Hi everyone.
I'm currently broken down awaiting the AA recovery truck because of a power steering failure.

The first guy checked the voltage from the alternator and the battery and said they're both fine.

He then unplugged the battery for 5 minutes in case that helped but it didn't.

His diagnostic computer didn't report any faults.

He then ran out of time and I'm waiting on a second one.

I asked him to check the PAS power connector but he said he didn't know where it was and had to go anyway as he was off shift.

Does anyone have any ideas for the second one when he arrives? Is the pas pump easy to find?

Hi Brian
Give the power cable connection at the steering pump end a good shake or disconnect it and expose the plug innards remove blue spade guide and try to clean the
brass connections. See recent thread for photos.

Hi Telegraph,
I've been reading through the threads and the cable looks like the favourite, and certainly cheapest, option so fingers crossed.

Is the steering pump hard to find - mine's an 8v multijet?

I've had a look at the red cables from the battery. The thickest one goes into a fuse / relay box, there are another 2 that go into the same black cable protector tube thing and then a single one that goes into more plastic tubing and seems to go straight down.

Hi again Brian it is easy to get at, remove the engine cover find the fuel filter and push your hand down to the pump the connections are on the left of the pump body the power lead is large red and black. with your left hand push down and find the plug it has a lock tab press it and pull the lead with right hand you will need to cut some tape work the plug and lift clear to inspect it.There is a power lead on ebay Italia part no is
Cod.: FIAT51844351 you might be able to get one from dealers should be cheapish.

Thanks Telegraph.

Still waiting for replacement AA patrol so I'll have a bash just now.

I've seen the GM part available for £8 or thereabouts but don't know if it would be the same. The GM part number I was looking at was 24451552.

Anyway, here goes.

The second AA guy turned up about 2 hours after the first one left and had a right good go at getting the power connector off the pas pump but ultimately failed.

He tried it from the top and then jacked it up to have a go from underneath but couldn't find the clip to release it.

However in the process he gave it a right good wiggle and the PAS started working again so fingers crossed it's the lead and not the pump.

One thing I did notice while I was waiting was how cheap used refurbed pas pumps for 1.9cdti vectras are. Is swapping the fiat one for one of them a possibility? I'd imagine the ecu's would need to be swapped over but it was just a though.

Anyway, fingers crossed it's OK until I get a loom and get it swapped.

Info from 2 years back that I have is that even though the Vectra C pump is physically the same (size and look) the electronics software part is not the same and therefore not interchangeable. Don't know if anything has changed since. The cable and bad connector is your first bet so hopefully that is all thats wrong.

Makes sense, Notorious, but it was just something that ocurred whilst I was waiting, and fearing the worst.

It's still working this morning so hopefully a new connector will solve the problem, once I get the old one off.

Hi Brian hopefully I have attached photos of the plug and my left thumb nail is on the lock tab, the trick is to from above to get your let hand so that you can press this tab
and then with free hand pull the cable. The lock tab will not release if under tension I hope that helps. We struggled with our steering for ages so I hope your able to fix it.

Hello,
My power steering is (still) working without any problems. However, I am observing an abnormal voltage drop during the operation of the power steering. When measured at the battery leads (or on ECU via diagnostics) the drop is up to 1-1.2 V. When measured at the power steering pump leads (via a Multiecoscan reading) the drop is even up to 2 V! Apart from that the voltage on the power steering pump is around 0.5 smaller than the actual one on the battery. Do you think that this is normal?
I've started the investigation because of an irritating alternator belt squeezing (the belt is new and original) when operating the steering right after a cold start (and sometimes in other situations). It looks like there is something wrong with this system. After a quick search in the forum, I've found out that the power steering issues are frequently listed and the usual fix is with replacement/fixing of the power supply wiring. Of course, I've started with a check of the pump body connections. It looks like everything is OK there, there are no damages, melts, rust etc, the connector looks like new. My next check should be at the other endings of this wiring. However, I'm not able to find them. I'm especially interested in finding the earth connection. In my opinion, it is very likely to a have a loose/bad connection there. Is there someone, who can decribe me where to look for these wiring endings? I'm sure that people, who changed the wiring by themselves have definitely know this
Thank you very much in advance!

Hi asenkd !-- not sure about the electrical voltage drop you are finding, but I can say that the steering must take quite a bit of current as it does have a great deal of pressure on it to move the wheels. Similar to the starter motor to my mind.

However what is bothering me about your post is the squealing from the alternator belt . Did you change the belt tensioner/idler when the belt was changed?
I would get this checked out first as if you get a belt failure due to pulley failure you will probably wreck the timing belt as well and that is a disaster for the engine!

tarquin1867 said:

Hi asenkd !-- not sure about the electrical voltage drop you are finding, but I can say that the steering must take quite a bit of current as it does have a great deal of pressure on it to move the wheels. Similar to the starter motor to my mind.

However what is bothering me about your post is the squealing from the alternator belt . Did you change the belt tensioner/idler when the belt was changed?
I would get this checked out first as if you get a belt failure due to pulley failure you will probably wreck the timing belt as well and that is a disaster for the engine!

Click to expand...

Thanks for your answer!
Regarding belts -> 2.4 motor has 2 belts - one from crankshaft to airconditioning compressor and 2nd one from compressor to alternator. First belt has a tensioner and it was changed. As far as I know there are no other idler pulleys. The belt itself has not been changed, because it was in very good condition according to my mechanic. Alternator belt was changed however, because of the squeezing (even it was also in good condition). This belt has not a tensioner, because it is elastic. Timing belt has also been changed, together with all its pulleys. Nothing has changed actually regarding the squeezing (It exist since I have bought the car) after the belts and tensioner were changed. That's why I've started searching the problem in the other areas.

Regarding power steering pump -> I know that it drains a lot of current, but is it normal to generate such a big voltage drop? I forgot to mention that the battery is a new 85Ah Varta.

Finally got around to changing the power steering wiring loom a couple of nights ago.

I ended up having to take the osf wheel and the inspection plate out to get in at it as I couldn't get it loose from above via the fuel filter.

I'll try and post a picture of the connector but the plastic was actually melted! Also, the replacement (from a Vectra) has a plastic cover which fits over the connector, something missing from mine and definitely a good idea when you see where it sits in the engine bay.

The release clip on the top of it's missing as well which I thought was odd and probably explains why I couldn't get it loose from above. I slid the red clip to the side with a screwdriver and just levered it up until it came loose.

So far so good, fingers crossed it's a problem solved.

Hi, I have had the same problem for over 12 months now, at time power steering just stopped working and after several mile travelled came back on.
Beginnig of this year it stopped working again and this time is not coming back, I guess I will haveto give it a go at changing wiring loom to start with, I don't fancy replacing whole power steering pump because quotes are more than our beautiful Croma is worth now a days.
BrianCL, I suppes I can use Vectra's wiring loom for our car?
You have changed yours over a year ago, Has it been working good ever since?
Regards

first plug it to computer to check for errors

Paulski said:

Hi, I have had the same problem for over 12 months now, at time power steering just stopped working and after several mile travelled came back on.
Beginnig of this year it stopped working again and this time is not coming back, I guess I will haveto give it a go at changing wiring loom to start with, I don't fancy replacing whole power steering pump because quotes are more than our beautiful Croma is worth now a days.
BrianCL, I suppes I can use Vectra's wiring loom for our car?
You have changed yours over a year ago, Has it been working good ever since?
Regards

Click to expand...

Hi,
The Vectra C loom will work OK in a Croma but the pump won't. The embedded software is different between the Vauxhall and Fiat.

Robert G8RPI.

I changed the power steering wiring loom for a vectra one and it hasn't missed a beat since.

When you see the two plugs together you'll see why the vectra ones last longer than the croma ones. My replacement cable had a rubber cover to go over the connector whereas the original croma one didn't. Before you buy anything take the plug off the unit and see if there's any black marks or scorching visible. If so you might be OK with a replacement cable.

Also, check the battery because a battery on the way out can cause the same problem.

Thanks BrianMcl, I have got brand new battery in, and from early diagnostics by few mechanics I know that there was some burnt/scorching marks visible on connector plates, so I guess wiring loom replacement will be my first bet. You sure brought back some hope to me to get that sorted out. Thanks

No problem - the power steering looms are relatively cheap and not difficult to fit. Good luck.

I have the power steering problem. Took it to my garage and they found that the lead was corroded by the socket. They quoted £67 for the lead plus labour and vat. They also wanted to fit a new pump at around £ 500 plus labour and vat. (Fiat pump £ 800+).
I told them to try and repair the lead which they did by soldering however it lasted about 2 weeks and the steering has gone again. So I am going to try to find the lead myself and either attempt a repair or maybe get a Vectra one.
I can see from the thread the socket but where do the other ends of the lead connect to? Also where is the pump located? I read in one thread that it is attached to the bulkhead.
Hope someone can help as the Croma is stranded on my drive.