Just bought a mk2 punto and today the power steering failed battery and connections are fine so does this mean it's likely to be the expensive steering column replacement. bought the car to give to a friend to get her and her two kids around, feel gutted that it might have a problem I won't be able to afford to fix for her. The seller seemed really genuine too.

Zaly said:

Just bought a mk2 punto and today the power steering failed battery and connections are fine so does this mean it's likely to be the expensive steering column replacement. bought the car to give to a friend to get her and her two kids around, feel gutted that it might have a problem I won't be able to afford to fix for her. The seller seemed really genuine too.

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what kind of **** cars are people selling, that pas stops working same day you buy it lol

refund?

or

https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-ii/342594-help-my-power-steering-light-start-here.html

Private seller so no hope of a refund ? don't understand how people can sleep at night, I'd feel awful selling someone a car that was on its last legs (unless I was selling it as such). We'e actually had it 4 days now, but the PS light came on the evening we bought it. Paid £70 to get the wheel baring done that we were told it needed too.

Thanks for the link, had taken a look there already - guess I was hoping someone could tell me it wasn't the disaster I suspected it was but clearly clutching at straws. ATS think I'm a crazy lady as I've made them check my battery twice now hoping against hope that that might be all it is.

Zaly said:

Private seller so no hope of a refund ? don't understand how people can sleep at night, I'd feel awful selling someone a car that was on its last legs (unless I was selling it as such). We'e actually had it 4 days now, but the PS light came on the evening we bought it. Paid £70 to get the wheel baring done that we were told it needed too.

Thanks for the link, had taken a look there already - guess I was hoping someone could tell me it wasn't the disaster I suspected it was but clearly clutching at straws. ATS think I'm a crazy lady as I've made them check my battery twice now hoping against hope that that might be all it is.

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they simply dont tell about them when selling the car so they can sell it for more squid or they dont know about the problems but thats rare

if car was parked, battery could be low maybe it just needs a good charge

battery and connections are fine so does this mean it's likely to be the expensive steering column replacement. ?






^ theres no clear way of knowing, until its hooked up to a Laptop and MES (Multi-ecu scan)


There might be a member on here that'd do this for you,

I have a fault code! P0500- does anyone know what this means? Trying to work out if it's good news or not.

Zaly said:

I have a fault code! P0500- does anyone know what this means? Trying to work out if it's good news or not.

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Fault code P0500 is speed sensor circuit failure.
It could be the sensor needs replacing, it could be a wiring error, could be ECM at fault.

Does your speedo work properly?

CMaughan96 said:

Fault code P0500 is speed sensor circuit failure.
It could be the sensor needs replacing, it could be a wiring error, could be ECM at fault.

Does your speedo work properly?

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cmaguhan you fixed it?

Speedo seems absolutely fine, it's the power steering that's been the problem. Also had the engine management light on awhile back.

flisko said:

cmaguhan you fixed it?

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I haven't yet, I'm having some battery issues

Zaly said:

Speedo seems absolutely fine, it's the power steering that's been the problem. Also had the engine management light on awhile back.

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That sounds like the exact same thing that's happening to my mk2b.

I'm definitely no expert, so perhaps someone more experienced can corroborate this, but P0500 is definitely speed sensor circuit failure.

The power steering receives input from the speed sensor to know how much to assist: faster, less assistance, so on.
I'm just guessing here but it could be that the connection from the speed sensor to the power steering unit needs checking...

CMaughan96 said:

I haven't yet, I'm having some battery issues



That sounds like the exact same thing that's happening to my mk2b.

I'm definitely no expert, so perhaps someone more experienced can corroborate this, but P0500 is definitely speed sensor circuit failure.

The power steering receives input from the speed sensor to know how much to assist: faster, less assistance, so on.
I'm just guessing here but it could be that the connection from the speed sensor to the power steering unit needs checking...

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Thanks for the tip- will go and try and work
out how to to do that!

Does this mean that it's not the mega expensive fault that requires the replacement of the whole steering column? That's what I'm really hoping ?

Zaly said:

Thanks for the tip- will go and try and work
out how to to do that!

Does this mean that it's not the mega expensive fault that requires the replacement of the whole steering column? That's what I'm really hoping ?

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Well I'm sorry to say, this is where my knowledge ends. I was hoping a more experienced member could chime in by now, as I've learnt everything so far off of them.

Ziggy122?oldhammer? Can you help out?

what checks have you done to rule out battery?

dave said:

what checks have you done to rule out battery?

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I've taken it to ATS (twice) and they've checked the battery for me and connections. They just used a multimeter on it but were confident it was fine.

Zaly said:

I've taken it to ATS (twice) and they've checked the battery for me and connections. They just used a multimeter on it but were confident it was fine.

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that's far from a guarantee

did they check the 14V charging too ?, as it'll need LOTS of power for the PAS,

best bet is to fit another good battery( swap from your car?),
you don't need to drive it..just start and tickover- the lights should go out,

as I said before we've had a dodgy alternator do this before

Charlie

varesecrazy said:

that's far from a guarantee

did they check the 14V charging too ?, as it'll need LOTS of power for the PAS,

best bet is to fit another good battery( swap from your car?),
you don't need to drive it..just start and tickover- the lights should go out,

as I said before we've had a dodgy alternator do this before

Charlie

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Thanks Charlie ? I can use try the battery from my Cmax, guessing they'd be interchangeable? Having had someone comment previously about voltage and the car being stood I did try leaving it running for 20mins or so then driving it. After doing that we went twice round the block with no sign of the power steering problem. They didn't check the 14v charging at ATS, just stuck on a multimeter and said its fine. I would love it to be something as simple as a battery replacement!

Zaly said:

Thanks Charlie ? I can use try the battery from my Cmax, guessing they'd be interchangeable? Having had someone comment previously about voltage and the car being stood I did try leaving it running for 20mins or so then driving it. After doing that we went twice round the block with no sign of the power steering problem. They didn't check the 14v charging at ATS, just stuck on a multimeter and said its fine. I would love it to be something as simple as a battery replacement!

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so it was just a low charged battery?

flisko said:

so it was just a low charged battery?

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Sadly not. Took it into another specialist battery place who confirmed that the battery is working great and so is the alternator. So back to square one I guess. The power steering is currently working and the light is off.

Feeling nervous cars been in the garage since yesterday. Definitely needs £250 work on an oil leak, they couldn't find a problem with the power steering using their diagnostics yesterday but are getting in an auto electrician today to check it. Quoting £600 for the repair if it's is the big power steering fault - I know you can buy the reconditioned units for £150 on ebay and I'm wondering wether to put this to them if it is the PS. Alternatively we may have to scrap and start from scratch. I still need to get my friend a car so this is all becoming very expensive :0(
I think Im clutching at straws but the radio is badly wired and doesn't switch off with the car. Just wondering if there's any way that might be draining power and causing some issues with the PS? Also holding some hope as I'm guessing the error code should have come up with the initial diagnostic and it didn't :/

Zaly said:

Thanks Charlie ? I can use try the battery from my Cmax, guessing they'd be interchangeable? Having had someone comment previously about voltage and the car being stood I did try leaving it running for 20mins or so then driving it. After doing that we went twice round the block with no sign of the power steering problem. They didn't check the 14v charging at ATS, just stuck on a multimeter and said its fine. I would love it to be something as simple as a battery replacement!

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Was the engine running when ATS put the multimeter on the battery? If so they were checking the charging. You cannot do a proper battery check with just a multimeter. You an tell if a cell has failed completely, but not capacity or ability to supply current.

Robert G8RPI.