Power Steering Fault - Vectra

Strider590

pennypincher3562 wrote: »

Hi Inner Zone

My last post was badly worded, so I've re-written it.

- You ask 'is the power steering issue a red herring.' No, there is a real problem with the steering. The steering warning light came on, and I could hardly turn the car.

- As for the battery/alternator. I don't think it's that, the car starts effortlessly.

- Yes, I do have the bad habit of driving in too high a gear while going over speed bumps etc. This causes the engine to almost stall, and the battery warning light to come on. Could this contribute to the steering issue at all?

Thanks
PennyPincher3562

To an extent yes, the power steering is dependant on the engine speed, too low and the power steering pump can't do it's job. Which is why you lose power steering if the engine stalls or the auxilleries/fan belt snaps.

Driving in too high a gear, ie labouring the engine, wastes huge amounts of fuel and puts undue stress on the engine components themselves.
Some people do it to save fuel, but they don't realise they're actually doing the opposite.

For example in my Vectra driving on a winding 50mph road in fifth gear, uses more fuel than the same road in 4th gear. This was tested over several weeks, using the readout from the cars ODBII diagnostics port.

pennypincher3562

Thanks Strider

Do you reckon I should still take the car to a garage? I'm really skint at the moment, and could do without spending another small fortune on the Vectra.

Cheers
PennyPincher3562

Strider590

I would drive more carefully, avoid labouring the engine and if anything shows up under normal driving then get it booked in.

PAS is a safety critical system, if there was a serious fault then the ECU would flag up permanent fault, that would only resettable by a diagnostics machine. The risk with these things is dodgy garages like to remove the bulb to stop faults appearing on the dash, but you've already said you've seen the lamp.