power steering > battery related drama.. help

[tomek]

Hey guys,

Saddens for me to make a first post like this, being a problem with what's been a near faultless car.

Today when I tried taking off with the car, the powersteering went and i got the battery signal light up on my dash. It happened for one split second and then all was normal. This happened once more whilst driving. Now I've had the previous happen before and just as quick as it came it left. It hasn't happened in about 4 months and that's what i thought would be the case today.

This afternoon when starting, the battery signal came on and stayed on and the power steering is non-existent. By the look of the terminals they're a tiny bit gunky but nothing that should represent a fault. I drove the car round the block was a little bit tricky, definitely a bit harder to drive then a car with no power steering which leads me to the question, will I harm the car if I were to drive it to work tomorrow?

Has anyone had this problem?

Cheers.

[Umai Naa!!]

Your power steering is failing because the pump is not turning. What turns this pump is a belt that also turns the alternator. The battery light is coming on because the alternator is not charging. It needs to turn to charge. Although, it can turn but not charge, too. This will require a process of elimination.

[Manaz]

Driving the car without power steering is dangerous (it's not designed to run without it, and you're used to having it).

I'd guess the car has thrown an accessory belt. As Umai Naa!! indicated, both alternator (which charges the battery) and power steering run off the engine by way of an accessory belt.

Get the car to a mechanic.