Think there may be an intermittent problem on my 1.9 dynamic's power steering.
The other week I was working the steering (full lock to full lock) quite a bit, getting into a tight space. The steering got heavier and heavier and - forgetting about the parking space - I drove a little ways down the road with the steering feeling incredibly heavy. Switched off the engine and restarted the car - power steering back on.
According to my local garage (independent - not fiat dealer) it is probably an electrical fault rather than mechanical and - I quote - 'is very common with Fiats'. But the Sedici is made by Suzuki...

Since then I've been waiting for it to happen again and have had a bit of heaviness but not as bad as the first time, it seems unpredictable and for that reason I'm delaying schlepping over to the nearest Fiat dealers with it as I'm about 90% sure they wouldn't find a fault on the day and so I'd have wasted my time.
As I'm assuming it could be a software fault they might even give me the old story of 'it's not a bug, it's a feature'... any thoughts what I should do, could I be causing damage by not taking it in? cheers

The power steering needs a lot of electricity, particularly if you are turning the steering wheel when the car is not moving.

Low engine speed reduces the amount of power the alternator is able to kick out, so you will loose assistance.

Make sure the car is moving before turning the wheel, this will also reduce wear on suspension components.

Cheers

SPD