LauraBrown1 said:

Thank you Frupi ?

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No problem, I hope you get it sorted.

I see the nearest Fiat place to you, is Park Fiat, Irvine? I don't have any idea about them personally, but seems they'e only about 9 miles from your location? KA11 4JZ.

https://www.parks.uk.com/fiat/

Thank you Frupi! ?

LauraBrown1 said:

Hi Typecastboy whats MES? I live in Symington South Ayrshire [emoji4]

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A great bit of software called MultiECUScan. It’s software that links to all the ECUs in your car and will diagnose and reset a multitude of problems. If anyone’s in Ayrshire with it, hopefully they’ll offer to help.

Laura,

To give you some idea of your worst case scenario, it might help if you read the info in the following link:

http://www.power-steering.co.uk/fia...ps-column-repairs-replacement-units-in-stock/

I'm not insinuating for one moment that the symptoms you have described and the symptoms explained in the link mean that your electric steering unit has failed, but at least it might explain issues you have been experiencing. I've had an electric steering column replaced on the first Fiat 500 we owned, so it's not inconceivable that you have a similar problem. Sadly, if it is the problem you have, it's not a cheap fix.

Oh Noooo! Thats expensive! I will take it for a scan ?i will let you know the outcome! ??

LauraBrown1 said:

Oh Noooo! Thats expensive! I will take it for a scan ?i will let you know the outcome! ??

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Yes, it's definitely not a cheap fix if that is what the problem is.

You might be lucky, someone in your area might have MultiEUscan, but you could quite literally be waiting for ages for someone to get back to you. You could buy the kit yourself, but then you have to learn how to use it. If you buy the kit yourself, you're probably 2/3rds covered the cost of a Fiat dealership diagnosis.

It's worth pointing out, if you take your car for a Fiat dealership service (only you will know when it's next due), diagnostics are included as part of the service. The trick with Fiat, is negotiating a decent service price in the first place. I was lucky when we had ours, I've got 5 Fiat dealerships within a 30 mile radius of where I live, I just used to play them off against each other until one of them was sensible and offered a service at a decent price.

Remember, if they diagnose a particular fault, you don't have to have the work carried out by Fiat, you can have the work done elsewhere. Again though, your locale might prove a problem if you have limited options. Correct diagnosis though, is the only way you will solve this problem. Good luck

Hello A wee update! I went to Fiat in Irvine they said they dont check diagnostics with a service but i did get her serviced last month. So! They will do a diagnostic check on my wee fiat, that will cost 102 pounds!! ?. Then i remembered my car was recalled at about 12000 miles a couple of years ago to check the “wiring” under the dash and im pretty sure that was for steering problems. At that point it hadnt done that much mileage and appeared to be fine but maybe that the fault now? Its done 23800 miles mow but 5 years old! ? Maybe im clutching at straws but what do you guys think? Thank you soooo much for all ur help ??

The above link sounds like what i have, incase it helps me or anyone else with the same issue ?

LauraBrown1 said:

Hello A wee update! I went to Fiat in Irvine they said they dont check diagnostics with a service but i did get her serviced last month. So! They will do a diagnostic check on my wee fiat, that will cost 102 pounds!! ?. Then i remembered my car was recalled at about 12000 miles a couple of years ago to check the “wiring” under the dash and im pretty sure that was for steering problems. At that point it hadnt done that much mileage and appeared to be fine but maybe that the fault now? Its done 23800 miles mow but 5 years old! ? Maybe im clutching at straws but what do you guys think? Thank you soooo much for all ur help ??

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I'm assuming here then that Irvine Fiat are not a Fiat main dealership? I say that, because as far as I was aware, all Fiat franchise dealerships check the car diagnostically on a service. If I'm wrong on this, then I'm happy to stand corrected, but this was certainly the case for my previous two Fiat 500's when they went for dealer main servicing.

Admittedly, the 1.2 POP we had, the steering column 'failure' was discovered during a 'free' diagnostic check that I took advantage of after a local Fiat dealership sent a card to my home offering the free diagnostic check. The electric steering unit was subsquently replaced under warranty, but there must have been something wrong with it because they had to have a Fiat insurance assessor in to approve the job before they swapped it out.

As for the recall you mentioned, the dash wiring, we had that done on our TwinAir. All that entails, is a cable tie, quite literally, a two minute job. I think it might have been to prevent the wiring rubbing on something under the dash.

Concerning the price quoted, yes, expensive and only you can decide whether or not you are going to spend the money. You need to remember though, if you have any warning lights appearing anywhere on the dash/cluster at MOT time, the tester will probably fail the vehicle, so you do need to resolve the issue.

I've had the same problem on 2 fiat panda's.

The way I self diagnosed them is, replace battery with fully charged unit, start car and let it idle.

Turn the steering full lock one way and then the other.

Centre the steering to normal driving position.

If it's a steering problem the warning light/heavy steering will show itself in the same position whilst turning each time.

I had one unit reconditioned (they send a temporary unit of the garage to fit whilst yours is being worked on so you aren't off the road during that time) and the other was bought from a vehicle dismantler. Both worked, I doubt the same fault will happen again, though the reconditioned unit has a lifetime guarantee if it did. I think it was about 4 hours labour in total for the in/out of the "borrowed" then reconned unit using a local (non fiat) garage.
Here's the link for the reconditioner place:https://shop.westernpowersteering.co.uk/category-69.html

Hope this helps!

Thank you Panda!

Hello All fiat have come back with a faulty steering rack? Is that the steering column? Im hoping the rack is Cheaper to fit! ??

Ps 2012 onwards there seems to be a lot of complaints about fiat 500 steering problems!

I was quoted 2200 to get it fixed by fiat. A local guy can do the job for 300 inc vat! Fiat are a total rip off!!! Thanks for all ur help folks, much appreciated!

LauraBrown1 said:

I was quoted 2200 to get it fixed by fiat. A local guy can do the job for 300 inc vat! Fiat are a total rip off!!! Thanks for all ur help folks, much appreciated!

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If the Fiat dealer quoted you £2200 to replace a faulty electric steering module, then I'm assuming they'e out for a 200 percent profit on the job. When ours was replaced by a Fiat dealer, they told me that if I had had to pay for it myself, the steering column module was just over £500 and they would charge about the same again to fit it, so quite where the figure you've been quoted has come from, is anyone's guess.

You're absolutely right to seek a local guy to do the job, however, you must make sure get a warranty for the work. If possible, pay on a credit card as it gives you a little more protection from a consumer rights point of view.

How much did they charge you in the end for diagnostics?

LauraBrown1 said:

I was quoted 2200 to get it fixed by fiat. A local guy can do the job for 300 inc vat! Fiat are a total rip off!!! Thanks for all ur help folks, much appreciated!

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Fiat will repair this by replacing the steering column with a complete new unit.

An independent garage will likely remove the column and either exchange it for a remanufactured unit, or fit a secondhand replacement. This is inherently a cheaper way of repairing the car, but I doubt Fiat will authorise their franchised dealers to repair cars using anythng other than factory supplied parts.

As frupi says, £2k is still way OTT; with inflation since his was replaced under warranty and a falling pound, I'd have thought somewhere in the region of £1200-£1300 for a franchised dealer repair using new parts.

IIRC reputable remanufacturers like Western Power Steering will charge in the region of £250-£300 for an exchange column, not including fitting; I'd be asking your independent some searching questions about how exactly he is going to repair this, and what source he will use to obtain the necessary parts.

It's not a job I'd want to see bodged; failure at speed could catch a driver out and result in a nasty accident. The repair requires removal & replacement of the steering column airbag system and whilst that's straightforward enough as jobs go, you need to be 100% certain it's done correctly, for obvious reasons.

That said, an independent should be able to do a quality repair using a properly remanufactured column for a fraction of what Fiat charge.

And yes, these fail more often than I'd like to see. It used to be a relatively common problem on the Mk3 Panda, but there was a rumour that Fiat had beefed up on their component quality for the near-identical 500 column. We still hear of a few cases like yours on the forum, though most steering power control issues are battery related, as folks have said previously.

JR please see pandapandas link, it looks like column costs 185£ ?

LauraBrown1 said:

JR please see pandapandas link, it looks like column costs 185£ ?

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+VAT & delivery, so £240 to get it on your doorstep.

Prices have fallen a little since I last looked .

Hi ya the folk im going to are £294 for that part and fitting! With a 2 year warranty! Fingers crossed it works JR!! I will let u all know! ?