I have a 2litre 110 HDi Diesel 2004 model and I have had 2 instances of the steering being UNassisted, ie manual and very hard to steer.

First time was during a 1 hour of stop/start driving while in a queue and switching off the engine when stationary. After a few more starts & stops it came back to powered steering. This was 8 months ago. There were no dashboard warnings, everything else normal. Everything OK till now, 8 months later.

Second time was last Monday after a severe frost. The battery was failing through old age, was nearly dead and could hardly turn the engine. Voltage dropped so low that the clock lost its settings during cranking and the warning gong pinged once! Anyway, it did start, just, and the steering was in manual. I stopped & started several times and on the third start I had the power steering back and it has been OK ever since.

(I put in a new battery on Tuesday!)

Any ideas what could be the problem please, I believe it is electrically assisted steering.

Thank you, Vinnie