Ok, I borrowed the OH's Panda to go to work today while she's away on holiday.
After weeks of hot weather it's been throwing it down for the last week.
Car smelled damp/musty when I got in, there is a dehumidifier in the car, but she hasn't emptied it for weeks.
Anyway, ran it up the motorway for 20 minutes with the heater on hot to try and dry things out a little.
Pulled up a the peage on exiting the motorway, upon coming to a stop (steering straight) I get a grinding sound from the steering column and the wheel kicks back and fourth a little. This happens every time I touch the wheel. After about 3 repetitions, red steering light comes on and the system shuts off. Switched off and restarted engine, same behaviour.
Feels like the gear on the motor isn't meshing correctly with the column, motor worked loose?
I can attempt to pull it apart here at work, but if it's going to take more than a few minutes I'd rather do it under cover at home (still chucking it down). Is there a fuse I can pull to disable the PAS and avoid it stripping it's gears?
In the worst case, does anybody know if the LHD and RHD columns are the same? In other words, can I get a replacement from Western Power Steering? I actually emailed them with this question a few weeks ago, but never had a reply.
GF is going to murder me for 'breaking' her car, funnily it only ever has a problem when I drive it :bang:
Searching suggests possibly damp/condensation in the PAS relays, but to me it felt like a mechanical issue.
Possibly battery, it's been sitting for a couple of days and she only does short trips, but the fact that this happened after a good thrash up the motorway suggests otherwise, though I did have lights, blower on 2 and wipers on.
After weeks of hot weather it's been throwing it down for the last week.
Car smelled damp/musty when I got in, there is a dehumidifier in the car, but she hasn't emptied it for weeks.
Anyway, ran it up the motorway for 20 minutes with the heater on hot to try and dry things out a little.
Pulled up a the peage on exiting the motorway, upon coming to a stop (steering straight) I get a grinding sound from the steering column and the wheel kicks back and fourth a little. This happens every time I touch the wheel. After about 3 repetitions, red steering light comes on and the system shuts off. Switched off and restarted engine, same behaviour.
Feels like the gear on the motor isn't meshing correctly with the column, motor worked loose?
I can attempt to pull it apart here at work, but if it's going to take more than a few minutes I'd rather do it under cover at home (still chucking it down). Is there a fuse I can pull to disable the PAS and avoid it stripping it's gears?
In the worst case, does anybody know if the LHD and RHD columns are the same? In other words, can I get a replacement from Western Power Steering? I actually emailed them with this question a few weeks ago, but never had a reply.
GF is going to murder me for 'breaking' her car, funnily it only ever has a problem when I drive it :bang:
Searching suggests possibly damp/condensation in the PAS relays, but to me it felt like a mechanical issue.
Possibly battery, it's been sitting for a couple of days and she only does short trips, but the fact that this happened after a good thrash up the motorway suggests otherwise, though I did have lights, blower on 2 and wipers on.
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