Hello all,

I have a Skoda Fabia 6Y2 1.9 TDI and I'm having an issue at power steering level.

Indeed, few weeks ago, after starting the engine, the power steering warning light turned on and the steering was quite hard. After restarting the motor, the light turned off and the steering was ok.

Next, randomly the previous issue was ocurring when starting the engine but not everytime.

One day, the battery was fully unloaded so I though that the battery was the root cause, for that, changed it by a new one of 70Ah-640A and during one day, I got any steering issues (I restarted at least 10 times the car without any probleme).

2 days after, without modifying and testing nothing on the car (as I thought that the issue was solved by changing the battery), the issue came on again and now the problem is present everytime, not anymore a random issue, a permanent one.

 

For what I could see, it really seems to be an electrical issue, as the fact that changing the battery solve temporarly the problem and also because it was a random issue at first and when everything was fine, the steering was pretty light and easy to use.

 

So, I checked/did the following points:

• Changed the battery
• Cleaned the ground cable connected to the battery
• Checked the fuse of the power steering is ok
• Checked that the battery warning light is well turned on when the engine is not running (seen on the forum that could be a wire issue at alternator level if the light is always off)
• Checked the battery voltage
• Unplugged/plugged the 3 connectors of the PAS
• Checked the continuity of the 2 wires of the power connector of the PAS
• Refilled the oil tank of the power steering (it was a bit low)
• Connected an ODB2 wifi scanner with the engine turned and with the problem but no error code was present (I don't know if it's normal but only one ECU was detected)
• Disconnecting the battery for 15 min

 

Additional information:

• The power steering warning light is never lighted on when the motor is not running
• The engine is turned on quite easily before and after changing the battery (any sign of battery weakness)

 

I hope that someone could help me to find the root cause because for what I saw on this forum, many reasons could lead to that kind of behavior.

 

Many thanks in advance for your support !

 

Pierre

I wonder if your battery is getting drained when the car is off.

Hi, thanks for the suggest.

 

Here are the result of the measures:

• With the car off without the contact (no key): 0,1A
• With the car off with the contact (key ready to start the engine): 2,1A

 

I don't know if the values are high or no ?

If the car is properly 'asleep' the quiescent current should be around 0.02A (20mA) or less.

 

To get the car to go fully to sleep whilst still having access to measure the current is the slightly tricky bit.

 

My preference is to open the bonnet, then flick the bonnet latch fully shut with a screwdriver (so that if there is a microswitch sensing the openness of the bonnet it will see it as shut, only cars with alarms fitted have this, I think).

 

Then loosen but don't remove the battery negative clamp, so that you can easily pull it upwards away from the battery with fingers. Leave it connected/touching.

Close all doors and lock the car.

Wait at least 30 minutes. There is a relay inside the onboard supply control unit whose coil is powered for this long by default.

Put your multimeter onto mA dc setting, with probes plugged into the appropriate holes.

Place one probe vertically downwards through the battery negative clamp onto the centre of the battery post. Ask an assistant to hold it there for you, that makes the next bit much easier.

 

Now put the other probe onto the battery negative clamp and hold it there without losing contact as you slowly lift the clamp up away from the battery post, without touching the other meter probe which it will now be surrounding.  As long as the clamp doesn't touch the other meter probe, you will now have a true 'asleep' quiescent current reading on the meter without having woken the car by interrupting the power supply.

 

Don't forget to pull the bonnet release lever in the cabin before trying to shut the bonnet afterwards, or it will hit the closed latch with a bang.

 

 

Hi, 

 

Thanks @Wino, I will perform the measure as soon as possible.

 

In the meanwhile, I can "fix" the problem by connecting a battery booster (that one BuTure Booster Batterie - 800A 12800mAh Portable Jump Starter (Jusqu’à 6.0L Essence/5.0L Gazole) Démarrage de Voiture avec Pinces de sûreté intelligentes, Sorties QuickCharge 3.0, Lampe à LED (800A): Amazon.fr: Auto et Moto).

With that one connected, the power steering is always good when turning on the engine.

 

So it seems to be related to a lake of power when the PAS is trying to turn on at startup... Note that the new battery is a compatible one with my car (70Ah and 640A).

 

On other part, I could connect a VAG code reader and I could find the code 0236 with a text message like "Central command of power steering assistant, terminal 30" on the ECU of the PAS.

 

Any idea of the reason why of that behavior ? I was attempted to put a more powerfull battery to check if it was better but anyway, it seems that something is wrong somewhere because the battery is compatible and good.

 

Many thanks for your support !!

You said earlier that you "checked the battery voltage" but you didn't tell us what the voltage was, nor the conditions when you measured it.

 

Measure between the battery posts before starting the engine, key not even in the ignition barrel. Then start the engine, wait a minute and take another reading.

 

With those two numbers we may be able to help better. 

Hi,

 

Yes you're right, Indeed I supposed that the battery and the charge circuit were good as a professional guy checked that after changing the battery and told me that everything was fine on that side.

Anyway, here are the measures:

• Without key in the ingnition barrel: 12.7V
• With key in the ignition barrel, ready to start: 12.6V
• With car on: 14.4V

Next, I also made the same measures with the battery booster connected in parallel to the battery:

• Without key in the ingnition barrel: 14.5V
• With key in the ignition barrel, ready to start: 14.3V
• With car on: 14.4V

With the last measures, it should raise that when having an higher voltage when igniting the motor, the PAS is well started but I still don't understand why that booster is needed ...

I think the alternator  and battery are both in good working order, but the effect of the battery booster suggests that one of the cables between the alternator and battery may be higher resistance than it should be.  This is quite likely to be due to corrosion at one or both terminal connections. Both of the earth cable ends are quite open to splashed water.

 

I would start with the main earth cable that links starter motor and chassis.  Take off the battery negative clamp first, then disconnect both ends of this cable, and clean the connecting crimp terminals, as well as the surfaces they touch when installed.

 

The engine end connects to the upper mounting bolt of the starter motor, the chassis end connects to the left chassis leg, just above the fan control module, arrowed in this photo:

 

 

 

Edited 13 June, 20214 yr by Wino

I had an issue with power steering and ABS along with it not starting, the issue was the ground connector that @Wino shows in his newest post. We took the connector off from the body and gave it a clean up with a nail file and my little car is running like a charm still!

 

Hi guys,

 

I cleaned up  both ends of this ground cable (not so easy without removing the battery). At first, I got again the problem at startup, next I plugged the battery booster, the engine started well (as usual with that booster) and next without the booster, I didn't have anymore the problem.

I drove a while and turning on/off the engine without problems (to ensure the problem is not present anymore) but after like 5 restarts, the problem came on again ...

 

So, it seems that the cleaning had a good effect for a while but not permanently. How is it possible to ensure that the cleaning is good ? I could measure the impedance of that cable but the value is quite low (below 1 ohm) and I'm not sure if the value would be reliable ..

Maybe try cleaning the ends of the positive connection from alternator next?.

Remove battery negative connection first, then the thick cable at the alternator, and the other end at the strip fuse closest to the engine. 

Maybe do the fuse end first, access is very easy compared to the alternator end. If you're lucky you may not have to do both.

Also check the short main earth connection from battery negative to chassis.

As first attempt, I cleaned the easiest connections including the short main earth connection but nothing better ...

I was thinking about the error code that has been raised indicating that there was a problem on the terminal 30, do you kown what it means ?

Terminal 30 refers to battery positive and everything that connects to it.

Terminal 31 is battery negative.

 

Fault codes that refer to terminal 30 usually mean that low voltage has been detected at the device giving the code. 

I guess the power connections to the PAS module are the next thing to examine/clean. For most mk1 Fabias, strip fuse no. 3 supplies the positive feed, and the earth is near the PAS fluid reservoir cap. The connector at the pump/module needs a bit of care when unplugging, I broke the latch on a spare one when I first tried to disconnect the loom connector. 

 

What year is your car?

 

Edited 16 June, 20214 yr by Wino

Hi,

 

I cleaned the fuse no. 3 and also cleaned the ground cable of the PAS modulenext to its fluid reservoir cap but nothing better 

I never mentioned it before as I thought that it was not so relevent, but once, I could fix the problem by moving the car wheel on the left/right when turning on the engine but it worked one, next this trick had no effect.

 

This car is from 2003.

 You mean resistance of the cable,impedance relates to Alternating Current,Resistance relates to Direct Current.Because the cable you mention is a large copper core,the only way to measure its resistance would need a special instrument, using a multimeter  would not show any meaningful value.Puting it simply the multimeter  leads have a much higher resistance than the cable you are trying to measure. THe actual cable will not be faulty because of the amount of copper conducter used.The end connections as 'Wino' mentioned are where faults are possible. Possibly putting the multimeter leads on both ends of the cable,setting the multimeter on the low end of the DC voltage range.Then starting the car will give a reading,and comparing this reading to another car would be useful.

Edited 18 June, 20214 yr by AndyPandy

Try changing the steering sensor which is mounted on the steering rack lower end.The other end of the cable has a plug,and fits into  the top of the power steering pump. I have had to replace my steering pump ,then the sensor about  5 years later  on my 20 year old Fabia.

Edited 18 June, 20214 yr by AndyPandy

22 minutes ago, AndyPandy said:

impedance relates to Alternating Current

Wrong! Impedance refers to how easy (hard) it is to pass a current through a cable (or indeed a wire), regardless of whether it is alternating, direct, or indeed 3-phase current.

2 hours ago, KenONeill said:

Wrong! Impedance refers to how easy (hard) it is to pass a current through a cable (or indeed a wire), regardless of whether it is alternating, direct, or indeed 3-phase current.

 

Ken, please stop attacking...

 

"the effective resistance of an electric circuit or component to alternating current, arising from the combined effects of ohmic resistance and reactance."

 

This isn't about right and wrong, it's about helping people fix their cars.

Leave right and wrong for ethical arguments which have no place here.

Hi,

 

I didn't do anything else yet but I was wondering if the error code that I have could indeed be lead by a sensor issue ?

I mean the steering sensor

Also, I didn't mentionned it but the error code is indicating that the signal of the terminal 30 is implausible.

On 09/06/2021 at 22:01, ppetienne said:

Checked the fuse of the power steering is ok

 

Check this again. Post a  well focussed, well lit close-up photo and/or give it a poke with a finger to make sure it isn't cracked.

Hi,

 

I cleaned again this fuse and also made a test by bypassing it and connecting the PAS positive wire directly on the main positive power supply bar but anything better.

I also cleaned the positive connector of the alternator but also without any improvement 

 

Do you have any other idea ?

I don't think you re-checked the parasitic current being taken from the battery?