Evening, so out the blue my power steering warning light was on when i went to pull away, very heavy steering, couple hours later no warning light and drove away..this kept happening so i have replaced the battery hoping to solve the issue.. Tesco trip and I'm stuck again with warning light on...friend disconnected battery and once again warning light went off.. hoping someone has experienced  same issue before i have no other choice than take it to a garage..help please..

Please check that the battery warning light comes on with the ignition and goes out once the engine is running, if not then your alternator is not charging due to a broken wire and the power steering uses a LOT of power, more than the battery alone can handle.

All lights come on and off apart from power steering light..

It's worth getting a diagnostic read done, particularly if you can find someone with vcds (put whereabouts you are and someone on here may be able to help).

 

My suspicion would be the wheel angle sensor which is in the engine bay, at the bottom of the steering column. It's a bit of a mare to change without the car on a lift. Easy when it is though. I think the part was about £80 when I changed one a few years ago.

Thankyou steve i will try this tomorrow

10 hours ago, Samantha75 said:

Thankyou steve i will try this tomorrow

Just to let you know, I agree with Sepulchrave's and Steve's diagnoses as to the likely faults.

Hello...just back from diagnostic test and just as i thought nothing showed up and no light on...battery and alternator working as it should...guy i spoke to said he would change the power steering pump as he didn't think it was sensor... glass of wine needed, little too early though..lol

What year is the car? Early ones had some sort of foam sound insulation around the pump which soaked up water and caused problems.

 

36 minutes ago, Samantha75 said:

.guy i spoke to said he would change the power steering pump as he didn't think it was sensor

A nice little earner, given that he doesn't know that's the problem...

Edited 28 February, 20206 yr by KenONeill

My skoda is 56plate 1.2

 

The absence of a fault code suggests the pump is the likely culprit.

 

It's worth checking the big fuse on top of the battery for a crack.

Edited 28 February, 20206 yr by sepulchrave

Without the fault code the car drives perfectly.

2 hours ago, Samantha75 said:

My skoda is 56plate 1.2

 

Won't have the dodgy foam then.  

Hope it gets fixed soon for you,  please let us know what solved the problem. 

I wouldn't change the pump just on the off chance. As above, check the maxi fuses for damage.

 

If it's not the sensor, my next suspicion would be insufficient voltage delivery to wake the system up,  particularly if you can run the car for ten minutes then turn it off and on again to clear the light.

Edited 28 February, 20206 yr by StevesTruck

Well for the next 2 days i have to use an automatic smart car..wish me luck lol.. too scared to use car for work as it hasn't restarted  before and i can't disconnect battery myself...i do a lot of stop start trips....garage will have my car from monday, dreading the outcome, as already stated its had a diagnostic test done...but sure they will charge me for doing there own...  I  wish i done mechanics at school with situation like this lol..well anyway guys thanks for all your advice and tips, shame when i speak to a mechanic with the tips they look at me as if I'm just a dumb female..lol

Where are you located Samantha?

Currently on sofa..lol 

 

Wiltshire 

19 hours ago, Samantha75 said:

Well for the next 2 days i have to use an automatic smart car..wish me luck lol.. too scared to use car for work as it hasn't restarted  before and i can't disconnect battery myself...i do a lot of stop start trips....garage will have my car from monday, dreading the outcome, as already stated its had a diagnostic test done...but sure they will charge me for doing there own...  I  wish i done mechanics at school with situation like this lol..well anyway guys thanks for all your advice and tips, shame when i speak to a mechanic with the tips they look at me as if I'm just a dumb female..lol

 

The stop start might not be helping if the battery isn't getting chance to get charged right up. Roughly speaking, it takes about 20 minutes without a lot of steering to top the battery right up.

 

Disconnecting the battery's easy, literally a 10mm spanner and nothing else. All you do is unclip the battery cover (pull the tab on the leftside of the battery box as you look at it), then slacken off one of the battery clamps with a spanner. If you can use a tin opener, you're over qualified. 

 

It's not a sexist thing - Mechanics do that to everyone universally. It's the reason I learnt to fix my own cars. Fitting parts isn't normally complicated, a halfords socket set and sometime on here or youtube will get you through a lot of problems on an older fabia. 

Afternoon, i undertsand what your saying,  i have just put new battery on, and haven't used it for work since due to stop starting and of course worrying it won't start... I'm rather impressed with the smart car its been great...shame its not mine...anyway new battery drove 5 miles and had to disconnect(not by me) got home started fine in morning drove 10 miles, just started car and starts ok, maybe i need to drive and park up and see if it will restart again a but later...

Tin opener lol most have ring pulls now, so unsure if I'd be over qualified lol (joking of course)

Well i have my car back, no faults found, light hasn't come on at all while the garage had it...so I'm going to learn how to disconnect the battery just incase i need to do it while I'm out and about.

I have noticed my steering feels a lot lighter also, could this be due to a new battery and more power getting to it? Or is it just my imagination?lol

If your old battery was knackered, then yes, a new one could make the steering feel lighter.

@Samantha75 - Well on the generality, mechanics talk like that to most people. I had one try to tell me how he'd remove the air conditioning pump from my last car, even though that wasn't being a problem!!

Damn warning light again, not stressing with this car anymore now, I'm going to buy my own diagnostic set and work out the issue myself.... everytime i go 2 take it to the garage it does off...i realised its not impossible to drive it with like on, its just more effect needed.....so looking on amazon i see you can buy them for £13, surely they all do the same job right??