Hi, had my vRS a few years now but nothing has gone wrong until now, so thought it would be a good time to join the forum 

 

The problem is the steering becomes very heavy in certain circumstances, the worst being when turning right under braking (I know i should be off the brakes before turning but anyway). The vehicle speed doesn't seem to affect the severity, mainly steering angle and brake pressure. I'm guessing there is something wrong with the power steering pump but was hoping someone could advise more precisely.

 

Is this something I should approach myself, i am reasonably mechanically competent but don't have any training or lots of experience?

 

Cheers

I would go for the battery

 

when you brake you probably apply the clutch too wich causes the generator to generate less power and then the steering needs the battery and probably as the battery is bad can't get enough power to the pump.

 

How many years has the battery? Is it 60A?

seconded - battery or perhaps associated wires/earths

Not sure how old the battery is. The voltage was 12.5V. I will load test it tomorrow and report back. 

It has to be at the minimum 60A

I'd be thinking the connector to the power steer is corroded.

Check the battery terminals and the cables (for corrosion) and earth points.

Check the fuses (on a Polo they are on top of the battery) and fuse connections. The fuses get hairline cracks in them.

Thank you for the responses. Unfortunately my multimeter can't do 60A. But I looked through the cars history and I don't think the battery has ever been replaced, plus there was no branding on it, so I replaced it, along with a badly corroded battery lead that went to the connectors on top of the battery case. I think it has sorted the issues, but will have to drive around a bit more to be certain it doesn't come back. Thanks for the help

Thank you for the responses. Unfortunately my multimeter can't do 60A. But I looked through the cars history and I don't think the battery has ever been replaced, plus there was no branding on it, so I replaced it, along with a badly corroded battery lead that went to the connectors on top of the battery case. I think it has sorted the issues, but will have to drive around a bit more to be certain it doesn't come back. Thanks for the help

 

Nice, what I mean before is that your battery should be at least 60 Ah

Thank you for the responses. Unfortunately my multimeter can't do 60A. But I looked through the cars history and I don't think the battery has ever been replaced, plus there was no branding on it, so I replaced it, along with a badly corroded battery lead that went to the connectors on top of the battery case. I think it has sorted the issues, but will have to drive around a bit more to be certain it doesn't come back. Thanks for the help

You really should have a look at the other stuff - they all seem to go at once

Whilst I agree that a healthy battery is required, I would like to point out that our Fabia ran around for the first 3 years of our ownership with a 40Ah battery, with never a single occurrence of PAS trouble.

It's more about the health of the charging system and quality/cleanness of wiring connections than the capacity of the battery, IMHO.