bought an '04 eleganza a month ago, everything seemed to be fine but i took it on the motorway for about an hour today and then the power steering failed and the warning light came on the dashboard. Left it parked for a bit then took it for a quick spin, everything back to normal and no warning light.

I've read powersteering failure is a common problem, but it looks like taking it on the motorway set it off in my case. so if i stick to city/low speed roads will it be ok, or is it going to start failing more often no matter what?

i don't mind driving without power steering but it is an mot failure and about £700 to repair from what i've read here

I also upgraded the head unit a few weeks ago, i doubt that would be causing problems though?

bigpanda said:

I also upgraded the head unit a few weeks ago, i doubt that would be causing problems though?

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If it's draining the battery, and the alternator can't generate enough juice to compensate, that may be more than a coincidence...!

It's amazing how many FIAT power-steering 'failures' are caused by dying batteries, though... -- especially at this time of year...!

I'd be checking the output of the alternator, and the voltage across the battery (with the engine turned off), if I were you...! Good luck; and let us know how you get on....

hmm well if it was the battery i would have thought the power steering would fail first thing in the morning rather than after an hours high speed driving. i don't crank up the volume on the new HU so it shouldn't be draining more than the car can handle.

Don't know how to check the alternator output, i'll mention it to the mechanic next time if its still playing up, if its the alternator then at least thats relatively cheap to fix!

ive never seen anyone say this before, but i think that the engine oil level can affect the power steering operation. on one car i had the power steering went and when i checked the oil it was almost empty. when i topped up the oil the power steering came back

purely anecdotal i know, but just another reason to service cars regularly, just 30 minutes a week can be enough

john

johnswlondon said:

ive never seen anyone say this before, but i think that the engine oil level can affect the power steering operation. on one car i had the power steering went and when i checked the oil it was almost empty. when i topped up the oil the power steering came back

purely anecdotal i know, but just another reason to service cars regularly, just 30 minutes a week can be enough

john

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Engine oil will have no bearing on an electric power steering motor!

"engine oil level can affect the power steering operation"? Utter rubbish. The Panda has electric power steering, with a large motor housed in the 'bump' on the lower dash, in front of the driver's right knee. On other, usually larger and older cars with hydraulic power steering, also rubbish. These have a separate tank of power steering fluid, completely unrelated to engine oil.

By the way, welcome back - no posts since February 2007, and now a whole load in one day, to a lot of quite old threads - curious?

noted

Greetings!

Changing the battery fixes many people problems with the electric power steering.
Since I did it never gave me red warning light again.

Best wishes!

pgainf said:

Greetings!

Changing the battery fixes many people problems with the electric power steering.
Since I did it never gave me red warning light again.

Best wishes!

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Indeed,
that does seem to be most peoples experience ,
and especially this time of year - a sensible first ( cheap) attempt to remedy the issue,
Charlie