Hi Guys,

I bought a 2002 Fabia last month and it failed its MOT on a couple of things. The main points were the power steering didnt work and some of the dials on the dash didnt work (indicator tell tales, speedo etc). Skoda were useless and said id need a new dash which would be about a grand just so they could get a reading from their diagnostic and then it would cost whatever else was wrong!

Got a local garage to have a look at in instead. They changed the 'power steering pump?' which made the power steering work and all the dials on the dash work. PAS worked the first day but not the next so i kept it running for a bit before its MOT and it passed yesterday. But this mornin the PAS isnt workin??

Any ideas what it could be? The pump was second hand but im presuming this is actually working because the dials thatit fixed are still working, just the PAS is intermitent.

Cheers.

Obvious possibilities:

Poor electrical connection between alternator and power steering pump

Failing power assisted steering angle sensor

Any idea how much either of them options would cost?

Nope, but way less than a dashboard.

You can get fault codes read to confirm which the problem is.

Not working at all (light on dash), or just very heavy? Might be worth making sure the battery's in good nick, since the PAS pump draws something horrendous like 30A, and especially if you have a small engine, it can make a big difference...

Not working at all (light on dash), or just very heavy? Might be worth making sure the battery's in good nick, since the PAS pump draws something horrendous like 30A, and especially if you have a small engine, it can make a big difference...

Its a 1.9SDI. The light doesnt come on, the steering just goes very heavy! It works one day but not the next!

If the steering goes heavy and you give the car some revs while manoeuvring (careful on the clutch!), the alternator will supply more power to the pump and the steering will get lighter. If this is the case, the battery's probably on its way out, and a new one should see you right!

Might be worth checking the steering fluid. The reservoir is located underneath the battery (and housing), so gets missed when it goes into the main dealers for services (well at least mine did for the last one!).