Hi there,

Just a question about an issue I've had on my mk1 Fabia 1.2 HTP with electric hydraulic power steering.

The power steering was going intermittently so I replaced the pump with a used one which fixed the issue. However, the other day I was turning at low speed whilst my sat nav was powered from the 12v socket ("cigarette lighter") and the power steering just totally died, steering warning light came on and no steering assist whatsoever. I unplugged the charger from the 12v socket and restarted the car and suddenly the steering was back again and lasted an entire journey provided I didn't use the 12v socket. I had previously noticed a correlation between using the socket and having intermittent power steering, as well as erratic handbrake & ABS light flashing & beeping. The only other issue I've had is the airbag light being permanently on since I replaced the pump, and I have no idea how to fix it, but it doesn't really affect driving too much.

The battery isn't old and the alternator is charging it fine (I've checked). The cigarette lighter is pretty dirty but still works, I just have to twist the plug into the right spot to get it working.

Car is running fine but it's odd that it can't handle anything in the cigarette lighter.

If anyone has any ideas I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

Check all the strip fuses in the battery-top fuse holder, looking for hairline cracks in them.

Post a well lit, well focused photo if unsure.

Thanks - here’s the battery-top fuse holder.

I can’t immediately see any obvious blown strip fuses or cracks, although a couple of the terminals/cables do look slightly discoloured/oxidised from age.

I’m guessing the steering pump is one of the higher-current fuses here so it would make sense if it’s dropping voltage under steering load.

20 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Check all the strip fuses in the battery-top fuse holder, looking for hairline cracks in them.

Post a well lit, well focused photo if unsure.

(Sorry forgot to press quote)

Good effort but not quite sharply focussed enough for good scrutiny. Can you try for a closer shot of this subset of your previous image. Looks a bit like there are three newer fuses in there, for L-R;

Fan full speed 40A red/black thinner,

ABS 40A red/green, and

PAS, 50A red/black thicker

Also looks like there's a spare 50A fuse in position 6. If the PAS wire will reach there, try moving wire onto that one.

If it won't, try substituting that fuse into position 5 (with a gentle clean up of surfaces with something like a bit of wire wool).

Also, check battery terminals are tight enough to not be rotatable with moderate force.

2 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Good effort but not quite sharply focussed enough for good scrutiny. Can you try for a closer shot of this subset of your previous image. Looks a bit like there are three newer fuses in there, for L-R;

Fan full speed 40A red/black thinner,

ABS 40A red/green, and

PAS, 50A red/black thicker

Also looks like there's a spare 50A fuse in position 6. If the PAS wire will reach there, try moving wire onto that one.

If it won't, try substituting that fuse into position 5 (with a gentle clean up of surfaces with something like a bit of wire wool).

Absolutely, here are some closer shots of the fuses. They do look quite corroded and on the PAS wire the connector looks quite bad as well.

I might look at replacing the fuses and possibly the connectors - perhaps they could be linked to the issue?

In the meantime I’ll try moving it onto that spare fuse as you said.

2 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Also, check battery terminals are tight enough to not be rotatable with moderate force.

They seem alright, though I was messing with the negative terminal quite a bit whilst doing the pump

Sons ABS one cracked but couldn't see it until removed when it broke in two. He had random brake/ABS warning once car was warm so I assume the heat expanded crack. I removed them all as his were slightly coroded and cleaned up terminals and fuses.

Wonder if the charger you were using is faulty and drawing more power than usual or its due to dirty contacts in socket?

Alasdair

8 minutes ago, Alasdair1 said:

Sons ABS one cracked but couldn't see it until removed when it broke in two. He had random brake/ABS warning once car was warm so I assume the heat expanded crack. I removed them all as his were slightly coroded and cleaned up terminals and fuses.

Wonder if the charger you were using is faulty and drawing more power than usual or its due to dirty contacts in socket?

Alasdair

Interesting. I'll definitely take a look at them more closely, and I'll probably replace because they're cheap. I may also look into replacing/cleaning the socket as it's dirty. The charger is quite new but cheap so may have something to do with it.

Thanks

Do you have another socket in rear boot that you could try plugging charger into to perhaps rule it out?

Alasdair

15 minutes ago, Alasdair1 said:

Do you have another socket in rear boot that you could try plugging charger into to perhaps rule it out?

Alasdair

Not that I can see. Mine is the Ambiente trim and I think it only has the one centre console socket.

Good new pics.

I can't see anything suspicious at all there, unfortunately, unless during replacement of those cleaner three fuses something wasn't tightened down well.

I'll have a quick look at wiring diagrams to see if the ignition switched feed to the PAS module is shared with anything else, but I think not on either of the 1.2 HTP variants in 2007.

No harm in trying that spare strip fuse though, since it's right there looking neglected. 🙂

Maybe not my folks had the estate and it had an extra one in rear on right hand side.

Alasdair

Just found myself wondering if this is an electrical noise thing, rather than a marginal power/voltage thing.

The dirty connection might be causing a kind of arcing situation which may be upsetting some of the circuitry in other things.

Pull the fuse (#42) for the lighter socket (to prevent shorting while you work on it), and give it a clean up to improve the reliability of the contact.

19 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Just found myself wondering if this is an electrical noise thing, rather than a marginal power/voltage thing.

The dirty connection might be causing a kind of arcing situation which may be upsetting some of the circuitry in other things.

Pull the fuse (#42) for the lighter socket (to prevent shorting while you work on it), and give it a clean up to improve the reliability of the contact.

That's a good shout - I'll give it a clean up. What substance would be best for cleaning it?

20 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

No harm in trying that spare strip fuse though, since it's right there looking neglected. 🙂

Absolutely, no harm in doing so.

Try electrical contact cleaner/brake cleaner and an old tooth brush. It may need the centre of the socket rubbed with a very fine sand paper if its coroded or tarnished

Alasdair

I'd probably just go for a thin flat-blade screwdriver used as a scraper on the centre contact.

Wouldn't bother with any potions.

22 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

I'd probably just go for a thin flat-blade screwdriver used as a scraper on the centre contact.

Wouldn't bother with any potions.

Gave it a bit of a scrape down at the bottom and connectivity is a bit better than before - though still not great. I would replace it but I'm told it's a nightmare on the Fabia and you have to remove the whole centre console.

Will finish off the remaining dirt later.

So just an update the steering went whilst driving earlier today, it was after some heavy use of the pump doing a 3 point turn and driving at low speed in a bumpy road. ABS light, brake light, loud beeping, steering light came on and the power steering was totally gone. This time I wasn't using the socket to charge anything. After turning the car off for a bit and starting it again, everything was back to normal. I think this points toward a power draw issue of some sort, since when I was doing the 3 point turn I was working the pump quite hard. The pump seems to just "die" and require the car to be restarted for it to start working again.

Might be worth getting a scan done. I assume if steering fails it will generate a code. The pump is electric so maybe its failing/overheating and cutting out or the steering fluid is past it/low and the pump is having to work a lot harder?

Alasdair

7 minutes ago, Alasdair1 said:

Might be worth getting a scan done. I assume if steering fails it will generate a code. The pump is electric so maybe its failing/overheating and cutting out or the steering fluid is past it/low and the pump is having to work a lot harder?

Alasdair

I do think getting a scan done would be worth it - I'll look into it. I have replaced the pump with another one and the problem hasn't changed so I doubt there is an issue with the pump itself, and when installing I ensured the fluid was at the correct level. I've also kept an eye on it to ensure the fluid hasn't dropped since I installed it.

Might be worth checking wiring from pump backwards. It could be a corroded connector/earth somewhere that's failing when getting hot or broken wire. At least you have ruled out socket.

Alasdair

Whereabouts are you based?