Power Steering Failure - Help

[scm]

It's recommended to fully charge a new battery anyway since they often lose charge sitting on the shelf.

[Mr.Tea]

It would take a drive of an hour or so to fully charge the battery, which may not work with your steering issues.

Unfortunately if the charger doesn't support AGM batteries, I might have to sit with the car running with a few revs on it and see if the battery charges that way.

When the engine is running, what voltage should I be looking for at it's 'charged' state?

[cj10jeeper]

It doesn’t work that way. With the engine running it’ll just show the alternator output at around 14.7v
You’d need to run the engine for ages then switch off and let the battery rest, then test the voltage

[Mr.Tea]

It doesn’t work that way. With the engine running it’ll just show the alternator output at around 14.7v
You’d need to run the engine for ages then switch off and let the battery rest, then test the voltage

Understood. Thanks for the advice.

[cj10jeeper]

It was late last night so only a quick response.
This image may help clarify that whilst 12.1v might seem ok, a fully charged battery should be just over 12.6v (6 cells @2.1v = 12.6v) 12.7 is the typical readuing

Personally I'd connect the trickle charger anyway as the battery looks to be flat/dead as seems you plan to buy a new one. If you've done lots of startups to try to play with the power steering, left the doors open, etc. then it may be a good battery, just in need of a charge. I'm just reluctant to drop £250 on a battery without at least testing the current one.

The reason I said running the engine doesn't work well is it takes so long. At least an hour in the garage or 30 minutes at motorway speed and frankly that just to add some power to the battery, not to bring it back to full state.
A CTEC for example can take 12-24 hours to fully charge a battery though the phases.

God luck in getting a battery in a decent state before then moving to seeing what's up with the power steering

[scm]

Unfortunately if the charger doesn't support AGM batteries, ...

Whereabouts are you? Maybe a local member could loan you a charger.

[Mr.Tea]

Thanks for the further information. I've left the car on trickle charge throughout the day and tested again. Battery was reading 12.53v. Car started perfectly fine, can reverse and accelerate fine, steering is as previously described. Had a quick chat with my local indy today (while the car was charging) and their first port of call was to charge the battery. Waiting on a call back to see if I can get it recovered to them tomorrow.

Not ideal.

Update: Indy has agreed to take the car despite being extremely busy meaning they'll only get to look at it between other jobs. Lucky I have a week off work ahead! Hopefully it's a simple/quick job for them and i'm praying it's not ludicrously expensive repair.

[Kev]

POWER STEERING (G1817618).pdf

(913.95 KiB) Downloaded 56 times

[Mr.Tea]

Thanks Kev. Last week before the problem arose, where I live, we had horrendous downpours and I had to drive through standing water on the roads however nothing excessive, the power steering failed three days later. Is it likely i'd be able to claim this on my insurance if it's proven as water ingress though it really shouldn't be. I should be able to prove this via footage off my dash cam as well.

I was careful about driving through the standing water it never even crossed my mind that it might have been a potential cause as the unit should be sealed & protected against water. I know the F-Pace models had loads of failures on a similar issue.

[Mr.Tea]

Update: Independant rang me today. Basically, the steering rack is shagged. Doesn't appear to be water ingress but wear & tear and it's rusted up and seized. The bolts holding the motor have sheared. Guy said that they might be able to get a used one but they're rare to come by but new ones are available in an instant. I've told them to just get a new one installed as it should last the lifetime of the car and come with some kind of one or two year warranty on the part and I believe their work has a 6 month guarantee.

All in, it's just shy of £3,200. Not sure if a warranty would have even helped me here. Would this be excluded and seen as wear and tear?