After leaving my car to sit for a couple of days, the power steering light stayed on again :(

3-4 restarts since, and its not stayed on. Pretty sure the power steerings worked fine regardless of the light! Seen it twice in about 3 weeks with usage pretty much every day

Firstly, Are any of the power steering fluids available in halfords usable for my vrs? or is it vag dealer recommended? http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchCmd?srch=steering+fluid&action=search&storeId=10001&catalogId=10151&langId=-1&x=0&y=0

Secondly, will driving around with it potentially low on fluid cause any damage to the pump?

I will probably check the level myself and top up, but I don't want to remove the battery and plate without having something to top it up with if needed!

I think that you will find that unless some thing terrible has happened to the rack, the warning light will not mean low fluid level. Either way I'd also think that you should only use VAG fluid on that system (get it at any VAG dealer's parts place (Fabia,Polo 9N and Ibiza 6L and newer use it).

Maybe use search for further reasons for your problem - could it not be that your battery is past its best?

My mind mangled Ally's suggestion here:

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/145684-power-steering-light/page__p__1823078__fromsearch__1entry1823078

Nevermind :(

Having a service done at the start of Jan so will get them to check it over. It could be the battery, it is the original one that came with the car i think (at least the plate on the top of the battery cover isn't filled in) and its a 53 plate. Both times it's happened have been when its been left a day or 2 without being driven so maybe its about to die

Cold weather and short runs - or just cold weather will test the battery - when is warm weather coming back -10C with at least 10 inches of snow is not nice, glad I was on holiday today - had to dig out the drive and road so that turkey could be picked up - job done so all is well - although I'd rather have some proper meat!

What happens if you leave the engine running for a couple of minutes BEFORE demanding some steering effort (and raise the revs a bit also).

Edited 23 December, 200916 yr by rum4mo

Standby for my parrot mode: Battery

Is there a definitive way to check for a dud battery? Been meaning to get a multimeter at some point

My car does 40 miles a day mon-friday, and has just had a 5 hour trip from london (frickin traffic everywhere) so it normally has long runs, except over christmas!

I would of thought the power steering would of died if that battery was low, i mean surely it uses more power to make it work and illuminate a bulb

Mine had a rack where it would empty itself in less than a mile, the light never came on for low fluids once. The only time it did come on was when the pump overheated. And yes, I think low/no fluid could damage the pump over time.

HTH, Joe

Is there a definitive way to check for a dud battery? Been meaning to get a multimeter at some point

Easy battery check. 1st start in the morning. Turn on ignition and wait for all warning lights to go out. Start car, if the ABS/ASR lights come back on for a few seconds, battery is past it's best. Or multi meter across the battery set to 20 volt range, after car has been standing over night. 12.5 volts minimum, preferably 12.7 volts or more.

Thanks for the info

Don't remember any other lights ever coming back on, but will check in the morning! Been meaning to grab a multimeter for a while so will grab one tomorrow

Hey i work at halfords and i did some mechanics at college, my advice pop into halfords and get them to test the battery its FREE!! they will test the altenator aswell if you want them to! (mite as well) also turn your light on full including full beam and fog lights and turn her over if she is sluggish to start then its the battery however if the lights go realy dim it could be a starter motor or batery fault.

Now the the PAS fluid my adivice is to get a small bottle at halfords or somewhere you want DIII auto transmision and PAS fluid top it up slightly and see if tat solves the problem, however sounds like there may be a problem with the pump...

start the car and make sure evrything noisy is turned off (you may wana open the doors and the bonnet to listen better) now turn the wheel from full lock one way to the oposite lock and backagain, if you can hear a whine or a groan the pump is defective.

Another good test is to try and turn the wheel before startin but dont actualy turn them then start the car, the steering should become light instantainiously, if it doesent and takes a few secs then the pump or rack may be defective but its more likely to be a fluid problem in that case!

Hope that helps you out!

Now the the PAS fluid my adivice is to get a small bottle at halfords or somewhere you want DIII auto transmision and PAS fluid top it up slightly and see if tat solves the problem, however sounds like there may be a problem with the pump...

no no no and no.. DO NOT use ATF fluid in a vw group car in the power steering circuit otherwise it will ruin the pump. you need to use the vw mineral based fluid, you can buy it from german and swedish for about £8, you only need about one litre to fill the entire system from dry

no no no and no.. DO NOT use ATF fluid in a vw group car in the power steering circuit otherwise it will ruin the pump. you need to use the vw mineral based fluid, you can buy it from german and swedish for about £8, you only need about one litre to fill the entire system from dry

our system is wrong then lol gota get that fixed! ill tell them in the morn

our system is wrong then lol gota get that fixed! ill tell them in the morn

quite a lot of cars do use ATF in the pas circuit, like fords and bmw's, and vauxhalls, but not vw stuff :no:

Well, the ABS light flashed on again briefly after the car started this morning but the power steering light stayed off, so went to halfords to get a battery check

The guy used some bosch machine to check it, and it came out at 81%, 12.81v "good battery":

So looks like its not the battery? :( Would of thought if it was a serious fault the power steering would of stopped working at some point, its been working fine as far as i can tell :(

Got a rattle coming from the car now over loose/rough ground from towards the engine bay lol it never ends :(

Edited 24 December, 200916 yr by Confused_Cheese

Here I go again. BATTERY, hello, BATTERY, I think it's the BATTERY, fit a new BATTERY. In all probability it will be the BATTERY.

Halfords (cough) checked it after a drive there I take it? If so 81% is LOW, meaning, it's the BATTERY.

Seriously dude, it's the BATTERY.

lol i take it you think its the battery?

Yeah a 20 min drive, noticed after starting in the car park the abs light didn't come back like when it was cold

Edited 24 December, 200916 yr by Confused_Cheese

I'd reckon that Bosch and/or Halfords are using a "kind" and "pleasant" battery tester, that way no one can accuse them of being robbing "people" - in your case it would appear that your battery is still functioning, but its showing/feeling its age especially when cold as the chemical action will be sleepy and the engine frictional load very high.

So, as said new BATTERY for Christmas - unless you understand what is happening and am willing to live with it in that condition - hey it's not failed to start (yet) - what with global warming, this might be the last winter we will see (I don't think so!).

Edited 24 December, 200916 yr by rum4mo

lol i take it you think its the battery?

Yeah a 20 min drive, noticed after starting in the car park the abs light didn't come back like when it was cold

What ever gave you that idea I will now amend my thoughts thus. IT IS THE BATTERY. Now the good news. It isn't going to die on you all of a sudden, unless it gets too many start stop journeys. It will give you false warnings just after engine start, and you may get false B Volts rail low codes with VAGCOM.

I changed my battery as cars hate me. It's all the tools you see. They think I like using them.

Edited 24 December, 200916 yr by MoggyTech

Best test for Battery is the car itself in very cold weather -how else could you put a 400 to 900 amp load on to the battery to test it ?

Edited 24 December, 200916 yr by AndyPandy

lol okay okay glad you're not my wife or you'd be in the cage!

Picked up and fitted a bosch silver thing from my local cash and carry for about £80 no issues yet, but boxing day will be a nice test for it. I knew it was going to be on its way out soon due to its age, was going to replace in the summer but never mind :p

Believe me the cars getting more presents than me!

New wipers, rain x (driving back from london yesterday in driving rain/sleet and my god this stuff is amazing), new battery, brake fluid change, major service = poor Christmas for me!

This is probably a stupid question, but i take it they're full charged when you purchase so it should be okay now sat for 2-3 days? Only been driving for about 3 years so i've just popped my battery cherry

Edited 24 December, 200916 yr by Confused_Cheese

lol okay okay glad you're not my wife or you'd be in the cage!

Picked up and fitted a bosch silver thing from my local cash and carry for about £80 no issues yet, but boxing day will be a nice test for it. I knew it was going to be on its way out soon due to its age, was going to replace in the summer but never mind :p

Believe me the cars getting more presents than me!

New wipers, rain x (driving back from london yesterday in driving rain/sleet and my god this stuff is amazing), new battery, brake fluid change, major service = poor Christmas for me!

Sorry, just sometimes you need a big hammer to drive the point home As for spending money on cars, this is normal mate. If it's got boobs or wheels it will give you problems. I spent 2K on the Moggy in a single year. Diff, gearbox, dampers, cylinder head work, water pump, alternator, battery, and then alloys as the 145 tyres were getting hard to source. It's only money

you just reminded me, my front tyres are also on about 2.5 mm so thats another jan job lol think i'll have to steal a trolley from up the road and start collecting cans on the street

the halfords bosch tester is good i go by it, bit wierd your having problems when the start capacity is 81%.

if your having realy problems just get it changed! also sounds like you got an inexperienced lad to test it because the test is set to (en) if its the betery from when the car was new its more than likely its an (S.A.E) and that can mess up the readings. If theres a rattle from the enine bay it sounds like someone hasent secred something down they lifted up haha (trust me i work at a halfords where the staff know what they are talking about) however not all halfords are :p

I know i cant spell im dyslexic!! :p

Edited 24 December, 200916 yr by lex2311

The last post has just reminded me why I avoid Halfords if at all possible. Just my humble opinion, but a decent level of literacy, should be a requirement if you are working in the car industry.

unfortunatly dyslexia and years of text speak mess that up but starngely i am an accountant :p