No Steering

[Ross]

So i got in the Clio to leave work last night, a little red "stop" light came on and the display said "steering fault"..before id ever set off.

Naturally turned the car off and on again and everything was jolly, during the journey home i was wondering what would happen if i was moving and the same problem happened...well this morning i found out after overtaking a cyclist.

The little light came on and i heard a beep, then the steering went. It wasn't a case of no power steering, it was a case of no steering what so ever, almost like the steering lock was on.

All i could do was come to a grinding halt in the middle of the road and turn off/on again to reset it (looking like a complete nob holding everybody up in rush hour traffic).

There's no mechanical noises, no grinding, nothing falling off the car etc so im sort of hoping its electrical instead of rack / motor etc.

Garage first thing Monday morning, yet another bill no doubt to add to the list

 

[Robo_#1]

Ouch, that sucks. Best to get it checked out ASAP and not drive it until then though. Hopefully its something small/cheap but sounds dangerous until its fixed

 

[adam1942]

Holy crap that's dangerous! Only thing I can think of is the connection for the steering wheel sensor has moved or that the steering lock has came on by itself?

 

[Yiannis197]

Bloody hell that sounds dangerous! I've never heard of a similar problem before, hope you sort it out soon, keep us updated.

 

[Ross]

Hmmm not what i expected...the battery needs charging. According to the mechanic after checking the computer and error reports etc, the battery is down on juice and its starving the steering which is the most thirsty part of the car apparently. Weird thing is its not down on much as the car still starts and runs etc, radio, heating etc all work fine.

I still don't fully understand the issue though, why would Renault's fail safe (or lack of) cause loss of steering instantly? I could understand if it had enough for you to sort of stop at the side of the road, but it didn't. When the beep and error came on, i couldn't steer at all, i had no time to react at all.

Surely Renault thought about fitting a little battery or something which holds enough power to steer you safely to a halt should your main battery stop supplying the steering with the required power.

Oh well live and learn, ill add it to the list of problems I've had.

 

[frediiii]

it might have felt like no steering at all but it's still just loss of power steering. happened to me several times in the twingo rs whilst slaloming the **** out of it. when i lost power steering my hand slipped from the 'frozen' wheel and i punched the a pillar and injured my knuckles dangerous stuff, but technically steering still works

 

[GrumpyTwig]

when i lost power steering my hand slipped from the 'frozen' wheel and i punched the a pillar and injured my knuckles

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Ross]

lol your lucky you didn't crash mate, could have been worse!

Well its never simple is it...cars been "on charge" since 8.15am this morning....it isn't charging at all. So either that battery is dud or its actually not down on juice at all.

God knows. a few people are saying because i don't do much mileage at all then that's probably the cause so i'm going for a LONG run up on the moors tonight (with the camera ofcourse) to try eliminate that.

If (or when) it happens again, its going back to the garage and they'll give me a spare battery to try eliminate it being that.

Failing that, alternator...power steering motor, who knows

 

[Yiannis197]

???I don't think it's the battery Ross. I really can't see it.

If Renault designed it the way your mechanic thinks, the same thing would have happened to every single car when it's about to run out of battery, something that clearly hasn't occurred.

When you run low on battery you simply run out of juice and the car does not start. It happened to me, it happened to everybody really. I fail to see that your battery is capable to start the car and keep everything running perfectly apart from the...steering!

 

[Ross]

aye agree with you there mate, been thinking about this all day. I'm certain it can't be the battery either. Id put my little finger on it happening again before the weekend so another trip back to the garage is on the cards. As i said I'm going for a (slow) drive round Saddleworth Moor this evening with the camera so I'll see if it happens whilst I'm there....don't worry, i have breakdown cover just in-case ha!

 

[Yiannis197]

Yeap, just make sure you take it really easy when driving mate!

 

[Ross]

Right update :

did end up going up to Saddleworth Moor for a run out, I'll be honest i sort of wasn't careful and did drive fast and smiled a lot, it was hugely fun and everything was working 100% correctly, no issues what so ever.

Following morning, couldn't start the engine without the error coming up. I limped the car all the way over to Wakefield Renault who have diagnosed the problem. Steering Computer, Steering Motor, Steering Column (apparently that lot is one single unit so to speak) are all f**ked, £1,249.44 approx to make life smiley again.

At this very moment in time, you can probably imagine how I'm feeling, I'm currently waiting for Renault UK's call to confirm their "contribution" which apparently they always do on problems such as this. Obviously i've had all the speech of how it shouldn't happen on a 2009 reg car which i agree with...it shouldn't!

Couple this with the £630 ball joint bill only last month, the £1300 almost bill at Christmas for the new Exhaust Manifold (check my other post on that as CBA even thinking about that again)..where do i go from here?

I'd love nothing more than to keep the car and enjoy it if it ever decides to work properly but if i do and end up being here in 4 more months time with more problems...i'll feel like a complete dick (asif i don't already). I can't own this thing constantly hoping on Renault to bail me out every time i have a problem. It doesn't make it any easier Renault Wakefield having a low mile Silver V6 Clio for sale but trying not to go there as I'll loose a fortune on mine selling it so early..plus can't see a V6 being any cheaper to run somehow..

My Clios a cup in racing blue with recaro's, air con, cup spoiler, silly little black side and front splitter and has the plate R333 CUP... trying not to sound arrogant here...I know full well if i decide to sell the car, it will literally walk itself out of my garage and into the new owners hands...but....how long till the new owner turns up at my house with a baseball bat and caves my head in for selling him something as horribly unreliable as my car!?

Anyway do you think its suicide time yet?

 

[marshall]

Steering Computer, Steering Motor, Steering Column (apparently that lot is one single unit so to speak) are all f**ked, £1,249.44 approx to make life smiley again.

Had mine replaced last week due to a knock. Glad i didnt foot the bill. Its one mega expensive part!

 

[Foxspeed]

theres a 200 on ebay...could get the steering column for that and have it fitted...

not wanting to cast suspicion on the diagnosis but have you looked on the net for similar faults - theres loads of companies that can repair/sort steering motor computers out (fiats are notoriuos for it) as its not in the dealers interest to repair - far better to sell all the item then strip and only replace what actually needs changing...

 

[The Fonze]

This might be an option http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RENAULT-CLIO-MK3-ELECTRIC-POWER-STEERING-COLUMN-2005-2011-BRAND-NEW-/200745596101?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&fits=Car+Make%3ARenault%7CModel%3AClio%7CCars+Type%3A2.0+16V+Sport&hash=item2ebd5eb4c5

 

[Ross]

Final word on this.

£1250 ish to replace steering rack, computer etc.
Renault have kindly covered 65% of the cost so a good result there for a 2009 that's out of warranty.

Thumbs up to Renault Wakefield too, Phil in the service department has been great and the dealer comes across as being really good (unlike Huddersfield) so i'll be using these guys from now on. They even replaced my passenger side door seal free of charge and gave the car a wash, all good.

The car looked amazing in their car park, even against several new Clio's, a few other 200s and a phase 1 V6...somehow my perky little Cup managed to stand out so hugely pleased, appreciate it a little more now. Maybe I'll get to actually enjoy my car for a while.