[specnaz]

Hey guys , I'm new to this forum and I got few cnc projects on the go, but I need your help. I recently had to replace my electric rack and pinion on my 2013 Ford Interceptor (New Taurus) due to grinding noise when moved. I found that ball screw somehow got dry of lube, but that was only after I already bought new one and and replaced it. Further I noticed that there's some serious servo on there and I took it home to play....now...
I must admit I never tried to run a servo of this size , nor do I know what would I need to run it. I will only assume it's 12V or 24V since it was in a car and I see encoder is integrated. I would like to try and having in ran by Arduino preferably but oh well what do I know.

Any suggestions and ideas are more then welcome, starting as how to properly connect it, how to get pwm signal etc. I couldn't find any information on it online or inside (hence why I disassembled it) . I can make more pics if required. If I get sufficient info on how to run it on this forum, I will make YT video on my DIY channel on HOW TO if anyone else comes across to similar idea/issue

Please see photos attached

[specnaz]

and these 3 photos more

[skrubol]

and these 3 photos more

I don't see any photos. Might be something on my end though as I do see an "Attached Thumbnails" area.

If you don't run into someone with specific knowledge of that servo, it'll be tough to reverse engineer it. If it's a brushed motor and a quadurature encoder, it should be fairly easy to get it to at least turn, but if it's brushless it will be quite an adventure.

[specnaz]

I don't see any photos. Might be something on my end though as I do see an "Attached Thumbnails" area.

If you don't run into someone with specific knowledge of that servo, it'll be tough to reverse engineer it. If it's a brushed motor and a quadurature encoder, it should be fairly easy to get it to at least turn, but if it's brushless it will be quite an adventure.

Hi Skrubol, I have re uploded the pics now onto external host...

http://i64.tinypic.com/24ora6p.jpg

http://i63.tinypic.com/2vb556p.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/2ynpksw.jpg

http://i63.tinypic.com/112d6if.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/v7t9qb.jpg

http://i63.tinypic.com/ok8l1g.jpg

http://i63.tinypic.com/2uop4iu.jpg

[skrubol]

I can't tell what that 3-pin connector is on the top of the first pic, (looks weird,) but it looks like the servo drive is built in, so you'd need to put a scope on the signal connection to figure out what the function of the pins are.

[specnaz]

Hi, yeah those 3 pins look weird because i broke the plastic around it when i tried connecting croc clips on it haha, it appears as those 3 pins go to a small coil and than to that white ribbon cable in pic 3 , so I would assume it would be power for the driver?
Now , when you say to scope signal connection , what would you figure the Voltage I should try applying to main power connector? 12 or 24V ? how would I test signal, by turning motor by hand maybe?

here is the pic with shaft removed

http://i63.tinypic.com/2njhl6g.jpg

[DaMeat]

So I bought a chevy volt rack and pinion and considered the same.... What I would do is take out the DC motor and change it to a stepper. Measure the size (Like nema 34 or so?) and just change em out.... I'm going to use mine for an autonomous vehicle, but it sure is a nice rack and pinion setup...

Fairly certain it's 12V, with gear reduction. Just touch the 2 thick cables to a car battery for a sec and it should steer. Change the polarity and it should go the other way...

[specnaz]

DaMeat , have you looked at the pictures? this is about half foot in size, and it has it's own drive in it already. I tried touching 12V to the terminal but nothing happened .

[specnaz]

I have found this video when guy is talking about it failing on Fords, but he says its a brushless DC motor and that 6 pin connector is encoder interface, while 3 pin connector is CANbus ... with motor driver integrated , now when I add 12V to main power I can't measure it on the other end, any suggestions on how to connect pin it out to Arduino or maybe ESC?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szHMXwcp9fo

[DaMeat]

Didn't look at the pic, but if it's a BLDC get an RC car ESC controller to power it...

That is the same as a 3 phase motor. Same as a car alternator, same as ....

Did you look at a Chevy Volt rack and pinion? It also has the motor built in but its a brushed 12V motor... Like I said, I would change it out to a REAL stepper motor.

Measure the 6 pins with a DMM, there should be 3 pairs with close to 0 ohms.... 3 phase motor.

[skrubol]

It seems like the best plan would be to try and sell the Ford servo and buy something more practical. Without good data on how to interface the motor, it will take a lot of reverse engineering work and skill to not blow something up. And it sounds most likely, if the 6-pin connector is the encoder output, then you would need to have some electronics to close the loop, which generally are expensive, and/or require a lot of skill to configure or even program.