Bit of a problem with the power steering, can't seem to get my head around it!

Driving on main road and the power steering went super heavy! Really dangerous stuff! pretty much lost all power and the battery light wemt red on the dash.

Fitted a new alternator, but the problem still remains as the power steering still has no power/red battery light but the car starts up fine first turn.

Battery is around a year old, not a cheap one either?

Revving the engine still doesn't fix the problem, but turning the engine on and off a few times and wham steering back.

What could it be?

Fiat grande punto 2007

any help would be appreciated.

Are you absolutely certain that your battery connections are secure? Also, have you checked the two main earth points? (Follow the battery negative cable down from the battery. One point is a stud on the chassis, the other goes to the top of the gearbox). Lastly, is the battery negative cable broken inside its insulation where it meets the clamp on the battery post?

Thanks will check that tomorrow and test battery voktagw, if that's fine do you think the power steering column needs replacing?

Avocet said:

Are you absolutely certain that your battery connections are secure? Also, have you checked the two main earth points? (Follow the battery negative cable down from the battery. One point is a stud on the chassis, the other goes to the top of the gearbox). Lastly, is the battery negative cable broken inside its insulation where it meets the clamp on the battery post?

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Checked all that is fine.

Battery is fine on meter while off and on.

When starting the car up for first time the battery light is red and the power steering is dead. Turn car off and on again and its fine.

Really weird!!

That's very strange. I think I would be tempted to try a second earth. A heavy cable (like a jump lead) from the battery negative terminal to a good bit of bare metal on the engine (or even the alternator body if you can get to it) and try it again. I guess it's possible that there's a problem in one of the positive cables to the alternator too? What sort of voltage are you getting at the battery? Is it possible to get an assistant to watch the battery voltage while you start it up and see? I know it's a long shot, but could you have got a duff replacement alternator?

If you pull away the plastic trim under the dash by the drivers shins, you'll see the heavy cables goign to the power steering motor. You could check the connection there, I guess?

I have this problem right now... I had my alternator fail which is now changed. Brand new battery too. But my power steering will not work at what I would call a crawling/parking speed which is an absolute pain in the back side! My multijet is so heavy on the front! City steering won't activate either. Battery light is nearly always still on too.

Battery voltage at idle is a steady 14.4 and battery itself 11.3

Have you tryed a new fuse box I have bought a 1.9 multijet gp the youth said it needed a new power steering column it just needed a new fuse box as the old one had got water damage

Mahooba said:

Checked all that is fine.

Battery is fine on meter while off and on.

When starting the car up for first time the battery light is red and the power steering is dead. Turn car off and on again and its fine.

Really weird!!

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I have this problem, did you install a official Fiat alternator? I didn't and I have been told that some non official alternators have this issue. I have lived with it for 3 years now as well.

keith43 said:

I have this problem, did you install a official Fiat alternator? I didn't and I have been told that some non official alternators have this issue. I have lived with it for 3 years now as well.

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Yes some of them are not compatible with the field energizing circuit. That's why many of the replaced non original part alternators (even if it's a denso @ same A) have this problem.

Hi Guys, I am having a very similar issue with my Bravo. The battery died out recently, I jump started the car, and found no power in the steering after a while. Took the car to Halfords, got the new battery, and replaced it hoping all will be OK. The issue is still there! When I start the car, the steering works fine but losses power after a while, a re-start would correct it but it comes back. The battery light in the cluster also comes on when this happens. All was OK working fine before the battery failure. So, if anyone got their similar problem fixed, please share and what was changed, is it alternator? or the power steering motor? of some sensor? I am still surprised how a simple jump start on a flat battery caused all these issues and there is no easy fix in sight! Please share your experiences so that I can figure-out what to do next.

cheers

msted89 said:

Battery voltage at idle is a steady 14.4 and battery itself 11.3

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That's low for the battery!

digger58 said:

That's low for the battery!

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It is indeed! That was just after I had changed the alternator. Bench charged the battery since.

Update...

Tested with the multi-meter today whilst doing some investigation and shows 14.3v throughout the rev range with everything switched on to the max (full beams, fogs, fan, heated screen, stereo etc...). 13.1 from the battery. The new alternator seems to be fine. However the power steering fault is still there at a crawling speed. Its fine on initial start up, as is city mode. But once revs hit between 2.5 to 3 the battery light comes on and power steering goes and it wont come back unless I'm at 5mph or more. Simply restarting the engine will reactivate the motor, but it will disappear in the same way. Checked all earths, fuses and relays today. All seem fine. Its got to be the motor itself. I've not had a chance to test it yet as it got a bit late. I have a multiecuscan on its way so once I read the motors control module I might have a little more to go on.

Will keep you posted, seems quite a few people have had this problem over the winter period :bang:

msted89 said:

It is indeed! That was just after I had changed the alternator. Bench charged the battery since.

Update...

Tested with the multi-meter today whilst doing some investigation and shows 14.3v throughout the rev range with everything switched on to the max (full beams, fogs, fan, heated screen, stereo etc...). 13.1 from the battery. The new alternator seems to be fine. However the power steering fault is still there at a crawling speed. Its fine on initial start up, as is city mode. But once revs hit between 2.5 to 3 the battery light comes on and power steering goes and it wont come back unless I'm at 5mph or more. Simply restarting the engine will reactivate the motor, but it will disappear in the same way. Checked all earths, fuses and relays today. All seem fine. Its got to be the motor itself. I've not had a chance to test it yet as it got a bit late. I have a multiecuscan on its way so once I read the motors control module I might have a little more to go on.

Will keep you posted, seems quite a few people have had this problem over the winter period :bang:

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you got access to a drop tester?

http://www.thesafetysupplycompany.c...r---SI-.html?gclid=CKC74pfHw8oCFRNmGwodn1AB_g

test on battery poles make a mental note of deflection between no load and load after 10 seconds...


then clip to live of battery and top of engine block and test again

if you get a big drop.........


clamp jump lead to negative battery terminal and engine block (in a different place) and test again.....

if the same or closely matched

start the car with the jump lead attached Negative pole to engine... is the PAS working happily like that..

if so replace earth strap

Thanks Andy. Good thinking. I don't have a drop tester. However if I were to just hook up a jump lead from the negative pole to engine block, I'm sure it would determine if I have a dodgy earth strap either way? I'll give it a go when I have a while spare. My multiecuscan was dispatched today so fingers crossed it'll arrive tomorrow and I'll manage to get a chance to check for fault codes.

By the way, for anyone interested... Car is still running fine and alternator is still charging the battery at the voltages in previous post. Battery light is still as described together with power steering fault. So that for me rules out the new alternator/battery causing this.

Been looking at new motors on an exchange basis for around the £220 mark, with control module, pre-calibrated sensors and lifetime warranty. Before I take the plunge I want to make sure I find the cause first.

Will try and investigate more around the motor itself this weekend. Does anyone happen to know what kind of power or current these motors should be drawing? Just so that I can have some correct figures to compare to the ones I find.

Thanks in advance.

Hi

I just had this problem occur today. I was driving along at 40mph in heavy rain and heavy traffic when the battery light came on but nothing else happened. I was about 20 minutes from home. About 10 minutes later I lost the radio/cd, and all warning lights came on ie seatbelt indicator, no abs etc. I also lost power steering. I still had lights and indicators and car was still going along but very difficult to turn at corners etc.

I was wondering if it was something to do with the heavy rain and surface water and this could affect the earth so I will check that next time a dry day appears which in Glasgow is due in 2020 I think. Let you know how I get on.

frales said:

Hi

I just had this problem occur today. I was driving along at 40mph in heavy rain and heavy traffic when the battery light came on but nothing else happened. I was about 20 minutes from home. About 10 minutes later I lost the radio/cd, and all warning lights came on ie seatbelt indicator, no abs etc. I also lost power steering. I still had lights and indicators and car was still going along but very difficult to turn at corners etc.

I was wondering if it was something to do with the heavy rain and surface water and this could affect the earth so I will check that next time a dry day appears which in Glasgow is due in 2020 I think. Let you know how I get on.

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Hi,

sounds as if your battery wasn't receiving 14 Volts from the alternator..,
check the battery leads, and also the fusebox for water ingress..,

use a basic volt meter to see if;
1, battery has a good charge = 12+ Volts
2, alternator is giving battery 14+ Volts

Charlie

i vote alternator brushes