Technical Help please - steering wheel icon lit up on dash with 'steering fail' message

[Giraf]

Hi everyone
I wonder if anyone can help? I have a 2005 Eleganza Duologic - it has started to show the steering wheel icon with 'steering fail' message on the dash. The car went into the garage today for MOT - they didn't do the MOT as they said it would be a fail as the red steering light isn't going out and the steering rack is 'knackered'. They say that it will be £1000 to repair it.
I've had the car for a year almost - it had a new battery about 11 months ago - I see from some of the posts that it could be a battery issue? There isn't anything wrong with the steering at present. The garage said that I can have it back for practice as I have my driving test in 2 weeks, then they will take it back and do the work and the MOT.
I'm a bit baffled... and any advice will be gratefully received

 

[koalar]

EPS electric power steering faults | FIAT Panda (Mk3)

First don't panic, the vast majority of power steering faults are normally simple and cheap fixes especially if it starts failing mainly in your winter months But unfortunately nobody can say change this or do that and it fix it. A lot of different faults will cause the same symptoms or the...

www.fiatforum.com

Covers everything

Unfortunately the only way to eliminate a battery is by substitution

Has the car been stood for any length of time in the last year

95% of the time it’s a cheap repair

 

[Giraf]

EPS electric power steering faults | FIAT Panda (Mk3)

First don't panic, the vast majority of power steering faults are normally simple and cheap fixes especially if it starts failing mainly in your winter months But unfortunately nobody can say change this or do that and it fix it. A lot of different faults will cause the same symptoms or the...

www.fiatforum.com

Covers everything

Unfortunately the only way to eliminate a battery is by substitution

Has the car been stood for any length of time in the last year

EPS electric power steering faults | FIAT Panda (Mk3)

First don't panic, the vast majority of power steering faults are normally simple and cheap fixes especially if it starts failing mainly in your winter months But unfortunately nobody can say change this or do that and it fix it. A lot of different faults will cause the same symptoms or the...

www.fiatforum.com

Covers everything

Unfortunately the only way to eliminate a battery is by substitution

Has the car been stood for any length of time in the last year

95% of the time it’s a cheap repair

Hi the steering fail light came on last week - I hadn't driven it for 2 weeks before that

 

[Giraf]

Thank you for all the info - I will have a look through and think the first thing will be to check the battery

 

[koalar]

Try putting the battery on charge overnight before doing anything else


It’s very likely glitch due to being a bit low

 

[Giraf]

Thanks will do

 

[TagSouth]

Of course, there is always a possibility that the power steering really is failing. The electric power steering used on small Fiats is known for that. £1000 is pretty much what I paid.

 

[koalar]

Of course, there is always a possibility that the power steering really is failing. The electric power steering used on small Fiats is known for that. £1000 is pretty much what I paid.

Luckily we have learnt a lot over the last couple of years about the EPS

Yes changing the complete unit for a pre calibrated one will fix most problems that aren’t power related

However it’s rarely necessary. Out of dozens Fiat, Mercedes snd Vauxhall EPS failures I have had or seen I am yet to see a single column fail.

Torque sensor can fail and be replaced but thankfully even that rare

Again it’s rare special software is needed to recalibrate but they do occasionally get themselves in a knot

 

[rmjbn1]

the red steering light isn't going out and the steering rack is 'knackered'. They say that it will be £1000 to repair it.

Even if it comes to worst case scenario, I would have a chat with www.westernpowersteering.co.uk - They can offer guaranteed replacement steering motors at far less cost than that...
... but hopefully it won't come to that. I hope koalar's excellent guide can help you.
It's an electric power steering and it draws a lot of current, so the battery and its earth strap need to be in good condition.

Strange that you say the steering is fine, even though the light is on?
Whenever the steering wheel icon lights up on mine, the steering goes very heavy as the power assistance fails...
...unless I have 'City' mode switched on (I tried it once and didn't like it).
Does pressing the 'City' button make any difference?

 

[varesecrazy]

Where are you based?

The software most of us have access to will help tell WHY the light has come on..

Charlie. Near the M4

 

[rmjbn1]

There's a forum member offering use of MultiEcuScan in Hull, maybe reach out to them and see if clearing codes helps:

MultiECUScan

Help, tips and advice for using MultiECUScan.

www.fiatforum.com

 

[koalar]

Where are you based?

The software most of us have access to will help tell WHY the light has come on..

Charlie. Near the M4

Unfortunately it often will not help with the EPS. Obviously if the error code it power it will be power

But low volts to the torque sensor give a torque sensor error

as well as faulty torque sensor

Someone on here posted a photo of an email from Fiat concerning

It’s in a very long thread on here that lasted over a year

Garaged fixed the torque sensor error in the end by changing the battery

you can almost guarantee the ESP column is fine unless there is shacking at the steering wheel, the steering feels strange in one direction or the light only comes on close to full lock in one direction

The rack part is easy to damage in an accident. Fine at slow speed maximum assistance but stiff or binding at speed

 

[DaveMcT]

We had 1.2 power steering problems when the alternator was failing. New battery seemed to fix the issue but it was soon back again. Eventually we had the charge light coming up especially after old start. New alternator fitted and the steering problems went away. Battery was already quite new so that stayed on the car and got fully charged by the new alternator. Oddly enough, the car always started just fine and there were no issues with the accessory belt. It still has the same belt.

I presume the old alternator had been making just enough power to shut off the warning light but not enough to keep the battery charged.

At the other end of the scale, my car became hard to start and sometimes made an odd noise when starting or just after it fired up. A look at the alternator found the case was cracked an bulging. New alternator & no more worries. The old one was seized solid within a few days. Corrosion within the stator core had jammed the rotor. It was mechanically shot but was still charging just fine.