My wife's 56 plate Fabia VRS is doing some strange things...

Randomly the steering warning light comes on and the PAS ceases to operate. Stopping and re-starting clears the fault.

Then equally randomly, the ABS, ASR, and engine warning light comes on, combined with some beeps, then go off. Today, she reported the handbrake warning light came on instead of the engine light.

I have a generic fault code reader that reads EOBD systems and it shows no codes stored. I've had it plugged in when the PAS is in it's faulty state and no codes are stored. Or is it that I'd need VAG-COM or similar to get at the real data because it's hidden somewhere else (even though under the Automotive Directive it's not supposed to be!)

The car is under warranty and will be going in to the dealer for them to sort out, but before that happens, I'm just curious if anyone else has suffered these "faults" and knows of possible causes.

Answers on the back of a £20 note please....

Rob.

R59.

My wife's 56 plate Fabia VRS is doing some strange things...

Randomly the steering warning light comes on and the PAS ceases to operate. Stopping and re-starting clears the fault.

Then equally randomly, the ABS, ASR, and engine warning light comes on, combined with some beeps, then go off. Today, she reported the handbrake warning light came on instead of the engine light.

I have a generic fault code reader that reads EOBD systems and it shows no codes stored. I've had it plugged in when the PAS is in it's faulty state and no codes are stored. Or is it that I'd need VAG-COM or similar to get at the real data because it's hidden somewhere else (even though under the Automotive Directive it's not supposed to be!)

The car is under warranty and will be going in to the dealer for them to sort out, but before that happens, I'm just curious if anyone else has suffered these "faults" and knows of possible causes.

Answers on the back of a £20 note please....

Rob.

R59.

My 07 vrs is doing the same thing you described with flashing lights, steering issues. What was the problem after?

Generic FCR wont show PAS codes, usually just engine/auto trans/ABS/SRS

Random lights usually bad connection on battery fuses (Large Link Fuses) or battery itself. May also be a relay.

Generic FCR wont show PAS codes, usually just engine/auto trans/ABS/SRS

Random lights usually bad connection on battery fuses (Large Link Fuses) or battery itself. May also be a relay.

An update to this:

Took the car back to the dealer under warranty. They changed the PAS unit and the alternator. All was rosy in the garden.....

Then....

It's started again.

So, back to the dealer, VAG-COM reports no DTC's stored, and therefore no fault found.

It did it yesterday on the M6 (not good!), just stopping/restarting clears it. I think had we been close to home, I wouldn't have restarted, and would have driven it to the dealer so they can see it in "real time".

My instincts are an earth issue.

The vRS replaced a Zafira, and that had occaisional PAS failure, followed by a random alternator failure. I also added another engine/chassis/battery earth, and replace the battery positive terminal - that made a BIG difference to that car in terms of charging - which was OK previously, but not brilliant (about 13.6v), but great after (14.5v).

Had the Fabia not been under warranty, I would have been over all of the earths, probably replaced the battery by now.

It's back into the dealer tomorrow. I bet they do naff all. That's what you get when the "Computer says Noooooo" - the brain needs a different CD installed and rebooted into common sense diagnostics mode.

An update to this:

Took the car back to the dealer under warranty. They changed the PAS unit and the alternator. All was rosy in the garden.....

Then....

It's started again.

So, back to the dealer, VAG-COM reports no DTC's stored, and therefore no fault found.

It did it yesterday on the M6 (not good!), just stopping/restarting clears it. I think had we been close to home, I wouldn't have restarted, and would have driven it to the dealer so they can see it in "real time".

My instincts are an earth issue.

The vRS replaced a Zafira, and that had occaisional PAS failure, followed by a random alternator failure. I also added another engine/chassis/battery earth, and replace the battery positive terminal - that made a BIG difference to that car in terms of charging - which was OK previously, but not brilliant (about 13.6v), but great after (14.5v).

Had the Fabia not been under warranty, I would have been over all of the earths, probably replaced the battery by now.

It's back into the dealer tomorrow. I bet they do naff all. That's what you get when the "Computer says Noooooo" - the brain needs a different CD installed and rebooted into common sense diagnostics mode.

This seems to be a popular problem with no real answer, I've been struggling with it for a year now, been to dealers 7 times, they don't know what it is... new alternator didn't work, nor did a new battery...

PLEASE tell me you know what yours was! Desperate to fix this, ruining my fabia experience.

Matt

This seems to be a popular problem with no real answer, I've been struggling with it for a year now, been to dealers 7 times, they don't know what it is... new alternator didn't work, nor did a new battery...

PLEASE tell me you know what yours was! Desperate to fix this, ruining my fabia experience.

Matt

As I suspected. After they replaced the PAS unit, the alternator, and the battery under warranty, they could have saved themselves a bucket of money and just gone around and cleaned up all of the major earths - battery and engine to chassis.

So far no repeat performances of the flashing ligts and loss of power steering.

Earth or Grounding faults are often difficult to find to the inexperienced. A diagnostic computer won't help you. You need simple electrical test gear, and maybe an infra-red themometer to find this kind of fault, and some rudimentary electrical theory training.

Once found, often no more than a disconnect, clean, lubricate & protect is required. Sometimes its necessary to replace a terminal or a cable assembly.