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Technical Power Steering failure

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Technical Power Steering failure

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Smuletm

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I have a 2007 panda 100hp with 30,000 miles and its in good nick. But while trying to get off the drive, the power steering went very heavy and stopped working and the power steering failure notification light came on. Obviously the car is now out of warrenty, but does anyone know the best way to go about sorting this out? Ive heard scary stories about it being very expensive, should I take it to a dealer or a good garage I know ?

Any help would be nice

Cheers Sam
 
sorry to hear your news............apparently this is fairly common so there must be other posts with the relevant advice, even a company doing 'cheap' part exchange units

good luck
 
I think that its time that fiat sorted this expensive problem out (possible recall)ive heard of some very low milage vehicles steering failing and costing the owner a fortune...disgusting really that such a expensive problem isnt sorted out.
 
Before assuming the worst check the altnerator is working correctly. A lot of faults with electronic power steering are caused by they are not getting enough power.

Also I would have thought you might get some luck with FIAT contributing if it has a full service history.
 
Andy Monty said:
first check the battery is in good condition get it load tested.

check its fully charged and the alternator is working

all the engine bay earths and battery clamps are tight....
Click to expand...

Valid point, as it's electric power steering a dip in battery charge can fail the system afaik
 
Hi, Sam.

I'm a driving Instructor and use a 2006 Panda 100hp to teach. The car has now covered 9700 miles!

The power steering light has just come on again.And if the motor does need changing, it'll be for the 3rd time!

Apparently, it's the torque sensor that's the problem.It seem to last around 35,000 miles and then starts playing up.Fiat know there's a problem and have been pretty good in paying 80% of the cost the second time it went.The first time it was done under the warranty.
Also, try getting Fiat mechanics to reset the steering unit.It sometimes works! But I would defo call customer relations to see if they would give some kind of goodwill gesture.If it does need changing it'll be quite expensive!Good luck. John
 
johnnypasta said:
Hi, Sam.

I'm a driving Instructor and use a 2006 Panda 100hp to teach. The car has now covered 9700 miles!

The power steering light has just come on again.And if the motor does need changing, it'll be for the 3rd time!

Apparently, it's the torque sensor that's the problem.It seem to last around 35,000 miles and then starts playing up.Fiat know there's a problem and have been pretty good in paying 80% of the cost the second time it went.The first time it was done under the warranty.
Also, try getting Fiat mechanics to reset the steering unit.It sometimes works! But I would defo call customer relations to see if they would give some kind of goodwill gesture.If it does need changing it'll be quite expensive!Good luck. John
Click to expand...

Do you mean 97,000 miles?
 
I have a '06 Panda Dynamic. My warning light has been on for a year now, the message to consult the dealer comes up every time I start up, I was quoted £900 to fix it. The power steering has only failed about 4 times in the year, all I do is switch off and restart.Tried all the advice concerning Battery.
I down loaded info on removal of the unit from this forum, in case I have to.:cool:
 
Mine failed 2 weeks ago. Same symptoms. Just had it done.
BBA Reman £295 + vat + £10 carriage.
Took my car into local garage. They removed the part + BBA collected. Garage re-fitted new part. labour cost £190.
The part comes with a 'lifetime guarantee'
Very please with BBA and my garage.
 
I hope mine does not fail as I could not afford over £500 to get it fixed, the car's done 46k.

As soon as my car is out of Fiat's warranty in Jan, I will be getting AA Warranty for an extended 3 years, this covers the whole car and if it's a modified part which has failed then u get a standard replacement.
 
How much is an AA warranty on a Panda? Pandas always score well in Warranty surveys so I imagine it would be quite cheap.
 
This happened to my 100HP recently, on around 52k at the moment. Luckily I took a warranty as was quoted around £600 for the job with new part from Fiat. Make sure they set it up correctly because when I got mine done the wheels were defaulting full lock left when Sport was turned off :eek:
 
Is ths problem something which all 100HP should be worried about..? If mine goes i'll won't be able to drive the car for a few months while I save up for a new part.

I thought it's good to have the "full feel of the road", & not have false feeings under power steering :D
 
Thunderbug said:
Is ths problem something which all 100HP should be worried about..? If mine goes i'll won't be able to drive the car for a few months while I save up for a new part.

I thought it's good to have the "full feel of the road", & not have false feeings under power steering :D
Click to expand...

It's something any car equipped with EPS, aka all modern cars, can suffer with.
 
Most Easterly Pandas said:
It's something any car equipped with EPS, aka all modern cars, can suffer with.
Click to expand...

Let's face it though, the Panda does seem to have something of a weakness when it comes to this issue.

I have no idea whether it's also an issue on other cars with power steering, but this issue does arise frequently on the forums.
 
Thunderbug said:
I thought it's good to have the "full feel of the road", & not have false feeings under power steering :D
Click to expand...

Unfortunately you have electric power steering which cannot provide real feel because of the manner in which it works. Some manufacturers do a good job of hiding this by ensuring their cars have some 'feel' to the steering even though it's artificial. The Panda isn't one of them. The steering is numb with no feel. Shame.

A hydraulic system is better because you can certainly retain some feel. It won't be as direct as a non PAS car, but it's a good compromise.

If you want to truly understand steering feel, drive a Lotus Elise S1/S2 where the feel is telepathic.
 
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