actuate forward and you should see battery voltage, if you do and the motor does not ac?vate, you have a bad steer motor.

Very common issue, these are DC motors and have serviceable brushes. There is a steering contactor that activates the steer motor but that will only pull when all safety elements are met.

I have found that dirty environment buildings have a higher risk of steering motor failure. Also if it is sparking or making a growling noise Tag out immediately for it can cause other damage.