Hi all

 

It's been a little while, which at least means my Fabia's been behaving itself these past few months   

 

This isn't a new problem actually.  It did it a while back, then stopped, and has now been at it again for the last month or two.   So basically, the power steering yellow light *sometimes* comes on when the car is started; not always.  Turning the car off and on again - sometimes as many as three times - always sorts it out in the end.  And so long as the light is out, there are no problems with the steering whilst driving.  

 

I've read about various things that can cause this light to come on, although often with a different set of symptoms.  Anything I should be prioritising in checking?  

 

Does turning a car on/off 2 or 3 times in a row cause any problems?  Just wondering if I leave it as is and hope it goes away again whether I'm hurting the car when it needs the restart?  

 

Many thanks

It's not going to just "go away", it's going to get worse until it stops working completely, you need to verify this with a code reader but it sounds like the pump unit itself is failing.

Age of battery?

You say the problem isn't new, but for how long has it been happening? 

Was the car used regularly over the deepest of the lockdown period? 

Does the battery light come on with the ignition?

old, worn batteries cause untold errors/faults. Fabians hate worn/half flat batteries.

 

Turning on and off very frequently can sort of upset some of the sensitive electrics/electronics and also, flatten the battery. It takes around 15-20 mins of driving, to put back in, what you used to start the car.

Many thanks to you all for the responses.  

 

1 hour ago, sepulchrave said:

It's not going to just "go away"

 

But interestingly it did before.  We've had the car 8 years.  It was at least 2 years, probably a fair bit more that it was doing it and then it stopped and didn't do it again until recently. 

 

1 hour ago, Wino said:

Age of battery?

You say the problem isn't new, but for how long has it been happening? 

Was the car used regularly over the deepest of the lockdown period? 

Does the battery light come on with the ignition?

 

The battery is about 5 years old.  Not sure what service life a battery has to be honest!  

It's been happening for a couple of months or so.  Maybe longer, really can't remember.  Very useless I know, sorry!  

Hasn't been used much in lockdown.  Maybe once a week or so.  

Battery light - will check tomorrow and let you know on that.

 

1 hour ago, mrgf said:

old, worn batteries cause untold errors/faults. Fabians hate worn/half flat batteries.

 

Turning on and off very frequently can sort of upset some of the sensitive electrics/electronics and also, flatten the battery. It takes around 15-20 mins of driving, to put back in, what you used to start the car.

 

Thanks that's all really helpful to know.  

A 5 year old battery will almost certainly be getting weak, now. I would deffo start from that. I would even hazard a guess the last time it did it was prior to fitting the  battery you have now.

Have a look on carparts4less, find a discount code and see how much the unit will cost. They will deliver for free, too. Once you find the correct unit, look on the "Bay" for the same one and it may be even cheaper. I used to use Bosch but as a driving instructor, was lucky to see the warranty out (Obvs meant I'd get a replacement for free, with no remaining warranty) But the recent one I got was an Exide. Part price, part revues. 

Edited 17 July, 20205 yr by mrgf