Good afternoon all,

Desperately after some guidance here. My son has a 1.2 diesel fabia, been learning to drive for a few months. Car was gifted by a relative and had to sit for a few months until he turned 17.

Fast forward to the birthday and having to change the battery. Never a problem at all apart from the dpf needing a clean here and there. Shortly after changing the battery the abs light started coding, would go on and off had it cleared and brakes changed stayed off a while then back on. Fast forward to last week and out of the blue the power steering went, have a friend who's a mechanic, couldn't clear the code said it was the part. So yesterday put a second hand part in and the code won't clear, and he is saying I need a new part as the other one if coming up as possible damaged.

I totally believe him that yes it very well may need the new part, as I am not mechanic, my concern though is that it never had a single electrical issue until the battery was changed, and having read your forums many are having battery related issues.

My question is, is it worth me changing the battery as only 4 months old before spending 300+ on a new part.

Any advice with similar issues would be greatly appreciated. 😄

Hmm I’m not sure about any battery & related electrical issues esp regarding power steering. In my mark1 version mine went only what seemed an hour after getting home last summer. It was only a when I came to go out again it happened,started up & steering light came as I went t go off the drive & it was just really hard to turn the wheel,so I backed back on, switched off & waited 5mins thinking it might reset etc but no😕

Obvious research of costs had me searching for 2nd hand 1,but didnt cure it,so on with the new 1 & they exchange your old 1 to be refurbished-i did the work myself to cut ma cost/time little. I even changed the solenoid module that plugs into the rack itself, eventually had some1 kinda clear the code tho not entirely but was still able drive it, at least it didn’t feel like driving a lorry🫣

Hope whatever ya find out helps him get it back & running..

p.s what kinda age/mileage is it?

My mark1 202k🫣

Morning,

Thank you so much for your reply. It is having a brand new pump this evening, everything crossed that will now work. I think it is a case that it needs a new one.

It is a mark 2 with 110000, so many many miles left if yours is a guage 😄

Check the strip fuses in front of battery compartment carefully for hairline cracks. Sons one had a crack that was impossible to see without a magnifying glass. His ABS/steering light used to come on randomly then finally stayed on. Replaced fuse which fell in two when removed and it was cured.

Hi,

Thank you for that, I have just checked and they appear okay, will pop and get replacement just incase. Definitely worth a try 😀

Common for wiring problems

have you had the dog bone mount out?

His looked ok but the hairline crack wasn't visible. Reckon it was opening up when getting warm. As said fell in two when I removed it. On his mk1 the alarm chime is really loud. Scares the **** out of you when it goes off. Still havent worked out how to quiten it down. Think there is a smaller maybe 5 amp fuse in car as well. Check its tight and no corosion.

Alasdair

@becky1357, your strip fuses look like this, I think. How did you go about checking them? Did you prize off the green plastic cover bit?

The other power feed is from cabin fusebox #16 I believe, a 5-Amp fuse.

5 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

your strip fuses look like this, I think. How did you go about checking them? Did you prize off the green plastic cover bit?

On my sons MK1 they were individual strips with a nut at each end similar to photo but not so many so could be replaced individually.

Not sure re green covers? Maybe design has changed due to them cracking? Looks like you have to replace entire fuse strip unless theres something under green covers

Alasdair

Just now, Alasdair1 said:

Looks like you have to replace entire fuse strip

Yep.

That's how it's sold.

I think this design came in with changes in March 2010 for mk2's, possibly earlier.

I prized off the covers. They are all intact. They are like individual ones under the cover. I had a new steering pump put on last night, it's working now, but the light is still on so I have the mechanic bringing the read coder later.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks so much for your help

Hopefully its just needing a drive and time to realise theres a new pump. Find on my octavia that if I disconnect battery to work on car when I reconnect the steering light comes on for a while then goes off once I have turned wheel to full lock etc.

Ohh I will give that a try, thank you. You have been very helpful. I am sure there will be many more times I be reaching out for help here 😀

Might have to recalibrate the steering angle sensor

Hi all,

Had it all sorted this evening, it was put on the computer and programmed that it had a new part and everything crossed we been out for about and hour in the car and it's all fine. 😄