Power steering/battery

GREATWALKONI

MEMBER
2010 HYUNDAI SONATA
2WD
AUTOMATIC
80,000 MILES

Many times when I stop or drive through standing water, where the passenger side goes through water, but the puddle does not extend to the driver's side, shortly after I make a right turn the power steering goes out and the battery light comes on. This goes on for several seconds while I fight to keep the car going into the opposite lane on a narrow, windy road. Then the power steering comes back on, the battery light goes off and I regain full control of the car. Sometimes it will go out another time or two after the first incident, but it basically happens when it's raining and I go through a couple or more inches of standing water at the traffic light where I make a right onto the downward sloping windy road. Only happens when it is raining, and only when stopped in or going slow through a puddle. Never happens when traveling at highway speeds, even when it is raining hard.

7 Replies

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,754 POSTS

This is the classic symptom of a slipping serpentine belt. It doesn't hurt if it gets wet. It slips when it becomes overloaded with water. That squishes out, as you observed, within a few seconds. It's important to point out that you will never lose the ability to steer the car. You're only losing the power assist, similar to if the engine had stalled. You simply have to use both hands to wrestle the steering wheel. Also, power steering assist becomes more necessary the slower the car goes. If you were to lose it at highway speed, you might not even notice. Turning into a parking stall is when you need it most.

What you can do is have your mechanic inspect underneath to see if a plastic splash shield is missing. If it is not, ask at the dealership if there was ever a service bulletin that involved adding a shield to prevent this. I'm aware of at least one model that had an extra shield available for vehicles that commonly were driven through deep snow.

Here's a link to an article that covers more information on serpentine belts:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-a-serpentine-belt-works