Power Steering Warning Light

[nigelcm]

I have a 2000 W reg Skoda Fabia 1.9 SDi Classic. Has been going well so far on biodiesel. Unfortunately a few days ago drove to somewhere, turned off the car. About 5 minutes later turned the car back on and the steering was unimaginably heavy. It was like a lead weight. An orange steering wheel symbol illuminated on the dashboard and stays on. I muscled with the car and managed to drive it home. I presume I have no power assistance. I called the AA. They checked the battery, alternator, fuses and the power steering fluid. I have heard the power assistance can drain up to 60 amps so thought that was wise. Before this the steering has been fine, light and easy to use. In the winter, I had to start the car twice in the cold to get the steering working, not sure if that is related.

The battery, fuses alternator and power steering fluids were ok. I have heard the steering angle sensor is a common fault. I am a bit of a novice, but is this what I need to fix? What's the cost to fix this?

I was thinking of attacking the job myself if it is. Just bought two axle stands. Heard I can disconnect it from the front nearside fog light blanking plate and then trace it back to the sensor which is held with two 4mm allen key type screws. If this is all going along the same line has anyone got any pictures of this, have seen a few but not that clear. Do I also have to take off the underside plastic body protection, and is this easy? Stupid question, but what is the easiest way to take off the blanking plate for the fog light, mines stuck solid a bit like my steering!

Can I drive the car like this in the meantime? Sorry for my detail!

Cheers!

Edited 14 September, 2010 by nigelcm

[adz552]

[i have a similar problem with the steering

firstly is the power steering pump electric?

in the manual it says that if the steerin goes heavy and the light comes on it can be because the battery does have enough charge

i have chacged the charge of the battery and the charging on the alternator and seem ok

it doesn,t do it all the time tho only after about 20 minutes. turn it off and back on and its fine again

strange?

sorry to hijack your post lol

[nigelcm]

Thanks for that information. As I said the alternator battery and electrical system look pretty solid in the old car. I'm sort of tempted to change the battery, but it's simply another cost. I'm going to try that steering angle sensor. So any thoughts on the above from anyone on how to fix it?

[Si Vxr]

had the same issue in mine i changed the battery no more issues test it with a volt meter to see what volts it has with engine off and on

[pieman[vrs]]

Thanks for that information. As I said the alternator battery and electrical system look pretty solid in the old car. I'm sort of tempted to change the battery, but it's simply another cost. I'm going to try that steering angle sensor. So any thoughts on the above from anyone on how to fix it?

I have same problem :( Changed the battery & still have the problem :(

edit: google is your friend http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=24517

So It could be a lot of different things....

PAS sensor

PAS Pump

ECU

Alternator / over charging

Battery

Faulty yaw sensor on the steering rack

Bears

George Bush

Ginger people

Edited 16 September, 2010 by pieman[vrs]

[bygumlad]

Take the sensor out and give it a good clean as well as the aperture it sits in, moisture was present in mine with a load of water contaminated grease. blow out with compressed air, ensure everything is dry then refit. Cured mine! I suspect it gets moisture from continuous heating and cooling due to being next to exhaust and reading some stories on here, its seems apparent that it gets worse in winter which supports this diagnosis. The sensor gives off spurious or no signals due to being shorted out and thus the pump won't work. Easy to fix and free