steering lock up/car dying

[Dougeh]

had a little drive today, and when I was coming out onto a t-junction on a main road my car died as if i had stalled it, although its an auto, and the steering locked up, lucky i put on brakes before i hit the curb, and even luckier no cars where coming :b: Im thinking the alternator might be buggered, and I thought it may have been when I got the car as sometimes it does not start right away, and when i put on my indercators the headlights go out for a split second, dunno if thats normal? so im open to ideas on what my problem may be, I have done a search and couldnt find anything, thanks in advance :bow:

 

[defyet]

Your alternator wont do that, But if your battery dies it will.
Id go to an electrician and get him to test the alternator to make sure it is putting out to its full potential and get him to test the battery. (He shouldnt charge you anything) You can normally tell when the battery goes flat the car starts to sound drained out when you start it and your headlights get dim when you put them on without the car running.
Also check the wiring on the back of the alternator it is a common problem for them to come loose.

I dont understand about the steering lock bit?
The steering will only lock when you take the key out of the ignition and turn it to lock. Unless it felt stuck cause the power steering stopped working and you assumed it locked into position?

My car is doing the same thing at the moment but only in really cold weather like early in the morning and late at night, the battery is fine, im leaning towards it being a crank angle sensor cause it bounces between 0 RPM and 1000RPM when i slow down every now and then.

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Scott

 

[Dougeh]

thanks for your reply, I am going to get the alternator, battery, alternator cable checked tomorrow probably, and if all turns out fine it may have been a one off thing, and if it isnt i will check further

 

[HsvPlayBoy]

Try the Crank censor if it just died then that will be the case 99 % of the time hope it helps

 

[kopper69]

Check error codes. Crank angle sensor will normally pump out error codes before you spend the $.

 

[defyet]

Or like mine it didnt get any error code.
I dont think it will give an error code if its working fine now. It will only get an error if it is stuffed at the time of checking it. (Correct me if im wrong)
The mechanic is changing mine at the moment so im hoping this is what it is cause we have no idea what else it could be.

Cheers,
Scott