My dashboard steering light started to intermittantly light up. At first, turning off and on the ignition cleared the fault but eventually the light started to come on more frequently until finally staying on most of the time.

 

With this also came the reduction and loss of power steering function, making the steering quite heavy.

 

My father's Fabia had this same problem a few years back and it turned out to be a faulty sensor giving erroneous readings. Also, reading up here and online, it seems like the sensor problem is quite a common one.

 

So, I assumed that would be the problem.

 

I took the car in to the garage this morning to have it checked. He's since called back with the following two diagnoses:

- could be a faulty sensor (~£100)

- could be a failure of the electro-hydraulic steering pump (~£600)

 

He claims he contacted Skoda and they said it was more likely to be the pump as they sell more of those than the sensors - so that was the course of action he was going to take.

 

Is it me being over sceptical, or does this sound like he's opting for the pump option just because it'll cost more?

 

(I'm getting a second opinion anyway, just to make sure)

 

EDIT - I thought I'd add, in case it matters, that the car had a full service about a month ago. (I was travelling up from Essex to Scotland so wanted to make sure everything was mechanically sound)

Edited 6 March, 201412 yr by dsw182

It may be the battery failing, it's the normal culprit, it was on both my cars.

 

DB

+1-----  is it's diesel?   mine played up from year 3 and was still doing it till I replaced the battery @year10  have you had the codes read?  I would make sure that's good first it's a lot cheaper too

It's not diesel, no.

 

They said they'd checked the battery. They said they'd "hooked it up", by which I assume they did a fault code check and that's how they've narrowed it down to the sensor or the pump.

Same problem as mine and 100% sure it's the pump failing now

It's not diesel, no.

 

They said they'd checked the battery. They said they'd "hooked it up", by which I assume they did a fault code check and that's how they've narrowed it down to the sensor or the pump.

 

"Narrowed it down", love it, the sensor and the pump are the only two electronic components in the steering system!

...that's what I was thinking.

 

The faults codes they detected are as follows (if it means anything to anyone):

 

00566 - Electrohydraulic steering operation. Faulty signal.

00778 - Steering angle sensor. No communication.

01288 - Steering assist. Signal too low.

I think those codes 'narrow it down' to a faulty pump unit to be honest.

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of.

 

£600 + labour is a bit much, especially when the car is probably not worth a great deal more than that.

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of.

 

£600 + labour is a bit much, especially when the car is probably not worth a great deal more than that.

 

You can get a brand-new pump for way less than that on ebay... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SEAT-IBIZA-SKODA-FABIA-VW-POLO-TRW-POWER-STEERING-PUMP-6R0423156-6Q0423156-/201046767694

Yeah, I'm thinking that garage I took it too was being a bit fantastical with it's pricing of parts.

I called back home, to the garage in Essex I used to go to, and they were quoting prices of approx £400 including labour.

Did you check it with vcds it could just be a waterlogged sensor, the pins inside will short and give an excessiveky high signal to ground. New sensors can be pricey but not as much as a pump and for the price of the car do what people do on here and just dry out the sensor every now and again.