Was driving SWMBO's Fabia yesterday (1.4 MPi, 51-plate), and the steering felt incredibly light compared to my vRS when I was getting the car out of its parking space. I've driven her car quite often and never noticed it before. When I mentioned it to her, she said she didn't think anything was different, but then said that since I'd mentioned it, maybe it was lighter than usual...

I realise there are many, many threads regarding the PAS angle sensor, but the symptoms don't seems to fit here. There's no warning light, and the steering feels light at LOW speeds, when it should have extra assistance anyway. It's like it's getting even more assistance than it should! There's never (yet) been a situation where it's felt like there was little or no assistance, in fact above about 10 mph, it seems perfectly fine! As such, it doesn't seem to fit the bill for knackered PAS angle sensor.

The only other noticeable thing has been the lights dimming when steering (been like that since we got it; not got any worse AFAIK) but it doesn't seem to happen when sat still or driving in a straight line, so I'm satisified it's just the power drain from the steering pump. I did post ages ago about the dash lights dimming momentarily just the once when sat still (i.e. not 'flickering' constantly) but this seemed to be as a result of the big radiator fan switching on rather than anything more mysterious.

Being a 51-plate, I'm not sure whether it's new enough to have the more reliable, metal PAS sensor. One of Lummox's threads said the new sensors came in with the 2002MY version, so it could have either depending on when exactly it was built.

We've done the obvious like check tyre pressures, and the tracking was fixed a few weeks ago. I was warned by the tracking place that it had been quite badly out, and so could 'bed in'. Might it be that?

The sensitivity can be adjusted by VAG-COM or your dealer because the system is electronically controlled.

The sensitivity can be adjusted by VAG-COM or your dealer because the system is electronically controlled.

So a setting might have changed itself, eh? Sounds reasonable (and sadly none too surprising :( ) I'll keep an eye on it - chances are it's back to normal today!!! May be one to file under 'Just One Of Those Things...' like the strange, untraceable bonging sound that comes from somewhere around the NSR when going over speed bumps!

All adds to the car's character, I suppose!!!

Thanks, Mannyo