Morning all,

ok, been having the odd issue with power steering warning light, bleeps, light comes on but no other effect, still works fine.
Once back in February it went heavy but at next re-start all fine again.
Couple of weeks back car wouldn't start at all. So, connecting dots with power steering being electrically driven and battery on it's way out I thought new battery would solve steering issues....no such luck.
Light came back on yesterday.:bang:
So my question is what is most likely culprit...new steering motor or a sensor somewhere and what are the costs involved? Can it be done at home with basic toolkits or a specialist strip have the engine out for access??
Cheers

ricky the ginger said:

Morning all,

ok, been having the odd issue with power steering warning light, bleeps, light comes on but no other effect, still works fine.
Once back in February it went heavy but at next re-start all fine again.
Couple of weeks back car wouldn't start at all. So, connecting dots with power steering being electrically driven and battery on it's way out I thought new battery would solve steering issues....no such luck.
Light came back on yesterday.:bang:
So my question is what is most likely culprit...new steering motor or a sensor somewhere and what are the costs involved? Can it be done at home with basic toolkits or a specialist strip have the engine out for access??
Cheers

Click to expand...

Hi a quick search on here will reveal a likely cause of a bad battery negative (earth) lead. These corrode internally giving al sorts of faults. A quick test went fault is present is to connect a jump lead between batter negative and chassis and another between engine block or gearbox and chassis. If this cures it get a new lead. obviously don't go driving aroungd with jump leads under the bonnet.


Robert G8RPI.

The power steering on my 2006 1.2 got replaced last year. You do not need engine removal for access. The power steering unit is on the steering column behind the binnacle under the steering wheel.

My local back street garage removed the unit and sent it to a specialist for refurbishment (that cost £244, but because I live in the far north it also cost an additional £47 in carriage charges).

Labour cost was £135, and when you add VAT to it all, the total was just over £500

If you look on ebay there are several dealers offering replacement units or refurb of your old unit for about £200 - £250. You might want to check precisely what you are getting (eg repair, replacement sensors, and does it come ready to fit or will you have to go to a Fiat dealer for coding)

g8rpi said:

Hi a quick search on here will reveal a likely cause of a bad battery negative (earth) lead. These corrode internally giving al sorts of faults. A quick test went fault is present is to connect a jump lead between batter negative and chassis and another between engine block or gearbox and chassis. If this cures it get a new lead. obviously don't go driving aroungd with jump leads under the bonnet.


Robert G8RPI.

Click to expand...

I think I remember reading about this before....is the terminal located underneath the battery?
Failing this it looks like a may require a rather expensive new unit!

It will either be power or torque sensor error. Reading the code would tell you 100%

If power it's normal early in a journey, when it's cold or traveling very slow like parking. But no always


Torque senor is normally while towards full lock in one direction.


Battery is by far the most common cause. Both my girlfriends and my Pandas have gone through this. Mine was only in winter. Changed my battery and the last few weeks have been fine.

Also had a slipping aux belt. This would fail more after coming of the motorway or wet weather.

The steering does not earth through the engine like the starter motor does so doubt this will help but no harm in trying.

New battery fitted so not that, also had all belts replaced when I bought it about 2 years ago so happy it's not that either. It does seem to be happening early on in journeys...
Looks like I will get it on a diagnostic to see what codes it's showing up.

Has it only come on once ?


It seem if the battery been disconnect for awhile I does come on it firsts trip. Well it does for some strange reason on one of my Pandas


What's the batteries resting voltage. What's the voltage on idle. How much is the parasitic draw.


Does it come on
Slow speed
High speed
Turning left
Turning right

Reverse parking and so on

koalar said:

Has it only come on once ?


It seem if the battery been disconnect for awhile I does come on it firsts trip. Well it does for some strange reason on one of my Pandas


What's the batteries resting voltage. What's the voltage on idle. How much is the parasitic draw.


Does it come on
Slow speed
High speed
Turning left
Turning right

Reverse parking and so on

Click to expand...

It has happened a few times now so not an isolated one off.
Can't recall the battery voltages but I did have it checked to ensure the alternator was not to blame and it was getting a proper charge so again belts are good.
Generally comes on slow speed, it's mainly used as a town car so it doesn't get long runs as often as I would like to. It can be any of the above, turning left, or right or reversing, just random.

Obviously reading the code will give you a positive yes it's torque senor or power. Although not many places will have the right equipment.



If you have a charger you could leave it on charge overnight and see if it improves the following day.


Never did figure out quite what the difference is in the battery

As an example. The girlfriends car had a faulty cell. Only 11.8v at rest. Car would turn over but not start unless you used a jumpstart. Steering was fine but would radomly ide high or stall.

Granted it was scondhand but a replacement battery would start the car fine but would randomly put the steering light on even though it tested okay and held the charge. It would either flick the light on only or also loose the power steering until a restart. Resting voltage was 12.8v after overnight and 14.1v charge at idle and a parasitic drain was about 200mA for about 30 seconds the dropped to 10mA which all sounds good.

Exchanged for a different one which has been good for over six months.

Some good advice here.

Basically it's down to battery, earthing or torque sensor, in increasing order of difficulty of repair.

If it is the torque sensor, remanufacturing is likely to be much cheaper than buying a replacement OEM column. Use of secondhand parts is not recommended due to the frequency with which these things fail and the effort required to remove and replace the column.

Use search. Changed my sensor about a year ago and wrot a short how-to.
Wasn't at all difficult. Just a precisionjob best done on a sturdy table.
When done precise enough calibration isn't even nescessary but keep MES and the green adaptorcable at hand and you're good to go.

But as said above, start with battery and earthstrap.

gr J

During the cold weather mine has been raising the alternator charge light which caused the steering to trip out. After about a mile the light went out and power steering returned 'so we've put up with it. Now the weather is warmer its behaving perfectly. There is never any auxiliary belt noise and the air con works fine.

Replaced the battery - no change

Replaced and upgraded the battery and engine earth straps - no change.

I think the alternator brushes must be sticking or worn but it's such a pig to get at, I've not done the work. The car has air con so alternator is low down behind the engine. Thanks Fiat.'