Right....

I bought a fabia with a few faults... One of which was no power steering, he gave me a fault code

"050A power steering control unit / ref voltage short to earth."

I assumed it would need a new pump. Simples!

But on collection he said he's fitted a new pump, new angle sensor and checked all the fuses etc.

How can I see what's wrong?

How can I test if the pump he's fitted is working?

The battery seems ok, starts the car no problem at all.

All the wiring looks ok and I can't see any signs of wearing or rubbing trough.

I noticed it was filled with red fluid but was still well below the minimum.

The power steering never works, even on start up but you only get the fault light on the dash when over 5mph or so.

He said the pump hasn't been coded in but don't know if t needs to be or not?

I've changed both a pump and sensor.

I believe you can test the sensor in vcds to rule it out.

You can check the voltage to the pump, on the mpi you can take the grill by the fog, and the fog itself out,take the plug off the pump (think it's the left plug) to check the voltage. Should read the same as your battery. The pump itself didn't need coding.

Thanks for the reply!

My diagnostic machine has broke last week so I'm trying to go back to the good old fixing but I'm finding it difficult... I'm only as good as the diagnostics I use haha

I'm going to fit a new pump and angle sensor myself and go from there!

For anyone interested or doing a search.

I just did the full lot tonight which has fixed my issue with having no power steering.

Step one!

I removed the battery, put it on the battery charger and set it to recondition and then fully charge, I did a drop test on it and it passed to start with so I know the battery is good anyway, just wanted to be 100% I also cleaned the terminals up on the car and the battery

Step two! (With bumper removed)

I then remove the pump and the screen wash bottle, very easy to do with only three bolts holding the power steering pump and two hoses.

Step three!

I removed every earth wire I could find, cleaned them all up with sand paper and applied a little grease, think I did five in total. I also did a continuity test on various earths to check they all link up. While still on wiring I traced as much of the loom back as I could to check for damage or it rubbing through. I then moved onto the plugs, cleaning them all and slightly pushing the contacts closer together.

Step four!

I then set about changing the steering angle sensor, also very easy with the drivers side wheel off with just two Allen key bolts holding it in place.

As I removed them both and wobbled the sensor I seen a drop of water come out the sensor, as it came further out quite a gush of water came out of the housing, about 1/3 of a Nutella glass maybe? Haha I cleaned out inside the rack where the sensor sits with part cleaner and the compressor to blow it all out. I fitted a new metal sensor with grease around the edge to make a good seal. I also changed the full wiring loom from the angle sensor all the way to the pump.

Step five!

The previous pump had the wrong steering fluid in (red type) which ment the rack would have the wrong oil and the hoses were filled with the wrong oil. I got as much of the oil out the rack as possible and changed the two preassure hoses from the pump to the rack.

Step six!

I then fitted the new powerd steering pump and filled it with new green powerd steering fluid. Made sure all the wiring was correct, checked all the joints, put some of the car back together with the fully charged battery and... It's fixed

Some notes...

- I think the pump was at fault in all honesty

- The earth on the inside of the engine bay had corrosion and could have been an issue

-The angle sensor is thick of brown sludge, over ten year old and was full of water, could have caused another issue

-The pipes didn't need replacing but wanted to do everything at once to get it out the way.

couldnt you remove the pump from the car and hard wire it to a battery to check it works?

Not sure if that's an option with it being canbus, don't know which pins to send a signal to to get the pump to operate.

Soon as I seen it had the wrong fluid in I wanted to change it anyway.

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I bought the car for under £500 with the power steering faulty, when I collected it he told me he had changed the pump and the angle sensor.

It cost me £50 exactly for the pump, angle sensor, wiring loom and high pressure pipes. Came from a car with 28,000 miles on the clock (scrap yard job)

if you unplugged the wires from the pump and tested the voltage / continuity using a multimeter you should be able to see which connection is live and which is the earth

Well it depends...

The plug on the left is canbus I belive

The plug in the middle has two pins, a big live and big earth (I tested and checked those previously)

The plug on the right is direct from the angle sensor.

not sure on the canbus either .... not something ive had alot to do with 

One day i'll know!

I'm just glad it's fixed... Just need to sort the abs lights out now and I'm sorted.

I changed the right abs sensor and the fault stayed on. Checked the loom and found it at fault so changed it, right abs now fixed.

Changed the left abs sensor and the fault stayed on, checked the loom and it's fine. Next option is the wheel bearing/reluctor ring.

At least I can get proper diagnostics now the computer has been fixed and updated to 2013

Sounds complicated!

Think I'm just going to give mine to a garage if trying a battery doesn't solve it.

Seems to be a lot of this power steering fault about now.....

Right when I turn my ignition on I get the power steering light come on with an large '!' Next to it then it goes out after a few seconds.....is this normal?

Check battery first of all for that happening.

Right when I turn my ignition on I get the power steering light come on with an large '!' Next to it then it goes out after a few seconds.....is this normal?

 

Yes.

 

DB

MY FABIA HAS NO POWER STEERING NO LIGHT ON DASH NEITHER IT HAD A LEAK ON THE RACK SO BOUGHT NEW 1 AND HAD IT FITTED AND ONLY LASTED A MONTH AND THEN IT STOPPED WORKING AND ITS DOIN MY HEAD IN ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT THANK YOU