Hi 

5 mins from home tonight the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree power steering, battery, abs etc all on. Power steering failed a few seconds later. Got home but now doesn't start but lights still work. Any ideas? 

Make sure your battery is okay (@nta16 is your man when it comes to that) and also check ground connections from the battery to parts of the body. Poor connections can lead to the electrics having spasms.

Edited 6 December, 20214 yr by AnnoyingPentium
Grammar and so on.

32 minutes ago, mcc28x said:

the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree power steering, battery, abs etc all on. Power steering failed a few seconds later

Flat battery, but for once not a failure in the alternator control wires since the battery light has illuminated.

Thanks hopefully get it sorted tomorrow. 

A good friend of minehad this issue and it turned out to 2 items 1 battery positive was very loose, 2 the earth from the battery was also loose near the battery tray and earth on the gearbox was completly off (bolt missing) everything re-tightened new bolt in gearbox and battery charged up with a charger so far no moremore issues , I have also come across a loose earth near the right hand side of the dash that holds the dashboard to the metal of the car you can get at this by removing right end panel and checking tightness of the bolts, Ithink they were 12mm heads

Well the battery was replaced and I picked the car up today. 10 minute drive home and the battery came on half a dozen times. The old one only showed 11.7 volts(?) when he tested it and he said it wasn't charging well. Pretty sure it was the original battery anyway. 

 

I'm reluctant to go back to the garage they're pretty good but not electrical specialists. Apart from a dealer can anyone recommend where to go in Wakefield area? 

 

Thanks 

Sounds like the alternator may not be charging properly, get it tested.

My thoughts went to the alternator too.

Pretty sure I got the alternator done about 6 months ago. I'll check thanks. 

37 minutes ago, mcc28x said:

Pretty sure I got the alternator done about 6 months ago. I'll check thanks. 

 

That doesn't mean there isn't a wiring fault though.

I think as mentioned, alternator could well be iffy but also, when changing the battery, did you get it re-coded? I believe some cars have to have this done, in order to function properly. I have removed/replaced my own one a few times and have never had to re-code it BUT when I connect to diagnostics, it does have something that relates to the battery, which though not making a difference, still could do with deleting. Also, Murdockman suggested checking earths, so don't just twitch them, give them a proper check with a spanner, to be sure. I have seen cars AND motorcycles fail to start, which looked like the battery was connected ok but on re-tightening terminals, fired up immediately.

I would suggest loosening, cleaning and re-tightening any duff-looking terminal.