Technical Power Steering failure on start up

[SmeagolBeagol]

I have a 2009 Fiat 500 1.2 Lounge. On start up the battery light stays on and the power steering doesnt work, this happens about one in three times of starting the car. The battery, alternator etc have all been replaced but it has not cured the problem. Also, it never happens when driving the car. Is this an ECU/EPS error? I dont want to spend £200 getting it repaired if that's yet another dead end. Would plugging it in to a fault reader give me an indication? It would be good to hear if anyone else has had this problem and what the cure was? Many Thanks Lee

 

[John202020]

Welcome has the car had a new engine earth strap £5 this is a common failure and if yours hasn't been replaced its way past its sell by, it goes from under the battery tray to the gearbox and causes all sorts of electrical issues, you can replace it going to one of the gearbox bolts which is easier as you don't have to remove the clutch slave cylinder.

 

[SmeagolBeagol]

Welcome has the car had a new engine earth strap £5 this is a common failure and if yours hasn't been replaced its way past its sell by, it goes from under the battery tray to the gearbox and causes all sorts of electrical issues, you can replace it going to one of the gearbox bolts which is easier as you don't have to remove the clutch slave cylinder.

Thank you for the welcome. No its not something thats been looked into as far as Im aware. As this seems a reasonable repair I will get my husband to look into doing this next before we go any further. If its that simple I will be very chuffed but suspect its not.

 

[SmeagolBeagol]

Welcome has the car had a new engine earth strap £5 this is a common failure and if yours hasn't been replaced its way past its sell by, it goes from under the battery tray to the gearbox and causes all sorts of electrical issues, you can replace it going to one of the gearbox bolts which is easier as you don't have to remove the clutch slave cylinder.

Hi, do you have a link to where I can buy the earth straps?

 

[John202020]

You can buy them in Halfords or from Ebay min 250mm long 8mm holes at each end if replacing the original one if doubling it up then a longer one say 300/350 and possibly 10mm holes

 

[John202020]

Something like this

12" INCH 300mm CAR BATTERY BLACK EARTH EARTHING NEGATIVE LEAD CABLE WIRE STRAP | eBay

300mm Length. 16mm² Conductor (Cross sectional area) Flexible copper cable. Black PVC insulation. 110A Rated.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Derbyfella]

Thank you for the welcome. No its not something thats been looked into as far as Im aware. As this seems a reasonable repair I will get my husband to look into doing this next before we go any further. If its that simple I will be very chuffed but suspect its not.

Is there a reason why you think it’s not?
Are there other symptoms and problems?


pleas let us know how hubby gets on

 

[rmjbn1]

There's a good guide here to common causes for power steering failure (Panda, but same system)

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

 

[SmeagolBeagol]

Is there a reason why you think it’s not?
Are there other symptoms and problems?


pleas let us know how hubby gets on

 

[SmeagolBeagol]

We put a new battery earth on today (didn't remove old one) just added additional. It hasn't cured the problem. We also used a decoder on the car and that is showing no fault either. Any idea what to do next?

 

[John202020]

We put a new battery earth on today (didn't remove old one) just added additional. It hasn't cured the problem. We also used a decoder on the car and that is showing no fault either. Any idea what to do next?

You need specific Fiat code reading software not a generic reader to read the codes unfortunately.
Whilst it won't work when starting pause with the ignition lights on before cranking?

 

[Derbyfella]

Where in the world are you? Could you get your car to any of the people with MES?

 

[Wilsonwilson11]

We put a new battery earth on today (didn't remove old one) just added additional. It hasn't cured the problem. We also used a decoder on the car and that is showing no fault either. Any idea what to do next?

Did this issue get resolved in the end please?