Xsara picasso battery charge warning when steering

[Oddball Matt]

Hey guys my Xsara has started to give me a battery charge warning when I turn the steering all the way to the bump stops, does it in both directions and the warning goes away right when I straighten even slightly. No other symptoms, no steering lock as I read in another thread, just the charge warning when steering at max. Ignition lock? I somehow suspect it's not a frayed wire otherwise it'd flash on and off when driving on bumpy backwoods gravel roads as I do.

[wheeler]

Have you checked drive belt tension? Has auto tensioner started to fail causing belt to be slack under load?

[Oddball Matt]

No i haven't checked it now BUT both the belt and the tensioner are just a couple months old AND the car had a cambelt swapped just yesterday. Of course it is possible that the garage left the tensioner loose but basen on my experiments today I doubt it. I can turn the wheel all the way to the "stops" both ways but if I apply even a little force past that I get a beep and the charging failure message, plus the cabin heater fan stops (reckon that's a safety measure to conserve power). It's too consistent NOT to be something in either the steering column or the steering rack like a pinched wire which I doubt since it does it both ways so all evidence so far is pointing to the ignition IMO.

[darbuck]

sounds like a loos wire near the steering column

[wheeler]

Does the same thing happen if you hold it at say 2000 rpm & turn the steering?
Has the belt be re fitted/routed correctly after the timing belt replacement?

[Oddball Matt]

I`m inclined to say yes but I need to test that tomorrow,as well as to check the belt tension/routing, at least I can say I don`t hear any belt skipping or rev dropping when it happens but cannot go investigate right now as I`m tied to the confuser for the rest of the evening for company paperwork... Gonna have to get back to you on that one later.

[Oddball Matt]

Welp, whatever it is, it seems to be intermittent as today I cannot make it do it in either direction. Serpentine belt seems to be correctly routed and sufficiently tight.