Hey Everybody,

I'm new to the forum, and I was wondering if any of you who have Punto Mk1s could help me troubleshoot this one -

So. The story first. The other day my Punto was broken into, the driver's door was popped open with a crowbar, and the thief rummaged through the glovebox. Nothing seems to be missing, and I just bent the door back into shape to close properly.

But, when I started to drive, the steering seemed very strange. Steering 45° to either direction feels normal, but any more than that feels like I am pulling the steering wheel over a kerb. It gets really difficult. This is when my paranoia about the break-in kicks in. I wondered if they stole the fuse for the power steering? Did they mess up the steering rods in some way? Then the steering panal cover seemed off-center and loose. Perhaps they tried to hotwire the car and messed something up?

Any advice on where to look to troubleshoot would be fantastic. I checked, and all my fuses seem to be there. Is it possible that it is anything else besides the power steering causing this?

My Fiat is a Punto Selecta 60 from 1996.

Thanks!

Mk1 Punto has hydraulic power steering, check oil level, Any leaks?

Hey digger58,

Thanks for the heads-up. I did some reading about Hydraulic Power Steering Systems (see wikipedia) and that gives me a better understanding of how/why the system could be acting up.

When daylight arrives, I'm going to go check the power steering fluid levels and see if there are any leaks.

Also, based on my reading, it appears that the hydraulic system is controlled by a tensioner in the steering column. I wonder, if someone tried to get into the steering column, if this tensioner could have got knocked out of place or broken.

what do you guys think?

First thing to do is check oil level, the pump is belt driven and the pump itself moves to tension the drive belt. Nothing to do with the column. If it is low in oil
it could give the symptoms you describe. Pump is on front left of engine as you face the car. Do you have the handbook? It shows where the oil reservoir is etc.

I went out and did a pretty deep check today. Oil levels are great, it appears that there is no leakage, and when I have the engine on, I can see that the belt is spinning the power-steering pump.



Where to look next? How does power steering engage? Could it be that signal is not happening?

I think that power steering pump is failing, it could be vains inside of pump that are damaged. Or the valves inside of power steering rack are bent or damaged.
When you turn steering wheel in any direction steering column rotates and opens and closes valves insade of steering rack to allow oil flow in wich direction to go and assist. If any of valves are damaged you will feel stiffnes in some point of turn. But am still aiming at pump. Hope it helps ☺

OK, did this problem just manifest itself after the break-in? If so maybe they did damage the cowling and it is catching the steering as it turns,Can you hear anything catching as you turn the wheel? Remove the plastic cowling and see if something is catching. It is unlikely to be an hydraulic fault which has suddenly appeared especially when there aren't any leaks.Usually with hydraulics you will notice a gradual decline in performance.

Driver Jon

Was there any damage to the ignition lock?
Does it still lock the wheel/column with the keys out.??

I suspect youve something damaged there..

Charlie

Thanks for the advice all, it seems to be getting worse, so I took another look at it this morning.

Vucina, if the power steering pump is failing, is there a way to test that? I would imagine though that with that it would get weaker and weaker as opposed to suddenly quitting? Where are those valves located, and is there any way to test them?

Digger58, yes, the problem suddenly manifested after the break-in never prior. I am associating the two events, but there is the most slight chance it is coincidence, I think not though. I removed the cowling around the steering column, and everything looks in order. I drove in a bunch of circles, but I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary, neither from the column or the outside tyre.

Charlie, it doesn't seem like there is damage to the ignition lock, but when I tested it, I am unable to lock the column with the keys out. As this car is new to me, I'm not sure if this change is recent or not. I haven't used that feature since owning the car. If this is damaged, how could that impact the power steering?

I think that at this stage you need to get it checked by somebody competent, If something was damaged when somebody tried to interfere with the steering lock it could cause problems like this. Did the steering ever lock? The steering lock has a pin which engages with a slot in the column, if this is damaged it could cause stiffness. Get it checked quickly, remember you are aware of the problem and IF it contributes to an incident it could have serious consequences for you!

I'm not sure if the steering ever did lock on my watch, but it does say that it is a feature in the user manual, so I assume that it must have at some point.

That is a fair point about the awareness of the situation, I will need to take care of it ASAP, I just can't bear to take it in to a mechanic if it is a simple-moderate fix.

That being said, at this point I feel like I don't have anything else I can troubleshoot.

"but it does say that it is a feature in the user manual," I think you will find that is referring to the steering lock, a security feature that should work when the key is OUT and the car stationary.