Hello

 

After coming to the end of a lease I thought I would get myself a cheap Skoda to run around in for a while. Ended up with an ex taxi 1.6 2012 estate with nearly 300k on the clock!

 

It drove fine but the engine temp gauge fluctuated and rarely got to 90 degrees even on longer journeys. So put it into to a local garage who replaced the thermostat, water pipe, seal ring and flange. Now it gets up to 90 degrees fairly quickly and stays there. 
 

However it could be entirely coincidental but after this I detected a juddering when idling and today (a week after the work) the red steering wheel warning came on after i turned a corner. Steering practically locked up. I pulled over and after a few mins the warning light went off. I started driving again and it came on for a 10 sec then went off. Could be my imagination but the steering does feel a bit heavier now. 
 

Any thoughts would be appreciated. 

As it is a high mileage 10 year old car I would start by looking for corrosion or loose connections on all cables from the battery to the electric power steering.

That includes the high current fuses in the battery fusebox, adjacent to the battery.

8 minutes ago, pikpilot said:

As it is a high mileage 10 year old car I would start by looking for corrosion or loose connections on all cables from the battery to the electric power steering.

That includes the high current fuses in the battery fusebox, adjacent to the battery.

Thanks. I am hopeless with cars so will be asking the garage to have a look and will mention this. 
 

after I got it back last time a noticed the clock was reset so had assumed the battery had been disconnected during the work. Not sure if that would have done anything. 

Hello Columbo, welcome to the forum.

Get the battery tested as well, intermittent power steering can be an indication that the battery is failing. 

1 minute ago, Warrior193 said:

Hello Columbo, welcome to the forum.

Get the battery tested as well, intermittent power steering can be an indication that the battery is failing. 

Hi warrior. Cheers. 
 

when I got it about 1 month ago I had a full service and got a new battery. 

Turns out it was the alternator. Original one at 290k miles, so can’t complain. 

Does the battery appear to be recovering OK from low charging? 

7 hours ago, Warrior193 said:

Does the battery appear to be recovering OK from low charging? 

As far as I can tell, yes.