I have a 1.2 Panda 8v 69hp.Car has less than 5000 miles. When I start up and pull away the steering pulls very badly to the left for about 30 seconds or about 30mtrs. The steering wheel also shows I am steering to the left. It then straightens up and then drives ok. I cannot see any leak from steering rack but cannot find a power steering top up bottle. Should I be looking for one or something else. There is no mention of power steering top up in the hand book. It has all the signs of low fluid level.

Any help would be fab . Do not want to get ripped of by main dealer.

steve

Steering is electric.

Why would a dealer rip you off, car is under warranty!

99teensvan said:

I have a 1.2 Panda 8v 69hp.Car has less than 5000 miles. When I start up and pull away the steering pulls very badly to the left for about 30 seconds or about 30mtrs. The steering wheel also shows I am steering to the left. It then straightens up and then drives ok. I cannot see any leak from steering rack but cannot find a power steering top up bottle. Should I be looking for one or something else. There is no mention of power steering top up in the hand book. It has all the signs of low fluid level.

Any help would be fab . Do not want to get ripped of by main dealer.

steve

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For gods sake have you not read the handbook? The car has electric steering and the car is under warranty! Take it back to the dealer.

It has all the signs of a dodgy torque sensor within the column!

As stated, the steering is electrically assisted (EPAS), not the old hydraulic system.

The steering system's ECU detects inputs like the road speed, battery condition, steering wheel input and works out how much assistance is needed.

The sensor that detects steering input (torque sensor) is a common enough issue on all EPAS systems.

It's a bit of a numb system but is used more and more due to cost/weight/packaging/power usage over the hydraulic system.

Take it back to the dealer, they shouldn't need to feck about with too much diagnosics, as written it's a common enough issue with all EPAS systems.
I suspect a new column may be fitted under warranty.

Thanks very much for all your help. Cannot work on cars as much as I used to do as have lots of body problems and getting old.

steve.

Hi.

Fiat garage sorted it out. Said it was low voltage to steering servo due to loose battery terminal and a connector near battery. Seems to be OK now.

steve

In other words when the car had it's pre-delivery inspection they never checked the battery terminals even though it is stated on the PDI sheet, When will Fiat and other manufacturers learn that a PDI is to be carried out by a experienced tech as it is the most important check it will probably ever get.

A car that was built in another country, travelled by boat and train then sat in the docks and garage forecourt for months needs more that a quick kick of the tyres before it is allowed out on the road!

T14086 said:

In other words when the car had it's pre-delivery inspection they never checked the battery terminals even though it is stated on the PDI sheet, When will Fiat and other manufacturers learn that a PDI is to be carried out by a experienced tech as it is the most important check it will probably ever get.

A car that was built in another country, travelled by boat and train then sat in the docks and garage forecourt for months needs more that a quick kick of the tyres before it is allowed out on the road!

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Hear hear.. Fiat (& the dealers) really need to up their game re quality control.

Shaston said:

Hear hear.. Fiat (& the dealers) really need to up their game re quality control.

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HAHA. I like the spelling of hear hear, as the wrong way brings out the pedant in me

T14086 said:

In other words when the car had it's pre-delivery inspection they never checked the battery terminals even though it is stated on the PDI sheet, When will Fiat and other manufacturers learn that a PDI is to be carried out by a experienced tech as it is the most important check it will probably ever get.

A car that was built in another country, travelled by boat and train then sat in the docks and garage forecourt for months needs more that a quick kick of the tyres before it is allowed out on the road!

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When I bought a Panda in 09 after about 5 months I noticed a more than normal amount of chatter and sizzle from the gearbox when traveling in first or second gear in city driving. One day I decided to check the gearbox oil, I don't know how low it was but it took several pumps of my oil dispenser to fill it. I called in at the dealers a day or two later and grumbled about it. Their response was we don't check the oil level until 48 000 miles! As we only did around 10 000 to 12 000 miles a year the car would have been well out of the guarantee period before they saw fit to check the level. I don't know if it should have been checked on the PDI. I did a post on the Forum at the time and got several replies saying that low gear box oil in new cars was a common thing. The gear box quietened down after a short time and is still going strong, but what would have happened if I hadn't spotted the problem then I do not know.