Technical Power steering light came on mid journey, went off after restart.

[Tessia]

I was about 10 minutes into my morning journey, all had been going fine and I was stopped at traffic lights. As I went to pull off I noticed the steering had gone very heavy and the powering steering light had come on. I pulled over, turned the car off and started it back up, light had gone off and it was all working fine again. Continued my journey (avoiding the motorway to be safe) and it was fine for the the remaing 30 minutes.

I know power steering steering failure generally starts as intermittent and eventually just goes. Is this the start or could it be something else causing this issue (hopefully something less costly)?

 

[jrkitching]

(avoiding the motorway to be safe)

The power steering is progressive, providing more assistance at lower speeds. At motorway speeds the assistance is negligible and you'd hardly notice the difference. You might actually be safer taking the motorway if the power assistance has failed.

could it be something else causing this issue

Fortunately it often is something less serious. Most PAS failures are caused by the steering motor not being able to draw the current it needs to operate; if it can't get what it needs, it'll put the light on, and sometimes, but not always, stop providing assistance. Replacing the main earth leads and/or the battery usually sorts things out.

 

[Tessia]

The power steering is progressive, providing more assistance at lower speeds. At motorway speeds the assistance is negligible and you'd hardly notice the difference. You might actually be safer taking the motorway if the power assistance has failed.

Fortunately it often is something less serious. Most PAS failures are caused by the steering motor not being able to draw the current it needs to operate; if it can't get what it needs, it'll put the light on, and sometimes, but not always, stop providing assistance. Replacing the main earth leads and/or the battery usually sorts things out.

Thank you for the reply.

Good to know about the motorway, I'll go that way home.

I have a mechanic coming over later today to look at another car, he said he'll plug his machine in to see if there are any codes. If he can't find anything I'll try changing the earth lead, I've seen they're cheap and available at places like halfords.

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi.
,

How long does Stop-Start work for ?

Less than 15 seconds..your battery is not in perfect health...
Tell us more

 

[Tessia]

Hi.
,

How long does Stop-Start work for ?

Less than 15 seconds..your battery is not in perfect health...
Tell us more

Sorry, should have listed the full model and year above. It's a 2008 1.4, no stop-start on this one (if there is, it doesn't work at all)

Not sure what else to say that's relevant. I bought the car last Friday, first car, it seems to be running fine but then as a new driver I might miss out on some things. I got my dad to do the test drive for me as he's very good at telling if there's anything wrong and other then the brakes, which were replaced, he didn't notice anything else wrong with it.
The only thing I've noticed is that it's a bit jerky when I let off the throttle in 1st and 2nd but I'm guessing that's poor clutch control on my part due to being a new driver.

 

[varesecrazy]

Battery is probably low..

Use it regularly


If necessary..
Non.S.S batteries are cheap this time of year

 

[Tessia]

Battery is probably low..

Use it regularly


If necessary..
Non.S.S batteries are cheap this time of year

No problem using it regularly, I do a minimum of 30 miles every day in it, I love taking her out!

I'm pretty sure my dad's got a battery charger with a built in tester in his garage somewhere, I'll pop over and dig it out and see what shows up. If it looks at all suspicious I'll go get it tested, if I remember correctly halfords do free battery health checks.

Thank you!

 

[varesecrazy]

Halfords are Not the cheapest to buy a battery though..
Look up Tayna batteries for a price comparison

 

[Tessia]

Halfords are Not the cheapest to buy a battery though..
Look up Tayna batteries for a price comparison

Oh I wouldn't buy a battery from Halfords, just get the free health check there. There's a little car shop nearby that we've used for years, I'll get a quote from them and compare it to that site. Thank you.

 

[jrkitching]

I bought the car last Friday

Used cars often sit around for awhile before being sold, leading to the battery becoming fully discharged. This is a sure fire way to ruin even a good battery.

If you look on the battery, you should be able to find a date code. If it's more than four years old, or if you're in any doubt about its condition, just replace it. Non S/S batteries are cheap, and you don't want to be left stranded this winter.

 

[Tessia]

Used cars often sit around for awhile before being sold, leading to the battery becoming fully discharged. This is a sure fire way to ruin even a good battery.

If you look on the battery, you should be able to find a date code. If it's more than four years old, or if you're in any doubt about its condition, just replace it. Non S/S batteries are cheap, and you don't want to be left stranded this winter.

Yeah good point. Think I will replace it regardless of the PAS issues just to be safe.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Sorry, should have listed the full model and year above. It's a 2008 1.4, no stop-start on this one (if there is, it doesn't work at all)

Not sure what else to say that's relevant. I bought the car last Friday, first car, it seems to be running fine but then as a new driver I might miss out on some things. I got my dad to do the test drive for me as he's very good at telling if there's anything wrong and other then the brakes, which were replaced, he didn't notice anything else wrong with it.
The only thing I've noticed is that it's a bit jerky when I let off the throttle in 1st and 2nd but I'm guessing that's poor clutch control on my part due to being a new driver.

Try bleeding the clutch. It has improved mine. Clutch slave cylinders are fragile and it may be the onset of that giving up. Bleeding seems to improve things. You may need to take the battery out to get access to the bleed screw.

 

[jrkitching]

You may need to take the battery out to get access to the bleed screw.

Looks like that may be happening anyway!

Would be a good opportunity to change the clutch fluid; I'd bet money that it hasn't been done in awhile.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Yeah good point. Think I will replace it regardless of the PAS issues just to be safe.

I think a good move if its more than 5 or 6 years old. Recently I had two Pandas where the battery failed and when they went it was no warning and no recovery.

 

[Tessia]

I think a good move if its more than 5 or 6 years old. Recently I had two Pandas where the battery failed and when they went it was no warning and no recovery.

Thank you for the suggestion, I'll bleed the clutch while I do the battery replacement. I'll check the rear engine/gearbox mount too, I've read that could also be the culprit of the juddering when coming off the accelerator and sounds a relatively cheap and simple job.