Hi
Sorry if this is long winded, I just want to give as much detail as possible.
I need help/advice regarding my girlfriends 03 reg 1.9 diesel active (manual g/box).
The power steering is starting to get a bit flakey. It first happened about a year ago, when the power steering momentarily failed whilst she was driving. This was quite worrying so we took it to the nearest Fiat dealership (Gainmanor, Newcastle) for a diagnosis. The outcome of which was apparently an electrical system failure due to the battery not charging properly.
They charged the battery and charged her for looking at it and sent her on her way. I thought the diagnosis was rather strange, but the car behaved quite happily, until now...
About a month or so ago occasionally when started from cold and the car was put into reverse the engine would just cut out and need to be restarted, also if first gear was selected the steering and airbag light would come on and the power steering fail.
After a week or two of this happening she took it back to the dealership to be looked at. They kept it for the day but couldn't generate the fault so the diagnosis was the same as a year ago, only this time they said the battery might be shot at, so they replaced it but said they would keep the old one to one side for her. I was a bit skeptical as to why a 3 year old battery would be knackered already and how it was causing the car to cut out when put into reverse.
The day after the battery change the same things happened, so it went back to the dealership (also to have the +ve terminal put on the new battery rather than trapped between the bonnet and wiper scuttle!). They kept it overnight this time but couldn't find anything wrong with it. So away we went again until wednesday last week.
The problems happened again, although more frequently now. After looking at it for the third time in as many weeks the dealership deduced that it was actually the steering column that was buggered and would need replacing, £587 was the price. Given that this was the third attempt and the high cost involved we were reluctant to take this as the final answer.
However today the same "reverse gear cut out" and "first gear steering failure" problems occurred only this time it took numerous attempts to finally get the car started. My girlfriend is now understandably concerned about driving anywhere in it and the fact I work away during the week doesn't help.
Is the steering column diagnosis likely to be correct, if so can anyone hazard a guess at which part the torque sensors or the ECU. And if it is can anyone explain the "reverse gear cut out" and "first gear steering failure".
Many thanks if anyone managed to read this far. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Sorry if this is long winded, I just want to give as much detail as possible.
I need help/advice regarding my girlfriends 03 reg 1.9 diesel active (manual g/box).
The power steering is starting to get a bit flakey. It first happened about a year ago, when the power steering momentarily failed whilst she was driving. This was quite worrying so we took it to the nearest Fiat dealership (Gainmanor, Newcastle) for a diagnosis. The outcome of which was apparently an electrical system failure due to the battery not charging properly.
They charged the battery and charged her for looking at it and sent her on her way. I thought the diagnosis was rather strange, but the car behaved quite happily, until now...
About a month or so ago occasionally when started from cold and the car was put into reverse the engine would just cut out and need to be restarted, also if first gear was selected the steering and airbag light would come on and the power steering fail.
After a week or two of this happening she took it back to the dealership to be looked at. They kept it for the day but couldn't generate the fault so the diagnosis was the same as a year ago, only this time they said the battery might be shot at, so they replaced it but said they would keep the old one to one side for her. I was a bit skeptical as to why a 3 year old battery would be knackered already and how it was causing the car to cut out when put into reverse.
The day after the battery change the same things happened, so it went back to the dealership (also to have the +ve terminal put on the new battery rather than trapped between the bonnet and wiper scuttle!). They kept it overnight this time but couldn't find anything wrong with it. So away we went again until wednesday last week.
The problems happened again, although more frequently now. After looking at it for the third time in as many weeks the dealership deduced that it was actually the steering column that was buggered and would need replacing, £587 was the price. Given that this was the third attempt and the high cost involved we were reluctant to take this as the final answer.
However today the same "reverse gear cut out" and "first gear steering failure" problems occurred only this time it took numerous attempts to finally get the car started. My girlfriend is now understandably concerned about driving anywhere in it and the fact I work away during the week doesn't help.
Is the steering column diagnosis likely to be correct, if so can anyone hazard a guess at which part the torque sensors or the ECU. And if it is can anyone explain the "reverse gear cut out" and "first gear steering failure".
Many thanks if anyone managed to read this far. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Cheers
