It doesn’t happen every time but sometimes when I start my car the power steering light comes up saying it has failed and then all I do it turn it off and turn it back on and the power steering works again, does anyone have any idea why it’s happening? And is it a long term problem? And how can I fix it? Thanks.
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Welcome to the site.. what year and model is your Ibiza?– motosubatsuMar 18, 2019 at 13:04
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Hi, it’s a 2003 5 door petrol seat ibiza– Charlotte HardyMar 18, 2019 at 14:51
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Slight googling reveals it's an electro-hydraulic power steering system.– juhistMar 18, 2019 at 20:52
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First thing to check would be the power steering fluid. It should be in a separate reservoir on the front left (underneath the battery, may need to remove it).– DanielMar 19, 2019 at 1:02
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@Daniel Unlikely to be fluid-related - the light doesn't come on for fluid level– motosubatsuMar 19, 2019 at 9:30
1 Answer
Typically the first port of call for this on the Mk3 Ibiza is actually the battery - the Power Assisted Steering (PAS) pump is quite a big draw on these and they can throw the light for this. If you battery is old or otherwise showing signs of weakness that would be a good place to start.
The fact that it seems to clear on a quick restart leans me against this in your case though - the battery is going to be weaker the second time around as unless you've driven it a bit the alternator won't have had time to replenish the initial effort of starting.
A known fault on these that causes the PAS light to be lit is the 50A fuse for the PAS pump - they have a tendency to crack which causes an intermittent connection and this leads to the light.
If neither of these things then it might be the pump itself - they are electric and sometimes suffer from water ingress at the connectors causing intermittent electrical faults.
Another possibility is the steering angle sensor, an outside bet though.
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Perhaps with this in mind, a good first step would be to put the battery on charge overnight to see if that stops the fault at first startup in the morning. Mar 19, 2019 at 9:47
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Okie dokie, thank you all for your advise, I’ll put my battery on charge tomorrow day when I get home from work and will see how out goes after re-connecting that night 🤞 will update with result 😁 Mar 19, 2019 at 19:32
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Nope the battery didn’t work so I’ll try changing the fuse yes? 😅 Mar 21, 2019 at 7:30
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