Over the cold days this spring I've been getting the common fault of the PAS warning light coming on first thing in the morning & the steering being a bit heavy but manageable. After about 30 seconds or so, I would turn off the engine, restart it & the fault would clear.

I put this down to the battery not giving enough power first thing - a classic sign of the battery needing replacing. (even though its only 2 years old)

However, one morning after starting the car, I couldnt turn the steering wheel at all! (also PAS fault light was on). I had to use all my force to move it a few inches. After a couple of minutes I managed to move the car off the drive and very slowly made my way down my estate road, then all of a sudden the steering loosen up & the fault light cleared & the steering was back to normal.

Could this kind of thing be battery related or it more serious. Its not done it since but I dont want it coming back or do it when driving.

Cheers.

I had this with a new Bosch battery. Didn't believe it to be faulty but it was. The real clincher was getting the DMF wire fixed. The steering wheel would be rock solid unless I revved the engine to get the alternator to supply power to the battery. Below 2K it wasn't charging so combined with a faulty battery, the symptoms were exactly as you described.

ok, I think I'll better get a new battery.

However, what did you mean by this 'The real clincher was getting the DMF wire fixed.'?

Maybe try a search on this forum using something like "alternator load sensing wire".