i have just bought a fiat stilo 1.6 dynamic but the person i bought it off said that the alternator needed replacing but the warning light are light up about battery which i assume is normal but the power steering is not working would the alternator interfier with the workings of the power steering ,once car is bumped off it starts and goes for miles,i stopped turned key off and restarted ok but obviously battery will run down any ideas please

Yes. The power steering shuts off if there is insufficient electrical power - so I think once you've fixed the alternator, the power steering will be fine - good news indeed.

-Alex

:yeahthat: as battery isn't powerful enough to run the EPS, if alternator fails then steering is deactivated also

alexGS said:

Yes. The power steering shuts off if there is insufficient electrical power - so I think once you've fixed the alternator, the power steering will be fine - good news indeed.

-Alex

Click to expand...

Yes, that happened to me lately.
After fixing alternator all came back to life...

ivand said:

Yes, that happened to me lately.
After fixing alternator all came back to life...

Click to expand...

Happened to me on a VW Passat I used to own. When I had full lock on, it made an awful grinding noise. Replaced the power steering pump, all the belts, cost me a fortune. Eventually traced it to a failing alternator. It wasn't generating enough power, which caused the power steering pump to be under powered.

You can also check you battery voltage. If everything ok you should get over 14 with engine running, and about 12.8 engine off.