Power Steering Problem

Pugliese

Pugliese

A2OC Donor
Need some ideas. Power steering has failed. Amber warning light accompanied by the oil sensor amber warning light. Have checked the fluid level, looks OK and there are no apparent leeks. AA man checked the alternator and said that was OK. Then I managed to drive it to my local friendly garage just before they finished for Christmas and they did a quick diagnostic check. It said that the steering was not communicating with the ECU with a code J800 or maybe J500. have booked it in for 5th jan but in the meantime has anyone any ideas and also is it OK to drive as I have to get to Scotland for Hogmanay! Was planning to pump the tyres up to 36psi - essential now!
 
Once you're above 20mph, the steering will be great - even better than with power on the motorway actually, as it feels more planted.

There's only 2 possibilites really, a duff pump unit or duff wiring. My long-running problem was down to duff wiring near where the loom goes through the bulkhead - it had chaffed and caused a small fire, taking out several other systems too.

Find the thread I wrote around this time last year and do the checks - otherwise, pump up the tyres and have fun in the land of the wild Haggis!!!

Cheers,

Mike
 
Hi there sorry to hear about your power steering troubles.your power steering is actually just a boost for your normal steering.As any car lorry etc has to have a means of steering should the power side fail.Your car will feel heavy on the slower speeds but other than that all will be ok to drive as Skipton says as your speed increases your steering will lighten up.Mind the snow when you come up as here in Forth we are sitting with about 16 ins of the stuff.Cheers Davy
 
Skipton01 said:
Once you're above 20mph, the steering will be great - even better than with power on the motorway actually, as it feels more planted.

There's only 2 possibilites really, a duff pump unit or duff wiring. My long-running problem was down to duff wiring near where the loom goes through the bulkhead - it had chaffed and caused a small fire, taking out several other systems too.

Find the thread I wrote around this time last year and do the checks - otherwise, pump up the tyres and have fun in the land of the wild Haggis!!!

Cheers,

Mike
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Thanks for the reply Mike. Have searched out your earlier threads and will have a look at the wiring over the Christmas break. One thing that puzzles me is that the warning light that tells that the oil level sensor light is not working, comes on as well. How can they be linked? Or is it linked in the ECU?

Also its a bit OTT to have a sensor on a sensor but I guess oil level is critical - seeing as I previously had a mini moke and the oil level light did't work - found out after I had to buy a new engine!!
 
Adrian888 said:
Only 16"? My sis lives near Inverness and has been snowed in since Friday in 4 foot of the stuff...
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Inverness is special though they get proper weather up there :D .I remember driving between Inverness and Aberdeen the snow was easily higher than the speed limit signs.Great :cool:
 
power steering dilema

just got the same problem - car just returned from audi main service/cam/waterpump/steering angle sensor - arrived at sainsburys after about 35 miles and hey prsto, amber warning for oil sensor came on quickly followed by amber warning for power steering, followed by power steering failure!!!!!!!! screeeeeeeeam. am watching your responses as hopefully they will apply to my problem too !?
 
If you've just had the car returned from a main dealer service, take it back to them, especially as they've done something with the steering angle sender from what you say.

This is something that must be related to their work, so get them to fix it, and at no cost too.

Cheers,

Mike
 
thanks for the advice - will ring the main agent on tuesday, or maybe more effective to just turn up on their door step.
 
have read your threads on power steering diagnosis - am happy to report a blown fuse no 38. replaced this and it blew immediately, so upped fuse rating to 30 - did not blow and after a 30 mile run still ok. This may not be the approved 'cure' but it worked !! thanks
 
rackclose said:
have read your threads on power steering diagnosis - am happy to report a blown fuse no 38. replaced this and it blew immediately, so upped fuse rating to 30 - did not blow and after a 30 mile run still ok. This may not be the approved 'cure' but it worked !! thanks
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Hi Rackclose

What a fantastic resource this club is and thank you so much for your posting. Fuse 38 was the culprit! Replaced with a 15, as that was all I had, and went for a run and no problems so far. Of course in the back of your mind is why did it blow?

When I was waiting for the AA to attend, I closely checked the fuse table and there was no reference to power steering and I thought that it could be one of the engine fuses so checked all of those - not no 38 - How did you identify it?

Anyway your posting was a godsend as we have a 1300 mile trip coming up before the garage opens again and I was not relishing the journey one bit - but now I am :D

Thanks and Happy New Year
 
Fuse 38 is what was an indicator for my problems with the power steering, although in my case, there was chaffing of the wiring loom which was to blame.

Please, please check all the looms that lead from the bulkhead into the engine bay on the nearside - it was here that I had problems. Although you've both now got working steering, I'd be VERY wary of upping the rating to 30A, as this will allow a potentially dangerous amount of current into a circuit where there may or may not be a fault.

Cheers,

Mike

PS Fuse 38 supplies current to around 20 different devices around the car, so it might take out a lot of things. The obvious one to look for is the illumination of the hazard switch, which is ordinarily lit at all times.
 
Skipton01 said:
Fuse 38 is what was an indicator for my problems with the power steering, although in my case, there was chaffing of the wiring loom which was to blame.

Please, please check all the looms that lead from the bulkhead into the engine bay on the nearside - it was here that I had problems. Although you've both now got working steering, I'd be VERY wary of upping the rating to 30A, as this will allow a potentially dangerous amount of current into a circuit where there may or may not be a fault.

Cheers,

Mike

PS Fuse 38 supplies current to around 20 different devices around the car, so it might take out a lot of things. The obvious one to look for is the illumination of the hazard switch, which is ordinarily lit at all times.
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Thanks for the warning Mike. I plan to replace the fuse tomorrow with the correct 10A one.

Your reply does however raise a question in my mind, if that fuse supplies current to approx 20 other devices, if one of the 20 is the problem then it may have nothing to do with the power steering at all.
 
I agree with Mike, You should 'never' simply replace a fuse with a higher rating, this sort of 'quick fix' action starts fires and/or causes further damage to the circuit concerned. In your case, this fuse supplies other circuits therefore the fuse is 'protecting' other circuits as well!.
The original fuse is rated what it is for a specific reason, this is for reasons like ratings for the loads of the wiring and end connected devices.

Sorry to scare you but I'd hope you would agree with being correct information for your own safety.

I Remember the days when I was horrified to see the fuses on a Ford Cortina and the like, wrapped with cigarette 'foil'! you can imagine the differences in the amount of electronics/electrics on cars of those days and cars of today?!


Cheers
Sarge
 
A brief and edited list of what fuse 38 feeds:

Hazard switch
Oil level sender
Air conditioning compressor regulating valve
Electronic manual gearbox control unit
Climate control panel
Refrigerant high pressure sender
Auto dipping rear view mirror
Power steering controller
Cabin air recirculation switch
Navigation system controller
Park distance controller
Factory fitted mobile phone controller
Bose amp
Heated seat regulators

As you can see, it's a pretty important circuit, so please treat it with respect.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Totally understand what you are saying guys re getting the right fuse.

Given that the fuse protects so many circuits, am i right in saying then that if say your heated seat malfunctions and causes the fuse to blow this will then disable your power steering. If so, it does not appear to be a very smart setup where a trivial malfunction can disable the car (dangerous if turning a corner at a slow speed and could easily cause an accident)
 
In a lot of cases, the current carried by SB38 is tiny, a control signal only, which is why I'm concerned that you've had a fuse failure. In my case, there was an actual rubbing of the wires which if not stemmed when it was, could have led to a catastrophic fire in the engine bay.

Read my thread on how to inspect the wiring loom and be safe.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Thanks Mike. Your words of wisdom are not falling on deaf ears, the car will still be going into my local garage when they reopen in Jan
 
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