E12 Power Steering Jamming ?

[cgladwell]

Hi,

I'm looking at buying a 2006 Corolla 1.6, I've test driven one today and the garage said prior to me taking it out that there is an issue with the power steering. I'll describe it the best I can, when trying to move at standing still/low speeds as I turned the steering it presented alot of resistance, like the PAS motor had jammed, then the next time I tried it was ok. This went on throughout the test drive, quite dangerous. Anyway I told the garage about it and they said they'll look into it. The car is very clean and its been looked after, full history etc, I haven't bought the car yet due to this issue. Another note, the car has been with them for a while and they had to jump start it, Battery is naffed.

So, does anyone know what might cause this, also the engine light came on. Could a faulty Battery cause this or would it be the PAS electric motor ?

Thanks

Craig

[oldcodger]

Hi,

Seems there is a separate dashboard light for PS problems, so if the engine light came on who knows if it relates to the PS ?

You need to have a code reader to see what the ECU if flagging up as the problem.

Really down to that garage to fit it 100% if they want to sell it as a decent car, but when they are going for around £2k they will not be wanting to spend loads fixing it.

Does it have a long mot ? sounds like its been there for a while, yet they have not tried to fix it ? - perhaps the reason the original owner got rid, Engine lights etc could be expensive/problematic to fix

Think I would look for another car / garage, plenty around. over 300 1.6L on autotraders site.

Any with engine lights showing, I would give a wide berth, hence always give it a decent run out to get hot and show up any such problems, as you did there.

[cgladwell]

Thanks for your reply, I agree about the engine light, I currenty have a Skoda Octavia and the engine and steering have seperate lights (the corolla is for the wife). The garage is one of those small independents in the countryside that have cars for ages. They've had this Corolla since September last year, but the guy was telling me they've got a merc there thats been there a year. He did say they will fix the issues, but I made no promises to buy it. Shame though, very clean, nice drive other than the steering.

[cgladwell]

The issue was due to a totally dead Battery, they changed the Battery whilst I was there and the steering was fine after that