sometimes when i turn the wheel all the way to the left or right when I am driving (such as to reverse or make sharp left or right turns on crossroads) the steering wheel light will come on and the wheel becomes very stiff to steer or turn. What is causing this? Is it power steering fluid? I have to stop and start the car to get rid of the problem temporarily. Obviously it is dangerous so I need to fix it asap.

its a w reg fiat punto.

The steering is electically assisted. Make sure the battery is working as it should because at low speed its really that which provides the power. If batt's ok take it to a Fiat specialist.

Don't bother getting the battery tested, it will show up fine. Replace battery abd it should be all nice again! Saves you a £200 steering column replacement!

i have the same problem,so if i change the battery it might stop the steering light

Yeah, should do! Its just the motor not getting enough power from the battery. I had it on a car I bought but was fine after I changed the battery. Although I got the steering replaced anyway as it was under warranty! Thought I may as well! Although light came on the other day! But my car had been in garage for 2 weeks! So battery may have been running low. Hope it works for ya!!

If the electrical system voltage drops because the battery is old there wont be enough power to make the the steering motor work properly. At low speeds the generator wont be making enough power to drive the steering.

If the battery is old get a good quality new one and the problem might go away. If the battery is new then the column itself is likely to be faulty. Get it all properly tested.

My clapped out battery tested with 30% charge yet 10 minutes before it had been 100% flat and had to be jump started. It had 30% of nothing. Replaced with a Bosch silver battery. It cost £20 more than the basic 2 year warranty batt, but worth the extra for reliability "insurance"

I got this car used in summer of 2007. I replaced the battery shortly after that with a brand new one. I doubt its the battery as its not too old and I've only done 8k milage since then too? I reckon its a steering column problem.

In any case I will probably get rid of this car in the next couple of weeks before the problem gets worse as I am not paying £300-£600 for a new column to be fitted on a car thats done 75k milage already. Better off part exchaning this and spending that money going towards another car. Won't be getting a Fiat again though thats for sure.

75k is less than half its life

If the battery has been sat there and not used it doesnt matter how many miles u done on it, the less miles the more likely to not have full charge!!

If any lead-acid battery is left in a discharged state for more than a few weeks, it will never fully recover.

Dave.

i've been doing about 12 miles on it every day for the past two years except on weekends.

In one journey or serveral? and 12 miles isn't much to charge a battery back up

12 miles with all the winter driving stuff switched on is not enough, at end of journey switch everything off before the engine, let it tick over for 5-10 minutes before tuning engine off

So you're saying I should just buy a new battery for car and see what happens with it? Do I need to charge up the new battery? Where can I get a decent one online thats not too expensive? w reg 2000 1.2 fiat punto

get codes read first may save money, new battries come charged

i have the excact same problem someimes it will come on 2/3 times a day but some days it dont happen, its well dangerous. the other day was pullin into a side road with a car waitin to pull out and it come on was so close to the car was unreal

I had this with my 51 plate Mk2 but only if i had the steering on full lock. I found turning steering back slightly & switch off engine & restart car cured it.
It may eventualy fail & will be replacement steering coloum. I got recon one with 2yr unlimited milage warrenty on E Bay around £200

I use my 1.9JTD Doblo every day but mostly do very short trips.

So I put the battery on charge most days, need it or not..!

For Christmas some years a go I was given a New type digital battery charger form "Alda" I think @ £15.

You can leave your battery on charge and forget about it but do remember to remove leads before driving off...!!

I was so impressed with this exchanger, in a fit of madness I percussed a Ring "SmartChargePro 12" RSCP 12amp, possibly cheaper than a new battery and even a new battery will die if not used..!!

It's cheaper to charge the battery by mains power than running the Engine, I'm thinking, please let me know if I'm wrong..!

But at least my Doblo always starts but I don't have electric power steering, so I may be misleading you..!! :devil:

Always change your oil, for a long life.


RikRik

Hi, I had the same problem, then I bought a used EPS ECU and a Motor from a breaker and did the calibration using MES. But when I turned right full lock sometimes it indicates red steering on dash and goes stiff. Even after switch off the engine and restarted it feel stiff and red steering indicates on dash. So I went to test the battery but the person checked and said battery is good and he mentioned if i can start the engine in a single attempt powering on all lights, aircon, heater, radio etc this should be another problem. May I know what to do now.?