Technical Is sudden and intermittent loss of power steering a sign of impending alternator failure?

[Zardo]

Hi,

I'm posting this in the Punto Evo section even if the problem occurs with my 2010 Abarth Punto Evo.

I had an alternator failure already once on this car several years ago, and it first announced itself by triggering a sudden loss of power steering, the fault would clear itself and go away once ignition was switched off and on again. But then it would start occuring concomitantly with the batterie icon illuminating for a short time and cancelling itself, again this would not happen in a sustained way. About 1000 km later there was a sudden burning smell which came from the alternator and the alternator permanently stopped charging. Once the alternator was electrically isolated by disconnecting the cables, the power steering would work fine as long as the batterie was charged (with an external charger) and provided at least 12.0 V under load. The alternator was replaced and the car didn't show any more issues with the power steering (which was not inspected) for the next 125000 km or roughly 6 years.

But today it happened again: sudden loss of power steering whilst driving on a straight highway with minimal or no steering input. The steering wheel sign got illuminated, the steering was no longer electrically assisted, and I had to drive to the next parking in order to stop and restart the car. The battery light didn't came on. The fault went away immediately but came back some 50 km later, went away again after ignition off an on and didn't come back for the last 300 km (it was a 6 hour 500 km drive).

I've read somewhere that the alternator of the Punto Evo is vulnerable for humidity coming from above, apparently water might find it's way down and into the alternator where it can cause corrosion.

Car has now almost 160 k miles

 

[GrandePunto PL]

What's your question? There is no "mystery" faults. Problem is well known. But there are no permanent solutions (still, after 20 years!).
No one did real Diagnosis (or it's not documented in the Internet), what is failing exactly (which part, circuit, where's the voltage drop etc.).
In general, Yes, it is a power delivery/quality issue. Everything must be in good condition: wiring/connectors, fuse/relay box, alternator, battery.
Then you can consider messing with the EPS power steering module, column, sensors in the steering wheel.

There are some software updates, but for battery light icon after startup issue (not for EPS itself as far as I know).
Besides basics (charging + battery), maybe it's something silly, like dried up electrolytic capacitor somewhere (inside EPS or Body module).