Just seeking a little advice,I've got a 09 Abarth grande punto and this morning i've been having problems with the power steering,which has result in the car being ditched at my works car park as the malfunction systems kicked in and i can't start the car up,is there anyway i can over ride the malufuntion system so i can get the car home? thanks in advance for any help offered

Had this with my standard punto. It is usually the sensor behind your steering wheel. I just turned my engine and ignition off for about 10 mins and it reset and just had a message on my dash no power steering but could drive it. I have absolutely no idea if this would work but you could disconnect your battery for a while reconnect and see if that resets it ?

Was thinking that about the battery, I'll give it ago later tonight,didn't know what was going on this morning had allsorts of error messages then the car just gave up, I'll let you know how I get on later tonight? , did it cost much to repair your sensor btw Chris?

Just been down to see if the above worked,which it hasn't gonna tow it home later tonight,cheers for the mate

Chris RWatts said:

Had this with my standard punto.

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Not always. Intact it's normally first sign of a failing battery, which sounds about right for OP if the car is 5 years old, on it's origional battery, with the colder weather arriving.

OP, the car is still driveable and doesn't not need towing, so save yourself the Agro and cost. The steering will just be heavier.

I'd get the battery properly tested and depending up on results I'd look at replacing the battery for a decent new one like a Bosch S5 - ebay tends to be the best priced place

Just towed the car home, read this and took the battery out, popped it onto a charger and its reading full but it can't be as when we jumped the car earlier all my electrics were fine, gonna get a bosch somepoint tomorrow.

quick update,managed to get the car running again, but still having issues with the power steering,booked it into lyles of newcastle for a diagnostics check on thursday morning.

daryl88 said:

quick update,managed to get the car running again,

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Why wasn't it running originally

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Why wasn't it running originally

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It was mate, started up to get to work for 5am yesterday morning, then the power steering error flashed up on the dashboard, so turned the sport boost on off and that cleared the message, so arrived at work few minutes early decided to check to see if the message would come up again so turned the engine off then back on then hey Presto check power steering message came back up, so turned the key to the off position, and the engine still ran was like ermmm... so turned the back to on and off a few times and even manged to take the key out of of the ignitonand the engine was still running but finally got the engine stopped, then went into work, few hours later about 8am, went on my break, went straight to the car to check everything, this time the battery was flat, had power steering error, check engine error, esp disabled, asr disabled and the car with padlock logo on the screen, I knew the battery was flat because I tried using the keyfob to unlock the doors but got no results so had to open each side manually, so after that I went back to work got a lift home and started doing my research, I've got to the point where I'm getting the car running again, but still have the 3 error messages of check power steering, asr disabled, hillstopper disabled and check engine. I did go to Durham on friday when it was tipping down up here so wondering if it's moisture related also read in another post that those 3 messages are triggered by putting slight pressure on the clutch which I am guilty of, so I'm wondering if it's worth taking the car for a spin to see if they cancel off, I've also noticed today that when I've turned the engine off I get a high pitched whine and lots of clicking coming from around the battery area, which i haven't heard before in my 4 months of owning my agp.

Another twist in the tale, just been for a good drive round Tyneside, all problems have seemed to have gone, guess it's one of fiats famous niggles, cheers for all the help everyone

That fault is thinking...

My thoughts excatly lol

daryl88 said:

Another twist in the tale, just been for a good drive round Tyneside, all problems have seemed to have gone, guess it's one of fiats famous niggles, cheers for all the help everyone

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It'll be due to low battery voltage, which concours with what you've said. You'll need to see if there is a drain on the battery or if its beginning to fail.

Also check earth strap

If engine is still going with the key out have you driven in heavy rain recently? Check the engine bay fuse box is dry inside

yes i have mate, was friday afternoon, was tipping it down on the A194 and A1 south,was plenty of aquaplaning going on then came home about tea time and the car wasn't used till 05:30 Monday morning which is when everything kicked off,defo gonna get a new battery next pay day aswell,but the car feels fine not had any warnings for over 27 hours now