My car won't start and when it does, I lose power steering. What's the issue?
I have a 2010 SEAT Ibiza. Occasionally it won’t start, so I have to jump-start it. Also, if I slam the bonnet down and the car is off, it will not start either. Today, I jumped it and it started but the power steering light came on. The steering was heavy so I turned it off and on again. It was fine but then the horn would beep randomly when driving! If you have any idea what could be wrong that would be great.
Asked on 1 December 2020 by Megan Baker
Answered by
Keith Moody
It sounds like the battery either needs reconditioning or replacing. You can do this with the battery attached to the car using a trickle charger such as the CTEK MXS 5.0. Cold/winter starting requires about 70-85% of the battery's power to start the engine - if you're only driving short distances then the system won't be able to put enough charge back into the battery to keep it topped up. Would also check the battery terminal connections are tight as it sounds like they might be coming loose.
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