Hello. I've bought myself a nice 1999 Punto 1.2 8v MK2 in august. at that moment I almost had no problems with the power steering in the 13-20C weather. It was only one time the power steering went of, when i was driving down a road with a sharp turn, i pulled the steering wheel quite hard, and then it went of.

But now in the cold months it failures when im parking, and situations alike that. when the car is holding still or driving VERY slow (parking speed) and i turn the wheel it failes and i loose the power steering.

I think it's because it those moments where the power steering motor needs to pull some extra power from the battery it fails - aka. it might be a batteryproblem?

Does that sound possible?

Thanks
Morten - Sorry my english, it's a second language in my country

Ooops, by the way... when the light goes on and the power steering is gone, i just stops the car and turn it off and start the engine again, and it works just as before..

Very possible it is - your symptoms are typical of a supply voltage problem but before condemning the battery check that the alternator is charging and the earths are clean and tight.

If it does it on hard lock - or sudden sharp turns the voltage and current it sucks is huge!

As a result the battery cant provide or the alternator isn't able to because of battery - yarder yarder yarder and before you know it! its disabled to prevent any further damages!

So try a donor battery and see if it behaves

Also do a basic alternator test

Ziggy

I don't believe in coincidences generally but ours has started doing the same thing this morning.Every hard lock and pothole. Battery is getting on for five years and it's cold here today so can't complain.

Ziggy: "does it on hard lock - or sudden sharp turns the voltage and current it sucks is huge!"

I dont know what you mean by "hard lock"
The wheel turns VERY heavy and the P/S symbol comes in my dashboard, when i try to park or things like that.
Then I just turn of the car and start it again and my power steering is back.

"yarder yarder yarder and before you know it! its disabled to prevent any further damages!"

Sorry, but can I ask you to explain more "simple"

Happy to you answered this thread - in my search through the forum for the answer I found your expertise very good.

Hard lock - is when your nearing the ends of the full steering movement
Full lock is when you hit the ends of the steering rack
As the motor has to work harder to pull / push the track rod ends as the way steering racks work you have a leverage advantage till you start getting past half way

As regarding to make it more simple for you
If the car see's something isn't correct, to prevent any damage or potential accidents or injuries the Powersteering system shuts down, resulting in the light coming on - and the steering going heavy

So say it see's the motor is shorting out - it will switch off to prevent any risk of fires or electrical shocks - its a safety measure

But when you reset the car - the Powersteering powers up again, passes all its safety checks it does, but not untill you put a demand on it will it show any faults
So you go driving and go round a slow sharp bend and the fault before reappears and will shut down the powersteering

Ziggy

It already turns of the power steering and shows the symbol in the dashboard at the moment the car is stillstanding and i begin to move wheel to make the parking - still most possible its the battery? and is it enougt to just charge the battery..

We had a period here with snow, then 7C degress and then snow again. Its only in the snow periods i have the problem, so when its just a little warmer in the weather the problem is there..

when you use the steering on full lock the power steering can draw up to 60Amps off the battery which in terms of power is like running half a dozen TVs off your car battery.

when your battery gets old the normal cycle of charge and discharge will have converted some of the water within into hydrogen and oxygen through normal electrolysis, the level in the battery drops and the metal plates become exposed and when not in solution they become less efficient at doing there job.

a battery in this state will still read 12volts and 14volts when the engine is running but they have a limited capacity to supply current it can no longer provide enough power for the steering so the steering thinking there is a fault and not able to function correctly cuts out

Battery Chemistry requires heat so the colder the battery the harder it becomes to produce electricity this will explain why it seems a bigger problem in much colder weather.

open your bonnet and open the battery cap/caps to see what the water level is top it up with battery water then give it a good long charge off the car if you can, problem should hopefully go a way and the total cost of repair is about £0.99p

remember safety goggles when dealing with battery acid and ideally chemical resistant gloves..

AndyRKett said:

open your bonnet and open the battery cap/caps to see what the water level is top it up with battery water then give it a good long charge off the car if you can, problem should hopefully go a way and the total cost of repair is about £0.99p

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Not always possible, some are sealed for life maintenance free batteries. The original battery in my car was.

Md2012 said:

We had a period here with snow, then 7C degress and then snow again. Its only in the snow periods i have the problem, so when its just a little warmer in the weather the problem is there..

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Sounds like the battery is struggling. How old is it and what is the Ah rating and are you doing a lot of short trips?

My trips is between 5 km and 30 km..

I dont know about that about fixing my battery, having a feeling that the battery is quite old - i just bought the car 3 months ago.

Which battery should i seek for if i change it? i think about Ah level and so on? and brand

I would suggest 42Ah minimum for that car. Some have fitted 55Ah which is probably excessive.There may be a date on the battery. In these parts vendors will mark the date when they sell it by scratching the date into the top of the casing. Five years would be very good for the life. Avoid cheap batteries , Bosch have a good reputation although I have never used them. Some will come with three or four year guarantees. I would expect to pay €60 for a good one. Ask if a vendor can test it for you before deciding to buy a new one.

If it wasn't for the fact i had 2x Punto batteries
I'd chop the plastic a lil - the tray down and stick a Bigger battery in!

or failing that - find a HGT / Diesel battery tray and fit them - so you can enjoy plenty of jumbo juice!

ziggy

Ziggy122 said:

or failing that - find a HGT / Diesel battery tray and fit them - so you can enjoy plenty of jumbo juice!

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its the same size, just higher capacity battery that said the HGT diesel battery is probably a little under powered because of its size and all the additional electrical equipment fitted

I have a feeling that my battery is good enough - almost..

How should i do if i just wanted to service it before changing it.

Ziggy told me some about adding liquid or something?
My single thought was to just recharge it ?

Md2012 said:

I have a feeling that my battery is good enough - almost..

How should i do if i just wanted to service it before changing it.

Ziggy told me some about adding liquid or something?
My single thought was to just recharge it ?

Click to expand...

Follow this Video

Makes me wanna check mine now tbh....

2 years and 1.5 years old means there probably ready for a top up?

ziggy