Power steering

[Forrester123]

I have a 57 C5 HDI. Started car today & on moving off, I found I had no power steering
Re-started car & everything ok again
What could cause that?

[Gibbo2286]

That happened to mine when I first put it on the road and again recently when the battery was on its way out, a new battery sorted it.

I think the pas must be the first thing to suffer if the battery voltage gets pulled down when you operate the starter, once it's fired up again and has the boost from the alternator it recovers.

[GiveMeABreak]

If you have the Electric Power Steering fitted, the power for the assistance is provided directly from the car battery, so if the car has been standing for a while, as Gibbo says it is probably taking a little while to get the current. Car batteries on these vehicles can discharge surprisingly quickly when left standing as some networks are active all the time - especially during lockdown. I have taken mine off several times to keep it charged and will be doing the same again shortly.

I have put mine into 'Park Mode' by changing the Shunt Fuse at present, which should reduce some of the power consuming equipment from operating - but remember to replace the fuse back to 'Customer Mode' when using the car normally.

[Forrester123]

Put a new battery on today & sounds better on starting.
Nothing worse than worrying that the engine will not start, so hopefully problem solved.

[Hell Razor5543]

The C series Citroens are very sensitive electrically, and an old/failing battery can throw up all sorts of strange faults. Glad you appear to have sorted out the problem.